The boys tennis postseason will have an historic new look starting this fall.
The change involves the state team championship, a dual-style tournament in mid-October, according to CHSAANow.com. The individual championships won’t change. They will take place the second week in October.
“It really should be the best of both worlds,” CHSAA associate commissioner Bethany Brookens said in the statement. “Many coaches have told me that dual matches during the regular season ‘actually count’ this year, as teams are vying for a spot on that coveted 16-team bracket.”
The state’s tennis committee released the 16-team, single-elimination bracket for class 4A and 5A Sept. 23. CHSAANow.com said the higher seeds host the first three rounds. The team championship finals will be at Denver’s City Park Tuesday, Oct. 18. In each round, the statement said, the teams play head to head at all seven ladder spots (three singles brackets and four doubles brackets) to determine the winner and which team will advance to the next round. Seeding was dependent on Universal Tennis Rating, strength of league, overall record, strength of competition, head-to-head records and common opponents. No one of those received more weight in seeding than another.
The first round of the team state title is Wednesday, Sept. 28. The second round is Saturday, Oct. 1. Regional for the individual state title slots have to be finished by Saturday, Oct. 8,
The class 4A state tennis tournament is Oct. 13 at Pueblo City Park. The state 5A tennis tournament is Oct. 13 at City Park in Denver.The 4A/5A state tennis team championship is Tuesday, Oct. 18, also at City Park.