Methodology

Understand your TIQ rating.

TIQ estimates how strongly you are playing from your scores, opponents, and doubles partners. Your official USTA rating stays separate.

Start with the right baselineA confirmed USTA level anchors the starting band. Self-rated and unlabelled profiles stay provisional while match evidence builds.

Read the score in contextTiQ compares the score with what the matchup predicted. A close loss to stronger competition can still be a positive performance.

Doubles uses all four playersBoth players on each side shape the expected game share. Each player keeps a separate doubles strength estimate.

Keep TiQ and USTA separateTIQ estimates playing strength. Your official USTA level stays separate; the USTA-proximity view is another TenAceIQ estimate.

Use factual source dataReviewed scorecards and dated individual ratings support your TIQ estimate. Your results, opponents and doubles partners determine how it changes.

Fix the evidence, not the numberIf a score, player, or team context is wrong, send it for review. Data Assist prevents changing tennis context unchecked, then TiQ recalculates from the corrected match record.Request a review

TiQ rating in plain English

What makes your number move?

Start with dated evidence

Your latest usable individual computer rating starts at the midpoint of its TIQ band. A 4.5 label starts at 4.75. We can carry a label from either of the two preceding years when it remains usable. This is a starting assumption, not your unpublished USTA dynamic rating.

Use the court context

When an individual starting label is missing, existing opponent and partner estimates help establish a starting point. A suitable individual Adult division also supplies context. A combined team level never becomes your individual rating.

Compare the score with expectations

Winning a larger share of games than expected moves strength upward; winning a smaller share moves it downward. A close loss to stronger opponents can help. Singles compares two players; doubles compares the average strength of each pair.

Build your history in order

All courts on a day use the estimates available before that day’s results. Updates are applied together afterward. Singles and doubles stay separate; overall blends them according to the number of usable courts.

Missing, conflicting, or incomplete evidence cannot establish a reliable new estimate. A player without a connected starting point remains without a new network estimate. Where current evidence cannot support recalculation, an existing rating may remain visible.

How to read your playing band

TIQ 4.00 to below 4.50 sits in the 4.0 band. TIQ 4.50 to below 5.00 sits in the 4.5 band. TIQ 5.00 to below 5.50 sits in the 5.0 band.

A 4.63 estimate sits within the 4.5 band. A 4.95 estimate sits near its upper end. These are TIQ display bands, not official USTA dynamic thresholds. Read the number as estimated playing strength.

What movement can tell you

Sustained results near the top of your band suggest stronger play. Sustained results above it suggest the next band may describe your play better. The same principle applies downward. One match or one boundary crossing does not establish a USTA bump or drop.

Your official USTA level and designation are shown separately. The USTA-proximity view is a TenAceIQ estimate from USTA results, not USTA’s unpublished dynamic rating. Match counts and evidence labels describe available history; they are not probabilities of a year-end change.

TIQ estimates playing strength. Annual USTA bump and drop predictions have not yet been validated, so your TIQ number is not a probability of a year-end change.

If a recent result is missing or attached to the wrong player, request a data review.

Read the evidence behind your estimate

Your profile shows rated results for the selected format and current calendar year. Current-season rated results use the network model; their count is not a confidence percentage. Provisional starting estimates have no rated results for that format. Your latest rated-result date describes match evidence, not the last import or proof that every recent match is present.

Singles and doubles estimates can have different amounts of evidence. Current TIQ estimates use one network methodology. A format without usable results shows a provisional starting estimate; unresolved player evidence shows under review. A previous calculation is not substituted for a current TIQ estimate. If a result is missing or belongs to another player, request a data review.

Show rating details

Which matches count

The improved current-season calculation uses complete, eligible courts with usable scores and resolved player identities. Defaults, walkovers, retirements, duplicates, and unresolved source conflicts are excluded. A playing-strength result may still require separate eligibility review for year-end USTA forecasting.

Players can share a name. When that creates an identity hold, a court counts only if its retained winning source record links the player to the exact profile owned by their TIQ record. Conflicting profiles remain held, and their rating labels are not used as starting evidence. Some imported matches can therefore appear in your history without contributing to your current TIQ estimate. A deciding match tiebreak identifies the winner but does not add regular games to game share.

How much a result changes strength

The update depends on the difference between expected and actual game share and the model’s internal uncertainty. More match evidence changes how strongly a new result influences the estimate. Internal uncertainty is not a measured probability that the rating is correct.

There is no inactivity penalty, additional recency weighting, or repeated-partner discount in the improved network calculation. It does not impose a protected minimum rating or an automatic upset bonus.

Starting evidence and history

A published USTA level stays separate from estimated playing strength. A secondary reported label requires verification before it is treated as official. An older label does not prove a later stay at the same level. Current-season estimates use the latest usable individual C label from the two preceding years. A carried label must still agree with the owner’s current profile; newer conflicting labels require review. Earlier seasons retain their existing calculation.

Unknown-player initialization blends 75% of a suitable individual Adult division midpoint with 25% of the existing court estimate. It requires a connection to an anchored estimate. A division provides competition context, not an official individual rating.