Tennis Anyone?

Tennis Anyone?

As Tennis Operations Supervisor, one of my jobs is to run all of the tournaments at the Racquet Club. The Park City Racquet Club is the host of both the Men's National 45s, November 10-14, and the Men's National 40s in April. These tournaments are fun to run because the guys are tremendous players, and are general, great guys. Many of the players in the tournament are former touring pros, and some still earn their living through tennis. We offer over $3,000 in prize money for this tournament.

One of the most entertaining parts of planning for this event is the seeding process. For most local tournaments, the computer tells you who to seed, so there is no subjective input on the part of the tournament director. For the Men's Nationals, the referee and I are allowed to gather opinion, and use our own judgment as to how to do the seeding. Seeding is important because it spreads the top players out in a draw. If you are a seed, you have a better chance of not running into the best players in the draw until late in the tournament. If you are not seeded, you could play the top player first round. So - getting a seed is extremely important to the players.

After looking at each player's record, we call the top guys and ask for their opinion. We then send an e-mail out to all the players, listing our preliminary seedings and asking for feedback.

Then … the fun begins!

For the next four days, I receive e-mails typed all in bold …"How could you think John is better than me? He stinks!" or all in caps "THE ONLY REASON I LOST TO THAT GUY WAS THAT I HAD A STOMACH ACHE THAT DAY AND HE IS A CHEATER AND I HADN'T PLAYED FOR A MONTH - BUT I'M WAY BETTER THAN HIM!" Other feedback we receive has nothing to do with the seedings, but is just a way for the guys to vent: "That guy has the biggest weenie game on the circuit! Everyone knows he is a loser! But - please don't make me play him in the first round!" The rare e-mail will graciously say something like "I'm not that good, you should put John ahead of me." By the time we finalize the seeds, I feel like I have already gotten to know who the nice guys are, and who needs to be watched carefully at the tournament.

Deciding who is seeded is, for me, like choosing which team I want to win the March Madness basketball tournament. I want my seeds to win - to prove that I made great decisions in choosing their order.

Another fun part of planning this tournament is the organizing the doubles matches. Who you partner with for doubles is a lot like who is going to take you to the prom. Some guys will have 10 people call them to partner up. The guys will either not commit to anyone until five minutes before the deadline, or they will say 'yes' to one person, and then wish they hadn't committed and come to me to help them partner up with the guy they REALLY wanted to go with! Every year, there is someone who will come into my office before the doubles starts and tells me that yes, they are going with Mark, but they'd rather be going with Mike! Some guys are so desperate to have a great partner - and possibly win the National Championship, that they actually PAY their partner to play with them. Everyone ends up knowing about these couplings, but the embarrassed player usually will say something like, "Oh - I don't need the prize money, why don't you just give it all to my partner."

Running the Men's Nationals can have its tense moments - when a match ends in a nasty way or when we are running behind schedule. It's also a week of seeing underdogs come out of nowhere and win matches no one thought they could win. It's a week of late nights watching the last doubles match come off the court at 10pm, and a week of seeing guys' bodies fall apart after four tough matches. The best part of the tournament for me is getting to know the players. They tend to hang out at the club in between matches, so you get to know them well and look forward (or not) to seeing them the next year.