Florida Sectionals - 40 & Over 3.0 and 4.0

Championship Finals Results vs TLA Team Ratings

Florida Section Championships for 40+ 3.0 and 4.0 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona wrapped up this afternoon. How did the teams with the strongest Tennis League Analytics ratings do? Pretty darn well!

In the Finals:

In Women’s 4.0, Broward won vs. Orange Seminole 3-2. TLA showed Broward as the strongest team. Orange as the 4th strongest.

In Men’s 4.0, Broward won vs. South Miami Dade (SMD) 3-2. TLA showed both teams as the top two strongest teams. SMD had a tougher path to the finals with a very strong flight and an extra match to play.

In Men’s 3.0, Leon won the single flight championship with Polk in second. TLA showed this result exactly.

In Women’s 3.0, Duval won vs. SMD 3-2. TLA had SMD as number three and Duval as number five. Well, we missed this one. Women’s 3.0 has been the toughest group to model and while we thought we had cracked it, our estimates were not close enough. In general, the higher the rating for both men’s and women’s, the more accurate our models. So while we go back to the drawing board on the algorithm for Women’s 3.0, we’ll not accept flight report orders for just this group (Women’s 3.0 and lower).

You can see our original July 12 post, a little further down.

Congratulations to all the new sectional champions!

By the way, I visited the USTA National Campus this weekend and watched some of the matches. The photos of the facility do not do it justice. What a fantastic facility. It’s comfortable for both players and spectators. The restaurant is very good and reasonably priced. The locker rooms and showers are well designed and large enough. Every staff member that I interacted with was helpful.

The viewing deck makes it easy to watch many courts. In addition, the vast majority of the courts are easy to watch from the sidelines with seating available on aluminum bleacher type benches. The scorecards for each court are easy to see so you know who’s winning. There are plenty of places for shade from the hot Florida sun. If you want to watch from a spot with no shade, the campus offers loaner umbrellas.

Bathroom facilities are available very close to all the courts - they are spread around the campus with many in small buildings that are interspersed between courts. These small buildings also have covered areas (more shade), tables, chilled water including bottle/jug refillers, some vending, and about 8 to 12 mobile phone quick charging lockers that include an Apple iPhone and micro-SD cable. If your phone uses a USB-C connector, you’ll need an adapter. The lockers work similarly to a hotel room safe - Just plug in your phone, close the door, and enter a code to lock the door.

For team captains that want flight reports for championships, please don’t wait until the last minute. And continue to spread the word. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.