An entire team walks off the court...need help with USTA rules

[Aztennisgal]

This was a scheduled match for our 4.0 women’s team and we were the home team. Our match started at 10:30am.

Background:
It had rained on and off for the past couple of days prior to the match so on Friday-there were some small puddles here and there that just needed to be rolled and it would dry immediately but only near the back part for two of the five courts were like this, the rest were just fine. It was a dry, beautiful sunny day.

The opposing team arrived at 10am and started to do short court. Here in AZ there’s a courtesy 30 minute warmup if courts are available. The opposing team then walks off the courts saying they were unplayable. Our league coordinator had received a call from their pro asking what the rule was for dry courts. It was told that they have to be dry 30 minutes prior to warmup. So their team claimed that this was the rule even after we said you have 10 Warmup minutes according to USTA and our local rules. They then decided on their own to reschedule without agreement from acting captain.
The opposing team walks off our courts at 10:15, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled match time at 10:30am. We were all in shock. This is going to grievance at the moment but I wanted to hear if anyone had this happen. We want a match default but our league coordinator is saying to reschedule.

 

[schmke]

Hard to say who is technically right or wrong based on the info provided. It all depends on the specifics of the section/district/local rules, but if the courts are supposed to be dry 30 minutes prior to warm-up and warmup was 10 minutes before, that would mean they have to be dry at 9:50. So, perhaps they were technically right if the courts were not dry. But that is also pretty ticky tack if the wet spots were minor and could be rolled/dried very quickly.

That said, the point of USTA League is to play matches. And that is likely what the coordinator is trying to encourage by saying to reschedule.

 

[brettatk]

Wow. Do you know if they were missing some players that day? I haven't ever heard of the rule you talked about. Around here it's always been you need to wait an hour after the first scheduled match time and if the courts are still unplayable you can then treat it as an inclement weather match and make them up. But typically we don't wait. If it's raining and radar shows no relief, we'll call it to save people from driving out for nothing. At times we have had to wait 30 minutes to an hour because it takes that long for the courts to completely dry. I couldn't imagine showing up somewhere and then walking off when we could have played.

 

[Aztennisgal]

Hard to say who is technically right or wrong based on the info provided. It all depends on the specifics of the section/district/local rules, but if the courts are supposed to be dry 30 minutes prior to warm-up and warmup was 10 minutes before, that would mean they have to be dry at 9:50. So, perhaps they were technically right if the courts were not dry. But that is also pretty ticky tack if the wet spots were minor and could be rolled/dried very quickly.

That said, the point of USTA League is to play matches. And that is likely what the coordinator is trying to encourage by saying to reschedule.

That’s the issue—there is no local rule about 30 minutes dry! The league coordinator told their pro not even their captain that they should be dry but didn’t even know what was happening on our end. And to follow this up—tons of recreational players were playing around us because it was a beautiful day!

 

[Aztennisgal]

Wow. Do you know if they were missing some players that day? I haven't ever heard of the rule you talked about. Around here it's always been you need to wait an hour after the first scheduled match time and if the courts are still unplayable you can then treat it as an inclement weather match and make them up. But typically we don't wait. If it's raining and radar shows no relief, we'll call it to save people from driving out for nothing. At times we have had to wait 30 minutes to an hour because it takes that long for the courts to completely dry. I couldn't imagine showing up somewhere and then walking off when we could have played.

They were not missing players but they did have their strongest singles. We know that for sure.

 

[Aztennisgal]

They were not missing players but they did have their strongest singles. We know that for sure.

I mean NOt their strongest singles

 

[esgee48]

Your captain messed up by allowing their team to just leave. Normally, the home court captain tells the other team's captain whether the courts are playable or not. If you need to roll the puddles out and let the courts dry, you do it and delay the start. Since they were there, their captain cannot unilaterally make this decision. It is the home team's decision with consultation form the other team. This is a tough grievance call unless you have pictures of the court conditions.

 

[kevrol]

I was under the impression that anyone could refuse to play at anytime if they felt the conditions were unsafe.

 

[Aztennisgal]

Your captain messed up by allowing their team to just leave. Normally, the home court captain tells the other team's captain whether the courts are playable or not. If you need to roll the puddles out and let the courts dry, you do it and delay the start. Since they were there, their captain cannot unilaterally make this decision. It is the home team's decision with consultation form the other team. This is a tough grievance call unless you have pictures of the court conditions.

We have pictures with time stamps. I was the acting captain on the court and their captain walked off without an agreement. I tried to even negotiate doing a play order but she turned around and left with the rest of her team.

