A Review of the 2022 ITF Junior Regulations Changes, Including Introduction of Tournament Grading Criteria; Texas Top Seed at ITA Women's Team Indoor Championships

Every year around this time, I read through the ITF Junior Circuit Summary of Rule Changes and post the document the ITF distributes that will govern the tournaments it sanctions. Here is the 2022 version.

Often the changes are clarifications that affect just a few players each year; it seems the one tournament per week rule, especially around slams, has been tweaked every year that I've been monitoring rule changes. Occasionally there are significant changes that effect every player, for example, playing let serves, which was instituted in 2018 and is used everywhere on the ITF Junior Circuit except the Junior Championships at Wimbledon, or the elimination of the rule that doubles teams had to dress similarly. But this year there is a structural change that could have an impact on individual tournaments, with the ITF introducing grading criteria for tournaments, as mentioned in the summary as follows:

Tournaments shall be classified into grades, based on a range of criteria (by way of example only, strength of draw, player feedback, standards of delivery and geographical balance) as determined by the Committee (which may include but not limited to strength of draw, player feedback, standards of delivery and geographical balance)

Curious as to how this might work, I tracked down the document that explains it, and found it to be specific about the active role the ITF Junior Committee will play in grading tournaments. Somewhat like the relegation model in English football, tournaments can be downgraded if they don't attract strong fields. 

Tournaments must meet minimum standards of player strength and tournament delivery relative to other tournaments within their grade and region. Grade A, Grade 1, Grade 2 will be compared globally. A tournament may be considered for downgrade if it scores amongst the lowest 10% in their grade and region based on the draw strength measures, and tournament delivery measures. The ITF will communicate with National Associations directly where a downgrade is appropriate.

Draw Strength (Primary Measures) 1. ITF Junior Ranking– A calculation of the ranking points amongst those who competed in the main draw of the tournament. The ranking of players at the time of the event shall be used. This measure shall be based on a main draw size of 32 players. Only the highest ranked 32 players will be reviewed where the main draw size consists of 48 or 64 players. 2. ITF World Tennis Number (WTN) – The WTN’s of Main Draw participants at the time of the event shall be reviewed and compared. This will include an average WTN of main draw participants.

I was surprised to see this in the document, given that the United States has three J1 tournaments (Carson/San Diego in March, College Park in August and Eddie Herr in December) and two B1s (Easter Bowl in April and Pan American Closed in October): 

Save for exceptional circumstances, a maximum of one (1) tournament per nation at Grade 1 (J1).

Is the geographic size of the United States an "exceptional circumstance" or are these events grandfathered in?

With the assessment periods lagging the actual tournaments by only a few months, any downgrades could be apparent by the beginning of next year. I don't think the ITF will announce downgrades (or upgrades), but for higher level events, it will be obvious.

Speaking of upgrades, there is good news on that front in the US, which has had no Grade 2 and 3s in many years. Two of the spring ITF tournaments in Florida, which had been Grade 4s in the past are now Grade 3s: in Delray Beach April 25-30 and Coral Gables May 9-14, with a Grade 4 in Plantation in between. 

Grade 3s provide hospitality from the singles quarterfinals on, according to this ITF document, which provides detailed information on what's required from tournaments regarding hospitality and other amenities.

Another major change is regarding live streaming, which allows federations to provide it, but only under the following circumstances:

(a) the prior written approval of the ITF in its sole discretion; 

(b) such Live Streaming not being transmitted or made available with a less than 30 second delay between the action taking place at the Tournament and the Live Streaming being available to viewers; 

(c) such Live Streaming being satisfactorily geoblocked to within the domestic territory of the Tournament; 

(d) such Live Streaming not being made available for gambling or betting purposes, or in any way associated with gambling or betting; 

(e) the Live Stream being available to the ITF free of charge and in a timely manner on request for publication on its own digital channels; and 

(f) the National Association granting, or procuring that the producer of the Live Stream grants, all copyright in the Live Stream to the ITF at the conclusion of the tournament

I don't know how that would impact the few live streams offered by tournaments here in the United States, most notably the Easter Bowl, but it doesn't look as these rules would encourage any tournament anywhere to pursue it.

Other notable changes include:

• Only one result from same Grade 3 or higher level in a 52-week period, which is a holdover from the pandemic, when the same tournament might have been played twice within the same 52-week period.
• A withdrawal from a tournament is required, even if player is assessed the no-show penalty.
• Increase in entry fees, with indoor tournaments allowed to charge more
• Clarification on playing two events in the same week (again)
• Clothing regulations regarding manufacturers or commercial logos
• A return to 19th birthday as the cutoff for using the Top 100 Junior Reserved entry method for $15Ks. I believe that was waived for those who turned 19 throughout 2021 due to the pandemic.

As I say every year, this post is by no means a comprehensive assessment and I'm not an expert on ITF junior regulations. The summary is useful, but should be read in conjunction to the complete 2022 regulations, available here.

The ITA has released the draw for the Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships, which begin Friday in Madison Wisconsin.

These are the matchups for the first round. I'll have more on the tournament in Thursday's post.

Texas[1] v Southern Cal

North Carolina[2] v Ohio State

Georgia[3] v Washington

Cal[4] v Texas A&M

Pepperdine[5] v Old Dominion

NC State[6]  v Auburn

Virginia[7] v Florida

Oklahoma[8] v Wisconsin