Ask the chat

Ask the chat on the front page about any team, player or league the Desk covers, in your own words and with no account.

What you can ask

The chat can look up any of these for you, where a Desk level is the Desk's estimate of how a player is playing now:

• a team's roster with each player's Desk level and recent form
• how two teams have done head-to-head
• a player's record and trend
• where a team stands in its league

Name a team in full, like BELVEDERE TC 18AM4.0A, because a shorter name can match several teams. A club's name alone, like Belvedere, gets you a list of its teams. Ask how a club is doing this season, and the chat answers from its club page, so it matches what you'd see there.

On a club page, Brief me in the chat puts a question about the club's week in the chat's box. Press Enter to ask. When you're signed out, the chat answers with up to 3 facts. The club briefing counts as one question.

Signed in, the chat usually answers in one or two sentences, and any table under the answer comes from the Desk's records. Names in the answer link to their Desk pages.

Ask about the Desk itself

Ask what a Desk level is, and the chat can use these docs to answer. If you're signed out and no paragraph fits, the chat says:

The chat says: “For questions about the Desk itself, read its docs.”

A question about the Desk counts toward your limits when the chat's AI answers it. A hello, a thanks or a bye never does, because the chat sends a set reply to each with no AI. Say hello, and the chat replies:

The chat says: “Hi. I look up USTA NorCal league tennis from recorded match results, and I answer questions about the Desk from its docs.”

Under it, each of these buttons asks its question for you:

• “What can you look up?”
• “Which leagues and levels do you cover?”

A thanks or a bye gets one of these:

The chat says: “You're welcome. Ask me anything else about a team, a player or the Desk.”

The chat says: “Bye. Come back any time.”

Ask for a forecast

With an email sign-in, your first forecast each week is free, but more forecasts need a Desk Pass. A “Scout” question asks for a written analysis of a match, which needs a Desk Pass. Every other answer is free, except a team's playoff chances, which need one too. Ask in your own words for any of these:

• your win chance on each line of a team match
• who has played most for your team
• who would win between two players, or two pairs, that you name

When a forecast needs a pass, the chat says why, names your next match if it knows one, and offers the pricing page. It also links a free scout, so you can look at the team you named, or else your next opponent.

Ask about the playoffs

Signed in, you can ask how a team could still reach the playoffs, even with no Desk Pass. The chat shows the team's place, its matches left and how many of them it must win to get there. A Desk Pass adds each team's playoff chances.

How often you can ask

The chat has a daily and a monthly limit on questions, and when you're signed in, your count follows your account. With a Desk Pass, forecasts also have a weekly limit, which the chat and any agent you connect share.

Share an answer

Signed in, choose Share under an answer to send its link, which shows your question, the answer and its tables. On a phone it opens your share options, but on a computer it copies the link.

You can't share a paid answer, or one that shows a percentage. If it came with a report, Share sends the report alone.

What happens to your questions

The Desk stores each question with the chat's answer. It also records how its pages are used, including what you type, and you can read what it keeps, and for how long.