Atlantic Tennis Alliance
Outdoor Playing Ops
Revised: April 1, 2019
Outdoor Junior Atlantics Qualifying
Qualifying for the 2019 Outdoor Junior Atlantics will be based on both the Roger’s Rankings and a Provincial Qualifying process to fill maximum draw sizes of 12. For 2019, players must compete in a least one of the outdoor 4* circuit events to be eligible to play in the Outdoor Atlantics. The top 8 ranked players in Atlantic Canada in each age group as of July 8, 2019 for each gender will qualify to play in the Outdoor Atlantics regardless of which province they are from. Players who are in the top 8 in an older age group, would qualify for both events. However, this is discouraged unless you plan to attend both Nationals if you qualify for both. If a player in the top 8 is not using their spot, the next player in the rankings would receive the spot until the 8 are filled. For all draws that have 8 filled by rankings, 4 additional spots will also be available, one per province per gender for each age group for a maximum draw size of 12.
The 4 additional spots, 1 per province will be determined by each of the Provincial Tennis Associations (contact your respective PTA). If any of these spots are not filled by a province, they would then be made available to players from other provinces and would be filled based on the Rogers Rankings (i.e. next highest ranked player not already qualified in their primary age group, not for a player to play a second event).
There will be no qualifying for the Under 10 divisions, this will be open to any player but they MUST have played in at least one of the 4 circuit events (see below).
Outdoor Junior Atlantic Circuit Events
The Outdoor ATA Circuit will consist of four 4* Circuit Events, one to be held in each of the four Provinces. Note that since this is part of our National Qualification that these are closed events and only players from Atlantic Canada may participate. The following is the schedule of these events for 2019:
Event #1: June 6 – 9: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Event #2: June 21 – 23: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Event #3: June 28 – 30: Moncton/Dieppe, New Brunswick (combined with East Coast Open
Event #4: July 5 – 7: St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador
Provincial Qualifiers: July 8-10 if needed, please check with your province on these.
Registration for the above events is done through the respective Provincial Tennis Association. The provinces have all agreed that the format will be consistent for all of the circuit event, standard draws with first match consolation. However, small draws may use round robin format. Players may play in 2 singles divisions if they wish as per the following “Playing UP” rule:
Playing Up Rule:
For all ATA 4* events and Outdoor/Indoor Atlantics, players may only play their current age division and may also play one age group higher if they wish. For example, an Under 12 player may play in the U12 division and also the U14 division if they wish, but they are not permitted to play in the U16 division.
No Service-Lets.
At all ATA events, a ball that hits the net on the serve and lands in the correct service box will be in play. The rule change aims to reduce disputes in junior matches, which are largely played without a chair umpire. The « no service let » rule will be implemented by Tennis Canada at the National Junior events starting this summer and will be in effect at all ITF Junior events worldwide.
Outdoor Atlantics:
The 2019 Outdoor Junior Atlantics will be held in Truro, NS on July 17 – July 21. The event will be a 5 day tournament with play to begin on Wednesday. Players may qualify in 2 singles events (if in Top 8) and play in 2 singles draws at the Outdoor Atlantics; however, they must be prepared to play more matches each day as required by the scheduling process.
Outdoor Atlantics:
Divisions:
Under 10 Boys & Girls Singles
Under 12 Boys & Girls Singles
Under 14 Boys & Girls Singles
Under 16 Boys & Girls Singles
Under 18 Boys & Girls Singles
Under 10 Doubles: Combined unless numbers warrant
Under 14 Boys & Girls Doubles
Under 18 Boys & Girls Doubles
Format for MAIN DRAW:
All singles divisions, with the exception of Under 10, will be elimination draws with feed-in consolation to the semis. Losers of the semis would feed into the consolation semis and could potentially play off for the 3rd and 4th positions. Scoring format for main draw singles and feed-in consolation will be best 2 of 3 tiebreaker sets with full 3rd sets. Under 10 singles will use a similar format but will play best 2 of 3 short sets to 4 with full 3rd sets. Small draws will use modified format.
All doubles divisions, with the exception of Under 10, will be standard elimination draws with no consolation. Scoring format for doubles will be best 2 of 3 sets, no ad scoring, and 3rd set 10 point super tiebreaker. Under 10 doubles will use a similar format but will play best 2 of 3 short sets to 4, no ad scoring and 3rd set 10 point super tiebreaker.
Seeding for Atlantics: seeds will be as per the Roger’s Rankings and as per the Tennis Canada rules of the court. Under 10 seeding will be based on circuit results and historical data.
Atlantics Wildcards
The ATA will accept requests for a wildcard spot from a player who is unable to meet the requirement of playing one 4* outdoor circuit event for valid reason (i.e. part of Tennis Canada program, significant injury). This would not include away travelling, away at school, etc. A wildcard may be awarded to a player with valid reason who is deemed to be one of the top players in their division and would have qualified based on their ranking. Any request for a wildcard must be sent to the ATA administrator (Mark Thibault) at least 10 days in advance of the deadline to register for the Atlantic Championship tournament and the request will be sent to the 4 Provincial Tennis Associations/Executive Directors for their consideration. Any awarding of a wildcard will require unanimous consent of the 4 Provincial Tennis Associations/Executive Directors and will be communicated to players prior to the start of play of the Atlantics.
Nationals Wildcards
On rare occasion, the ATA will accept requests for a wildcard spot from a player who is unable to attend the Atlantic Championships for valid reason (i.e. part of Tennis Canada program, significant injury). This would not include away travelling, away at school, etc. A maximum of one (1) wildcard per age group per gender may be awarded to players with valid reason who is deemed to be one of the top players in their division. Any request for a wildcard must be sent to the ATA administrator (Mark Thibault) at least 10 days in advance of the first day of the Atlantic Championship tournament. The awarding of a wildcard will require unanimous consent of the 4 Provincial Tennis Associations and will be communicated to players prior to the start of play of the Atlantics.