How To Play Competitively

Looking for a competitive edge, but don’t know where to start? There are a few different ways you can compete in tennis whether is on a ladder, round-robin, tournament, and even in a league format. We will break it down for you so you can see the best option for you.

Ladder

This format sees all players placed on a ladder, one on top of the other. Players challenge each other. If a player lowers down the ladder by beating a higher placed player, they change places this means the lower winning player will be moving up the ladder. This is a great way to improve your level and handle your emotions because you will be challenged every time with different players with levels that will make you a better competitor.

Benefits: Flexible scheduling, affordable

Round-robin

Round robin formats see players split into groups (usually of 4-5 players). Each player against every other player in his or her group, this guarantees the player a set number of matches. Short tiebreak sets to 4 work well with players and it works well because it used the tiebreak format.

Benefits: More recreational, finished in a single session

Tournament

In a tennis tournament, the players will have to play full sets in order to progress onto each round. Winning a tournament requires winning four to six matches in succession, usually a match a day, as play is single-loss elimination. Physically this format is demanding because the player has to win two full sets in order to progress. Tournaments allow the players to either play in a singles or doubles format and even both ways work. If you are a player who has a very competitive edge and wants to see the competitive level they posses then this option is great for you.

Benefits: Highly competitive, usually has prizes

League

League play is when you play as a team. Depending on how many players there are on each team this will depend on the number of singles and doubles matches that will be played. A team match will probably have two single matches, and three doubles matches. Each team needs to field 8 players. There might be 10-12 team matches in a season, usually played about once a week. If you do well, your team goes to the playoffs. In order for the league to win it will only be accomplished by the number of wins that are collected as a whole. For instance, in order to win the team needs four matches to secure. This means that either for singles, matches are won or a combination of doubles and singles matches since in doubles the wins are counted as one regardless of the entire double pairs win. This is a very fun way to compete and not feel that much pressure compared to solely playing on your own.

Benefits: Full season, highly competitive