 

[esgee48]

I would appeal the coodinator's decision to reschedule up the chain. If the pictures show that the courts are basically playable, they cannot leave if you disagree. The other captain knows this and is trying to pull a fast one. The worst is you have to reschedule. The best is the other team is defaulted from the league and their captain sanctioned.

 

[brettatk]

I mean NOt their strongest singles

Are you two of the top teams in the league? It sounds to me they wanted to get a better lineup against you and used this to their advantage. Or better yet took advantage of you. They should not have left like that. But as someone mentioned, USTA will push for you to reschedule unless you press them. Sounds like you might have a case.

 

[Aztennisgal]

Are you two of the top teams in the league? It sounds to me they wanted to get a better lineup against you and used this to their advantage. Or better yet took advantage of you. They should not have left like that. But as someone mentioned, USTA will push for you to reschedule unless you press them. Sounds like you might have a case.

Yep. We are number 1 and they are number 2. Last match decides we wins to go to playoff match. They needed to win all 5 courts to beat us.

 

[V-Werks]

This was a scheduled match for our 4.0 women’s team and we were the home team. Our match started at 10:30am.

Background:
It had rained on and off for the past couple of days prior to the match so on Friday-there were some small puddles here and there that just needed to be rolled and it would dry immediately but only near the back part for two of the five courts were like this, the rest were just fine. It was a dry, beautiful sunny day.

The opposing team arrived at 10am and started to do short court. Here in AZ there’s a courtesy 30 minute warmup if courts are available. The opposing team then walks off the courts saying they were unplayable. Our league coordinator had received a call from their pro asking what the rule was for dry courts. It was told that they have to be dry 30 minutes prior to warmup. So their team claimed that this was the rule even after we said you have 10 Warmup minutes according to USTA and our local rules. They then decided on their own to reschedule without agreement from acting captain.
The opposing team walks off our courts at 10:15, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled match time at 10:30am. We were all in shock. This is going to grievance at the moment but I wanted to hear if anyone had this happen. We want a match default but our league coordinator is saying to reschedule.

The courts should have been dry by 950 am? So, why the verbosity? Why didn't the home team (your team) prepare the courts as required?

 

[Aztennisgal]

I would appeal the coodinator's decision to reschedule up the chain. If the pictures show that the courts are basically playable, they cannot leave if you disagree. The other captain knows this and is trying to pull a fast one. The worst is you have to reschedule. The best is the other team is defaulted from the league and their captain sanctioned.

The courts should have been dry by 950 am? So, why the verbosity? Why didn't the home team (your team) prepare the courts as required? Your team is at risk of losing by default on each court that was not dry in time.

9:50 is 40 minutes before match time. We had dry courts ready for them at thirty minutes prior to warmup. They were dry because two teaching pros came off of them after teaching for an hour. They refused.

 

[J_R_B]

We have pictures with time stamps. I was the acting captain on the court and their captain walked off without an agreement. I tried to even negotiate doing a play order but she turned around and left with the rest of her team.

Do you have pictures of the players that were there? Only agree to reschedule if those are the players that are in the lineup for the rescheduled match. Otherwise, it looks extremely underhanded.

I would have entered a full team forfeit in tennislink the second they left, too. I hope you did that.

 

[Aztennisgal]

Do you have pictures of the players that were there? Only agree to reschedule if those are the players that are in the lineup for the rescheduled match. Otherwise, it looks extremely underhanded.

I would have entered a full team forfeit in tennislink the second they left, too. I hope you did that.

We know most of who was there—not all. We know who wasn’t there. I was going to enter it as a forfeit but the league coordinator said I couldn’t.

 

[J_R_B]

We know most of who was there—not all. We know who wasn’t there. I was going to enter it as a forfeit but the league coordinator said I couldn’t.

Yeah, you had to do that right away on the spot without asking anyone. Get it on record as a forfeit because that makes their argument from a point of disadvantage instead of neutral (i.e. no score in the system at all). Once it's at a point in the process where the LLC is involved and you have to ask about everything, it's too late for that.

 

[Heck]

It was about them getting the advantage and not about playing tennis. Some courts could have been played and a small delay is no big deal to get puddles dry.
Here in NY payment of the courts would be an issue. 24-hour cancelation policy the club has the right to charge for the court time even if no match is played.

 

[tennis tom]

Always have a helicopter on standby for fast court dry out.

 

[ChaelAZ]

This was a scheduled match for our 4.0 women’s team and we were the home team. Our match started at 10:30am.

