Category: Tennis Tips
Published Date: Dec 10, 2006
Topic: How A Draw Is Made
By: Your Coach S.R

S. R. Sports School - Tennis Division is very keen in promoting Tennis among the Junior and Sub-Junior levels and for the same reason; we have been conducting tennis tournaments since 2000, even without any major title sponsors.

In our experience, we have seen many young new players participating in these junior tournaments. To educate the players and the parents with further information, this article is written on how a draw for the tournament is made.

The Ranking and Grading list is to be obtained from the concerned authorities like TNTA or AITA.
Generally it will be available from Boys and Girls Under 12 Years and above.
Based on the ranking, the top 20 players, whose entries are received, will be taken out directly in to the Main Draw.
Among the remaining entries, qualifying will be conducted to choose 8 qualifiers on a knock out basis.
Depending on the size of entry list, the draw could be a draw of 24, 32, 64, 96 or a 128 draw. In general more than 128 entries will not be received per event.
From among those players who are in the qualifying, seeding would be allotted based on the ranking / no. of points that the player has.
These top ranked players will be placed at fixed locations to ensure that the top players do not come across each other in early rounds itself.
For Example, In a 32 Draw, Seed 1 will be placed at position 1 and Seed 2 at position 32 so they don’t meet until the finals, if they win all the other rounds. Similarly Seed 3 and 4 will be placed at positions 15 and 16 so they meet either of the top 2 seeds at Semi Finals level.
Once all these top seeded players are filled in the Draw Sheet, the name of the other players would be picked up at random and the same will be entered one after the other in order.
The person whose name comes first will be placed at position 2 (and so will meet Seeded 1). The person whose name comes next will be placed in position 3 and so on.
Once all the names are picked and entered, the draw sheet with ‘whom to meet whom’ will be ready and then timings would be allotted for the tournament.
This way, the qualifying would be over and the final 8 players would come in to the Main Draw.
Apart from these 8 qualifiers and the 20 direct entrants, the organizers can given “Wild Cards” to 4 players thereby making them play the Main Draw directly, without playing qualifying.
The procedure for making the Main Draw would be the same as qualifying and all the matches would be on knock out basis unless otherwise stated in the tournament entry form.

Until Next Time, Have a Good Play!
Your Tennis Coach - S.Rajagopal