Information

Tournament Co-Directors

John Monti and Marc Pamley
carolinajam@nc.rr.com
info@triangletennisclub.com
919.602.4978
919.795.0635

Dates & Locations

The 2026 Carolina Classic will be held on May 22-24, 2026 in Raleigh, NC. Millbrook Exchange Park (MEP) will be the primary site for matches. Depending on the number of participants, some early-round main draw and consolation matches may be held at nearby Optimist Park. Sites may be subject to change prior to the start of tournament play.

Millbrook Exchange Park:

 

Optimist Park:

GLTA Division Guidelines

 

Open Player: NTRP 4.5 and above
A Player: NTRP 4.0
B Player: NTRP 3.5
C Player: NTRP 3.0
D Player: NTRP 2.0-2.5

Divisions chosen must be at or above a player's current rank in each respective event. The Carolina Classic committee will review each player's GLTA ranking prior to the start of the tournament to ensure they are playing in the appropriate division(s).  If a player does not have an established GLTA ranking, a player's NTRP self-rating should be used to establish the proper GLTA division(s).  The committee has the right to reclassify a player to a higher division in accordance with the GLTA Rules and Regulations.  Additionally, an unranked player found to be participating in a division lower than their ability may be disqualified at the discretion of the tournament Director.

Split Divisions

Both Singles and Doubles Events will be offered.  Players may choose to split their Singles and Doubles division based on their current GLTA rankings.  Divisions chosen must be at or above a player's current rank in each respective event. If a doubles team consists 2 players with different rankings, they must participate in the division of the higher-ranked player.

Draws & Draw Sizes

A minimum of 4 entries will be required for a draw to be held in any given division, including mixed doubles and age-divisions. Draw sizes of 4 or 5 will be in a round-robin format, with the champion and runner-up determined by total matches won. A draw size of 6 will result in 2 round-robin groups, with a championship final between the winner of each group. Draw sizes of 7 or more will be based on standard single-elimination brackets.   To ensure an on-time tournament completion, the maximum size for any non-age-division draw will be capped at 48 persons for Singles and 24 teams for doubles. All draws will be labeled as Any Gender draws.

Age Division Draws

Both 40+ and 50+ age division draws will be offered for A, B, and C singles, and 40+ for D singles.  Due to limited court availability and match scheduling, we plan to cap the draw sizes to 8 players each.  Draws will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if you are interested in participating in these draws, we strongly recommend you sign up early.   Once a draw fills, we will waitlist players in order of entry. If a 40+ or 50+ age division draw does not meet the 4-person minimum draw size requiement, those affected players will be moved to the main singles draw.

Mixed Doubles Draws

New for 2026, we are pleased to offer Mixed Doubles draws. Each team will consist of a male and female identifying player as stated in your tournamentsoftware.com profile. Draws will be offered for A, B, and C divisions. As with the age division draws, if we do not meet the 4 team minimum for each draw, we will offer the option to either move you to a higher division mixed doubles draw, or move to the same divsion main doubles draw.

Also, note that per GLTA rules, you are only eligible to participate in 1 singles event and 1 doubles event;  if you choose to play in the age-division singles or in mixed doubles, you may not enter the respecitve main singles/doubles draws.

Schedule

Match play will begin at 8am on Friday May 22, 2026. All finals will be played on Sunday May 24, 2026 at Millbrook Exchange Park. Some semifinal matches may also be held on Sunday. Please make travel plans accordingly, as final matches may not complete until late Sunday afternoon. A closing event will also be scheduled for Sunday, so we encourage as many of you to stick around as possible.

Entry Fee

The entry fee for the 2025 Carolina Classic will be $135 for 1 event and $150 for 2 events. Payments received by March 1st will receive an Early Bird discount of $10 off the entry fee ($130/$145). We strongly encourage entrants to pay by PayPal/credit card when registering online, but will accept checks/cash/Venmo if prior arrangements are made.  All payments must be received by the final entry deadline of May 14th, unless the tournament reaches capacity at an earlier date.

Waiting List/Refunds

For each event, a waiting list will be maintained if more entries are received than can be accommodated. As players withdraw, players on the waiting list will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. The draws will be made approximately 5 days prior to the start of the tournament. No refunds will be given after the draws are made. If an event is canceled due to lack of entrants, players will be given the option of playing up one division higher, or being refunded their money for that event.

Match Format

Main Draw Singles/Doubles (Including Age Divisions): All matches, except the finals, will consist of 2 sets, with regular scoring. If players split sets, a 10-point super tie-break (first to 10 points, win by 2) will be used in lieu of the 3rd set.  For the finals, matches will be best of 3 sets, with regular scoring.

Consolation Play (Singles & Doubles): We are pleased to be able offer consolation play in both singles and doubles to those players who lose their first round match. Consolation matches will be an 8-game pro set, with no ad scoring and a standard 7-point tie breaker at 8 games all. Consolation finals matches will be best of 3 sets, with regular scoring.  Consolation play will not be offered in any events which use the round-robin draw format.

Due to the large number of matches that Consolation Play adds to the court usage, the CMTC Committee reserves the right to modify or cancel Consolation Play in the event of inclement weather. If such a situation would occur, Consolation Doubles would be canceled first, then Consolation Singles if deemed necessary. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Confirmation

Once registration opens, confirmation of your entry will be available on the Carolina Classic page at the GLTA tournamentsoftware.com website. 

The participant list will be updated periodically. Confirmation will also be sent to applicants who provided email addresses.

Draws and match times will be available from a number of different means, including:

Please plan to use one or more of the methods above to confirm your draws and match times.

Seeding

Seeding will be based primarily on the GLTA ranking points system. Special seeding considerations may be given as a result of recent tournament results. The tournament committee will make the final decision regarding such matters.

Rules

The tournament will be played according to USTA rules, unless superseded by GLTA rules. This includes USTA's 15 minute default time. Please check-in at the tournament desk 15 minutes prior to your scheduled match time. Warm-up time will be limited to 5 minutes. Please be considerate of other players and help keep the tournament on schedule by strictly enforcing this warm-up time limit.