Senior Tennis Tournaments: USTA Adult 60s, 65s, 70s National Events And The ITF Seniors World Tour

Competitive senior tennis in the United States runs on two parallel tracks. The first is the United States Tennis Association adult age-group tournament circuit, which is open to any USTA member and is organized by age brackets in five-year increments starting at 30. Senior brackets begin at 60s, then 65s, then 70s, then 75s, then 80s, then 85s, and finally 90s. Each bracket holds a national championship every year in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. The USTA also runs ten national clay court championships, ten national hard court championships, and ten national indoor championships in each age bracket, plus regional sectional events that feed into the nationals.

The second track is the International Tennis Federation Seniors World Tour, the global senior tour open to any player age 30 and older. The tour runs more than 400 tournaments per year in over 80 countries, with five tournament categories: Grade 1 the largest, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 the smallest. The ITF Seniors World Championships are held twice a year. The team event uses the names Britannia Cup for men 65s, Crawford Cup for men 70s, and Connolly Cup for women 65s, with similar named cups for the other age brackets. Individual world championships are also held each year. The ITF maintains a world ranking by age group that is updated weekly. A top-ranked American senior player can be ranked number one in the world in their age bracket and play in front of crowds at events in Spain, Croatia, Florida, and Australia.

The entry cost is modest compared with junior or pro tennis. A USTA national event entry runs 60 to 120 dollars per event. An ITF Grade 4 or 5 event runs 50 to 100 euros. Hotels and travel are the larger expense. Most senior tournament players plan three or four big events a year, often combined with a vacation. A senior who wants to start with USTA national events should first earn a national age-group ranking through sectional play. The ranking opens the door to the wild card and the direct acceptance into the larger events. Sources include usta.com Senior Tennis, the ITF Seniors page at itftennis.com seniors, and the USTA Sectional pages for each of the 17 USTA sections.