The Racquet Club of Columbus

1100 Bethel Road   Columbus, OH  43220   Phone:  614/457-5671
 rctennis @ sbcglobal . net           www . racquetclub1 . com

Local League Rules

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 GREATER COLUMBUS USA LEAGUE TENNIS

2007 Season, including Fall 2006 and Winter 2007
 

SINGLES RULES:

1)    Play a 9 game pro-set, no-ad scoring, and a 9 point tie-breaker. There will be no breaks until the third game of the set and no breaks during the tie-breaker.

2)    There will be a grace of 5 minutes to appear on the court for players coming late, after which an automatic default must be declared. Warm-up will begin and the designated starting time. Warm-up will last 10 minutes, and will not be extended to players coming late.

3)    If the pro-set is tied at 8 games, a 9 point tie-breaker will determine the winner.

4)    If the match is not completed with exactly 10 minutes left to play, complete the game being played and the following applies:

A.   If there is a difference of 2 games or more, the match is over.

B.   If there is a one game difference, play one more game for the win or the tie. If the match is then tied, a 9 point tie-breaker will be played to determine the winner.

C.   If the match is tied at 10 minutes left when checking the clock, a 9 point tie-breaker must be played to completion to determine the winner (even if time has expired).
 

 DOUBLES RULES:

1)    Play the best 2 out of 3 sets, no-ad scoring, and use 9 point tie-breakers. There will be no breaks until the third game of each set and no breaks during the tie-breakers.

2)    There will be a grace of 15 minutes to appear on the court for players coming late, after which an automatic default must be declared. Warm-up will not be extended for players coming late.

3)    If a second set cannot be completed with exactly 15 minutes left to play, complete the game you are playing, and the following applies:

A.   If there is a difference of 2 games or more the set is over.  If the result is split sets, play a 9 point tie-breaker to determine the winner.

B.   If there is a difference of one game, play one more game for the win or the tie.

C.   If the set is tied, play a 9 point tie-breaker for the set. If the result is split sets, play a 9 point tie-breaker to determine the winner.

4)    If a third set was started, but not completed with exactly 15 minutes left to play, complete the game in progress, and the following applies:

A.   If there is a difference of 2 games or more the match is over.

B.   If there is a difference of 1 game, play one more game for the win or the tie. If tied, play a 9 point tie-breaker to determine the winner.

  

ATTENTION CAPTAINS:  SCORES MUST BE REPORTED BY BOTH HOME AND VISITING TEAMS EACH MATCH.  IF THE MATCH IS NOT REPORTED WITHIN 48 HOURS, A ONE TIME WARNING WILL BE ISSUED AND THEN AFTER THAT THE MATCH WILL BE DEFAULTED.



HOW TO PLAY A 9-POINT TIE-BREAKER:  

Singles:  With A having served the first game of the set, A serves points 1 & 2, right court and left:  then B serves points 3 & 4, right and left.  Players change ends.  A serves points 5 & 6, right and left, and B serves points 7 & 8, right and left.  If the score reaches 4 points all, B serves point 9, right or left at the election of A.  The first player to win 5 points wins the game and the set.  The players stay for one game to start the next set, and B is the first server.  

Doubles:  The same format as in singles applies, with each player serving from the same end of the court in the tie-break game that they served from during the set.  (Note that this operates to alter the sequence of serving by the partners on the second-serving team.  With A-B versus C-D, if the serving sequence during the set was A-B-C-D, the sequence becomes A-D-B-C in the tie-break.)

 

ELIGIBILITY:  

1.        A player shall have reached the age of 19 prior to or during the calendar year in which such player plays in his/her first local league match. 

2.        All individuals who compete in the USA League Tennis Program must be current members of the USTA and be a current USTA member through each Championship progression. 

3.        A player is only eligible to play on one team per NTRP level per USTA League Tennis season.

4.        In order to be eligible for the regular season, players must have a computer rating or self-rate.  If a player is disqualified after the USA League Tennis season begins, the team will not forfeit any points won by that player prior to the match in which the rating protest occurred.

