I've never been to an ITF Junior Circuit tournament on European clay, so how those tournaments compare to junior events in the United States was something I could only speculate about until I read this Tennis Recruiting Network article by Dylan Friedman. Friedman, the older brother of blue chip Yale recruit Leena Friedman, spent several weeks this spring traveling with his sister, which gave him a first-hand look at the cultural differences that impact the sport.
He also provides information on how the Italian federation has emphasized skills that will translate to faster surfaces, providing at least a partial explanation for all the recent success the country has had, especially on the men's side.
A silver bullet for player development does not exist, but learning from others and adapting initiatives to a country's particular culture can help prevent complacency and inertia.
Some very important news came out today on the electronic line calling front, with PlayReplay, the company which conducted the pilots at the ITA Division I Team Indoor Championships this past February, has received silver certification from the International Tennis Federation.
This means ITF sanctioned tournaments can now use the Play Replay system in place of the standard officiating crews. The ITA was also requiring a silver certification before it would formally change its rules on officiating to allow ELC, but now that the approval has been announced, schools should be able to begin implementation of the systems on their campuses once the ITA has formally amended their rules.
So far, PlayReplay is the only company of the many that are pursuing solutions for electronic line calling that has received this certification, according to the press release today, shown below in its entirety:
USTA PARTNER PLAYREPLAY ACHIEVES ITF SILVER CLASSIFICATION AND IS THE ONLY COMPANY WORLDWIDE THAT HAVE PASSED ALL TESTS
New Standard for Electronic Line Calling Addressing the Volume Market
San Diego/Stockholm, June 11th, 2025
PlayReplay has passed the required testing for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Silver Classification and is the only company globally to have achieved this status. Over the past two years, PlayReplay has completed a series of rigorous tests with the ITF to verify the system's accuracy, usability, and reliability. These tests were conducted on hard courts, covering both indoor and outdoor environments. The test sequence was finalized during the recent USTA SoCal Pro Series event held last week at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, CA.
To date, PlayReplay is the only system that is classified for electronic line calling by the ITF outside of systems approved for use in high-level professional tennis, such as Grand Slams. The system can be used for review/challenge by chair umpires, roving officials, or the players themselves.
"We are exceptionally proud to be the first to break new ground with a system that can address the volume market," says Hans Lundstam, CEO of PlayReplay. He further adds, “Our partners have been especially impressed by the system’s accuracy and ease of use, combined with its lightweight footprint.”
About PlayReplay:
PlayReplay aims to democratize tennis tracking, making it accessible to everyone. Our advanced technology promotes fairness across all levels of competition and equips coaches with critical data to support their players more effectively. To date, PlayReplay has been used in approximately 250,000 matches, generating an estimated 100 million line calls.
For more information, visit: www.playreplay.io
With tennis budgets under particular scrutiny now with the House settlement approved, adoption might not be as quick as many of us would like, but at least one roadblock has now been removed.
My Tennis Recruiting Network article on the PlayReplay's system in use during the Men's Team Indoor at SMU can be found
here.
The women's
ITA Division I Kickoff Weekend draft was held this afternoon, and the most striking observation from it was the number of teams who passed, 15. Those are teams who have qualified by ranking to choose a regional for the January weekend that begins the road to the Team Indoor but chose not to participate.
There have always been teams who decide not to enter the draft, for a variety of reasons and some of them had much higher profile than those passing today. But 15 is an extraordinarily high number, and to see so many teams in the 20s passing, like Tulsa, San Diego, Kansas, Alabama and Old Dominion, invites viewing it as a trend. It may be budgets, or the new larger conferences providing teams with fewer scheduling options or the .500 rule, or none of these reasons. The final team with a bid was No. 79 Penn, with the Quakers filling the regional at Michigan.
The first regional to fill was at No. 13 Texas, with No. 19 Cal, No. 24 Baylor and No. 31 Arizona heading to Austin. The second regional to fill was No. 6 Ohio State, who will be hosting No. 29 Georgia Tech, No. 30 UC-Santa Barbara and No 35 Iowa. Charlottesville also filled early, with No. 7 Virginia hosting No. 20 Southern Cal, No. 23 Wisconsin and No. 36 Rice.
Oklahoma State, with the first pick in the draft, chose to travel to No. 14 Texas Tech, and other top teams were not interested in challenging those two teams, with that the next to last regional to fill.
No. 1 Georgia, despite losing three seniors from its lineup, did not draw strong competition, but it was No. 8 Auburn who top and mid-level teams really wanted to avoid, with the Tigers competition that weekend No. 67 Florida State, No. 72 Nevada and No. 76 Tulane.
The
men's D-I ITA Kickoff Weekend draft begins Thursday at noon Eastern, with No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Central Florida and No. 17 Texas A&M with the first three choices of regional destinations. The passes on the men's side, particularly of the teams in the 20s, will be a number to keep an eye on.
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