18 tennis players from across the country were named the true NTRP Champions on Sunday at the 18 & Over NTRP National Championships. 

 

This inaugural event crowned winners in men’s and women’s singles and doubles at the 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 levels at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz. 

 

For 2018, the USTA launched a new national adult tournament that leverages the NTRP rating system as a way to create level-based competition at the 18 & over and 50 & over age groups. 

 

The National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) is the official system for determining the levels of competition for the USTA League Tennis Program. The USTA NTRP Computer Rating System assigns ratings based on play in the local league and at championship level during the current league year.

 

The championships were round robin draws that led into non-elimination playoffs.  A best of three short sets format was played with no-ad scoring and a tiebreak at three all.  If a tiebreak came into play it was the first to five points, win by one.  

ADVERTISEMENT

 

"The first ever NTRP National Championships saw close to 750 matches played over three days and crown 6 division champions," said Michael Hughes, USTA Adult Competition Manager. "We look forward to growing this National Championship for years to come, while expanding our offerings and creating a tournament experience to meet the needs of the players."

 

Winners in each 18 & over division are below:

 

Men’s 3.5 Singles – Ioan Tulai (Bothell, Washington)

Men’s 4.0 Singles – Taylor Leese (San Francisco)

Men’s 4.5 Singles – John Dye  (Honolulu)

Women’s 3.5 Singles – Sonya Bearden (Woodmere, Ohio) 

Women’s 4.0 Singles – Jessica Fischer  (Winter Haven, Fla.)

Women’s 4.5 Singles – Joanna Hartman (Plumas Lake, Calif.) 

Men’s 3.5 Doubles – Robert Graham (Tampa, Fla.) & Eric Constable (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Men’s 4.0 Doubles – Taylor Leese (San Francisco) & Morhaf Mahrous (Brentwood, Calif.)

Men’s 4.5 Doubles – Michael Clayborne (Houston) & Raymond Martinez (Houston)

Women’s 3.5 Doubles – Loubna Tahiri (Georgetown, Texas) & Roseann McAlister (Round Rock, Texas)

Women’s 4.0 Doubles – Sayaka Hur (Fullerton, Calif.) & Yuka Hirose (San Pedro, Calif.)

Women’s 4.5 Doubles – Beverly Rowland (Canyon Lake, Texas) & Diana Riechel (San Antonio)

 

The NTRP National Championships in the 50 & Over division will take place at Academia Sanchez-Casall Florida, Naples, Fla., from April 20-22, 2018.