5.        A player who has received a computer rating must play at the rated level or higher. If the player plays at a lower level, all points will be forfeited.

6.        A player’s official rating is the most recent of the last two years’ computer ratings.  Players who do not have an NTRP rating may self rate in accordance with the NTRP guidelines and declare their self rating on TennisLink during the League registration process.  .

7.        Once a player is assigned a computer rating, that computer rating is valid for five years or until another rating is generated.        

LEAGUE RULES:

1.        The official league season will be broken into sessions for each division.  In each division the winners of the two sessions will qualify for the District Championships.  If the same team wins both sessions, that team will go to the District Championship.

2.        Line-ups must be exchanged no later than the designated starting (warm-up) time. If the line-up is not properly followed, those courts out of order will be defaulted.

3.        Scheduling will be based on total number of homes and aways for each team and the difference must not exceed more than two matches (unless a team does not have a designated home time, and that can reflect on other teams from that club). Head to head home and away matches vs. a particular team must not exceed a difference of more than two matches.  All schedules must end with complete round robins.

4.        A $250 fine will be assessed to any club dropping a team from any inter-club league once a session has begun ($250 for each occurrence).

5.        League registration must be closed no later than two weeks prior to the end of the local league season.

6.        There can not be any changes to the schedule other than for scheduling errors.

7.        In case of default, players must stay and play for fun; otherwise the default will not stand.

8.        When defaulting courts, teams have the option of defaulting the lowest singles court or doubles court. It is allowable to default both singles courts.  If a player fails to show for a match, a substitute may be inserted if present at the time of the match.  If a substitute is not available, and the court defaulted is not court 3 doubles or court 2 singles, only players from these two courts can be used to replace the player who did not show up.  Teams must field a minimum of three courts to be eligible for points.

9.        Time allowances for inclement weather can be given at the discretion of the host director.  Singles matches may be delayed up to 20 minutes and doubles matches 30 minutes. The host club director will advise the players if it is possible to play the entire match time or if the match must stop at the regular time. This will depend on court availability. All parties must agree to this delay and weather is the only reason for the allowance.

10.     New balls (no seconds) will be used for all matches, and balls should be turned in to the host club.

11.     There will be no break between 2nd and 3rd sets and no coaching or intentional distractions by coaches, employees, or spectators.  Captains and acting-captains are the only ones who can give rules and format input during matches and only if solicited.

12.     The clock closest to the court of an individual match shall be the official clock for that court’s match.

13.     Both home and visiting teams must report scores on TennisLink.com within 48 of the completion of the match.   

14.     Players are responsible for knowing rules. Protests must be made at the time of occurrence. A written protest must be mailed to the league director within 24 hours.

15.     If a doubles match ends in 2 sets, a mandatory 3rd set must be played if 45 minutes or more remain. We encourage changing partners for the 3 set. If the winning team refuses to play the 3rd set, that individual match is forfeited.

16.     During the official season, a player may switch from one roster or club to another as long as the player has not played in a match that session and also has been released by the original club.

17.     During the pre-season, players must play at least the same level as the previous year, unless the rating committee approves a move down.

18.     Racquet throwing will not be tolerated. A player will be suspended for two matches following the report of an incident.

19.     The scoring format will be the same as the USTA Championship format.  Each team match will be worth 1 point to the team that wins the match (a team winning a match 3-2 will receive 1 point and the losing team will receive 0 points.)

20.     We will follow USTA rules and limit changeovers to 90 seconds.

21.     Captains must enter scores on-line for each home and away match within 48 hours of the completed match.  Failure to do so will result in on warning, after which time the unreported matches will be defaulted.

22.     We will follow the 2007 USA League Tennis Regulations, USTA/Midwest Section Standing Orders, OVTA Rules and Regulations, and the Greater Columbus USA League Tennis Rules.

 
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Last modified: January 31, 2008