The Season
The season will last eleven weeks, beginning on November 14 and lasting till January 29. There will be fifteen tournaments – some for men’s singles and men’s doubles only, some for women’s singles and women’s doubles only, and some with all four events. There will be four tours and two challengers for each gender, and three grand slams. Challengers and tours must include men’s singles and men’s doubles OR women’s singles and women’s doubles – never a mix between genders. Grand slams must include all events. When tournaments begin, a megathread for RPing and results (that will be used for all tournaments) will be created.
Challengers are the lowest level of tournaments, worth the fewest points and contested between the lowest-ranked players. Challengers have a maximum of forty-eight entrants for singles and thirty-two for doubles. The players that will be entered into these tournaments are the bottom thirty-two according to the ITA rankings. Players from nations that have ceased to exist may not be entered.
Tours are the most common form of tournaments, worth distinctly more points than challengers but not as prestigious as grand slams. Tours have a maximum of sixty-four entrants for singles and thirty-two for doubles. The players that will be entered into these tournaments are the top sixty-four according to the ITA rankings. Players from nations that have ceased to exist may not be entered.
Grand slams are the most valuable of all tournaments, worth the most points and holding the greatest prestige. Grand slams have a maximum of sixty-four entrants for singles and thirty-two for doubles. The players that will be entered into these tournaments are the top sixty-four according to the ITA rankings. Players from nations that have ceased to exist may not be entered.
The Players
All players who were signed up for the International Tennis Association v2 will be automatically entered into the ITA S1. If the entering nation has ceased to exist, that nation’s players will not be entered; however, if the nations is reinstated, that nation’s players will be re-entered during the course of competition.
New nations may enter players at any point. The maximum number of players/teams that can be entered is twelve: four players for men’s singles, four players for women’s singles, two teams for men’s doubles, and two teams for women’s doubles. Nations may enter fewer than these numbers, and are not required to enter all events; but no more than these numbers may be entered. At any time, a nation may change or remove players from the ITA S1 – but this must be done in a new post.
The Rankings
Previous to the ITA S1, three tournaments were completed: the Delman Tour in Cosumar, the Internazionali Open in Thatius, and the Voralberg Masters Cup in Thatius. These tournaments allowed for the creation of rankings for each of the four events, and these rankings will become the basis for the ITA rankings. What this means is that the first tournament will use ranking points earned from the original rankings, and from then on points that are earned will be added to the original rankings. This ensures that players who have been successful in the past will be more likely to be successful in at least the early tournaments – though the ranking points are minimal enough that RPing will certainly override ranking points. There will be no degradation of ranking points throughout the season.
Below are the current rankings:
Men’s Singles || Women’s Singles || Men’s Doubles || Women’s Doubles
The Tournaments
The season will last eleven weeks, with nine events for each gender: two challengers, four tours, and three grand slams. Tournaments may be hosted by any nation that submits a host bid and is cleared to host a tournament. A host bid must include tournament name, host city, week tournament will be hosted (and for which gender), form of scorination, RP bonus grading, and past experience. All other details, such as information about the nation or hosting complex, are not required, but may be used to improve the quality of the bid.
Bids will be approved by this nation, and this nation only. There is no executive committee, as there was under the previous ITAs; it is unnecessary bureaucracy for a relatively small organization. Bids will be approved fairly and evenly, making sure to not allot too many tournaments to certain nations or to not blatantly ignore certain nations. However, do keep in mind that if a nation has not been proven to be capable of hosting a tournament, then that nation is liable to be rejected more than once. If a tournament is approaching and no one has bid to host it, this nation will jump in and host the tournament.
Any nation may bid for tournaments. It is more than highly suggested that nations submit their bids based on availability to host tournaments. The weeks listed must be strictly adhered to for the season to run smoothly – which means bidding nations must be entirely sure about availability to host. If, during the course of a tournament, a nation falls behind in posting scores, at the first available time that nation must post all rounds that would have been played to that point. If a nation goes AWOL during the course of a tournament, and the tournament’s completion is in jeopardy, this nation will take over and complete the tournament in time.
Two of the three grand slams have been reserved by this nation and its puppetmaster, since I know my own capability to host these tournaments. All other tournaments may be bid upon. A nation may not host two tournaments in the same week, if applicable. It is suggested that nations consider the level of tournament when bidding; nations with less experience are more likely to be approved for challengers than grand slams, and vice versa.
The tournament schedule below will be updated with tournament names and hosts as they are approved. Please note that bids may be submitted at any time, as long as there are tournaments still available. It is more than possible for multiple nations to bid on a single tournament; do not feel as though you may not bid for a certain tournament if another nation has submitted a bid for it. Please begin submitting bids as soon as possible so that the season can start on the date planned - November 14, ten days from now.
WEEK Men's Singles/Men's Doubles Women's Singles/Women's Doubles
Week of November 14 (IH) Swift Open (Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuk) (G) Corn na mBan Leadóige Chorcaí (Sorthern Northland)
Week of November 21 (H) Yannis Nasenko Trophy (Polar Islandstates) none
Week of November 28 none (IC) Lyngaard Park Open (Polar Islandstates)
Week of December 5 (C) Rumiatzi Open (Astograth) (G) Camwood Open (Camwood)
Week of December 12 ----(H) Citiz Open (Civil Citizenry)
Week of December 19 (IH) Milner Industrial Cup (Beldonia) (IC) W4W International (Civil Citizenry)
Week of December 26 (C) Ballyfeeaknock Open (Ancharmunn) none
Week of January 2 ----(UK) unnamed (no host)
Week of January 9 none (H) Delman Tour (Cosumar)
Week of January 16 (UK) unnamed (no host) (UK) unnamed (no host)
Week of January 23 ----(H) The Tennis Grand Championships (Tennis)
Key:
red = challenger
green = tour
blue = grand slam
(H) = hard
(C) = clay
(G) = grass
(IC) = indoor clay
(IH) = indoor hard
(UK) = unknown surface
unnamed = the tournament has yet to receive a name
(no host) = the tournament has yet to be assigned a host
none = there is no tournament to be held for that gender during that week
