03/06/26 – State Tennis Timeline Set for Opening and Final Rounds

March 6, 2026 Athletic Department Blog Updates

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Following the Board of Control’s approval at its November meeting to revise the format of the State Tennis Singles/Doubles Championships, KHSAA staff have been working to incorporate the new first-round events into the postseason schedule.

For the 2026 season, the region tournament window will be adjusted to May 1-17, giving each region an extra weekend to hold the event if it so desires. Regions are encouraged to complete the singles/doubles tournaments first, so that advancers are known early for seeding into the state first-round events.

The State First Round Tournaments will take place on Wednesday, May 20, at four regional sites. Thursday, May 21, will be utilized only as a makeup date if weather forces an event to be postponed.

The Final Rounds of the Singles/Doubles Tournament will be played in Lexington on May 26-27, followed by the Team Tennis Tournaments on May 28-29. Placing both events in the same week maintains the typical calendar week used for the state tennis tournament, while also addressing travel concerns with teams making multiple trips to Lexington​ in prior years, avoiding conflicts with third-party events the following week, and allowing for as much work in advance as possible to avoid other school-related event conflicts.

The first-round state events will consist of four sites, each with four regions (Regions 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16). Sixteen singles/doubles entries will compete at each state first-round site, and seeding will be carried out to eight places at each site (1, 2, 3, 4, 5-8). All state seeding will be coordinated and executed by the KHSAA offices and the state KHSAA committee. A draw will be conducted to fill the remaining spots in the bracket. This “protection” of the seeded players would strike the necessary balance to help maintain the integrity of regular-season play and regional play. Additionally, teammates will be restricted from being placed in the same quadrant to prevent them from playing one another before the championship.

Each quadrant of four competitors in the 16-slot state first-round event will produce one singles/doubles entry that advances to the final-round event in Lexington. The brackets will not be played to completion, as a singles/doubles entry will only need to win two matches in its quadrant to advance to the final round. This format can be completed in one day, provided the facility has at least 8 courts.

Those who advance to the final event in Lexington will then be re-seeded by the KHSAA committee. This proposal includes a previously approved change to the state seeding procedure, as the final 16 entries would have eight seeds, similar to the first-round events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5-8).

Host sites for the state first-round events will be identified as soon as possible and relayed to member schools for planning purposes.

2026 Postseason Schedule

• Regional Tennis Tournaments – May 1-17
• Individual & Doubles State First Rounds – May 20
• Individual & Doubles State Final Rounds – May 26-27
• Team State Tournaments – May 28-29

Alternate plans for the events in the case of inclement weather will be finalized as the events draw closer.

– KHSAA –

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 290 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 229 state championships to 59 teams and 178 individuals in 13 sports and six sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 109,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.

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