Background:
It had rained on and off for the past couple of days prior to the match so on Friday-there were some small puddles here and there that just needed to be rolled and it would dry immediately but only near the back part for two of the five courts were like this, the rest were just fine. It was a dry, beautiful sunny day.

The opposing team arrived at 10am and started to do short court. Here in AZ there’s a courtesy 30 minute warmup if courts are available. The opposing team then walks off the courts saying they were unplayable. Our league coordinator had received a call from their pro asking what the rule was for dry courts. It was told that they have to be dry 30 minutes prior to warmup. So their team claimed that this was the rule even after we said you have 10 Warmup minutes according to USTA and our local rules. They then decided on their own to reschedule without agreement from acting captain.
The opposing team walks off our courts at 10:15, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled match time at 10:30am. We were all in shock. This is going to grievance at the moment but I wanted to hear if anyone had this happen. We want a match default but our league coordinator is saying to reschedule.

Most places have rollers and courts weren't that bad Friday. I played Suprirse courts without issue. Had to roll a little.

 

[R1FF]

Ultimately, the problem is that the competitors are left to police themselves. Which creates massive conflicts of interest.

This is a fundamental problem with tennis that you do not see in other "organized" sports. This is league play? So there are inherent expectations of fairness & rules enforcement, despite the fact that there really isnt anyone there to do the job.

Tennis should have umpires on site all the time. You wouldnt play city league basketball without multiple referees. And dont say tennis is more civilized, clearly it isnt. It's as petty as any other sport. And humans generally will take advantage of situations when presented the opportunity.

 

[5sets]

This was a scheduled match for our 4.0 women’s team and we were the home team. Our match started at 10:30am.

Background:
It had rained on and off for the past couple of days prior to the match so on Friday-there were some small puddles here and there that just needed to be rolled and it would dry immediately but only near the back part for two of the five courts were like this, the rest were just fine. It was a dry, beautiful sunny day.

The opposing team arrived at 10am and started to do short court. Here in AZ there’s a courtesy 30 minute warmup if courts are available. The opposing team then walks off the courts saying they were unplayable. Our league coordinator had received a call from their pro asking what the rule was for dry courts. It was told that they have to be dry 30 minutes prior to warmup. So their team claimed that this was the rule even after we said you have 10 Warmup minutes according to USTA and our local rules. They then decided on their own to reschedule without agreement from acting captain.
The opposing team walks off our courts at 10:15, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled match time at 10:30am. We were all in shock. This is going to grievance at the moment but I wanted to hear if anyone had this happen. We want a match default but our league coordinator is saying to reschedule.

Going to need some photographs, lol.

Seriously though, even if puddles are rolled and the sun is coming out who wants to turn an ankle in a usta match....sooooooo not worth it

 

[WhiteOut]

Yep. We are number 1 and they are number 2. Last match decides we wins to go to playoff match. They needed to win all 5 courts to beat us.

I would have told their acting captain right then and there: "if you walk off without any agreement to either c;lean the puddles and start late or reschedule, I'm going to have to enter the score as a total team default. I'd prefer to play the match since everyone is here and ready to go. And we are taking pictures of the current state of the courts plus all the other people playing here *right now*. The decision is yours...so what do you want to do now?

 

[navigator]

Tennis should have umpires on site all the time. You wouldnt play city league basketball without multiple referees. And dont say tennis is more civilized, clearly it isnt. It's as petty as any other sport. And humans generally will take advantage of situations when presented the opportunity.

I haven't seen this, personally. I played eight years of competitive tennis as a junior and I've played another five-ish as a senior, so hundreds of competitive matches (tournaments, HS matches, non-team league play, etc), and I can count on one hand the number of disagreements I've had which, in and of themselves, were pretty minor. My observation has been that most folks almost never have issues while a small percentage of players seem to have issues all the time. And I tend not to have any issues with these "prickly" players.

With respect to the OP's issue, I just would've said, "The courts look ok to me but if you want to play another day, fine. What's the date?" No big deal. The underlying attitude should be, "You can lose today or you can lose another day. Which do you prefer?" There are few things more satisfying that allowing someone to engage in gamesmanship with no complaints, and then just beating the snot out of them anyway.

 

[CHtennis]

I would have told their acting captain right then and there: "if you walk off without any agreement to either c;lean the puddles and start late or reschedule, I'm going to have to enter the score as a total team default. I'd prefer to play the match since everyone is here and ready to go. And we are taking pictures of the current state of the courts plus all the other people playing here *right now*. The decision is yours...so what do you want to do now?

That seems to be about what she said but they chose to leave.

 

[Aztennisgal]

Going to need some photographs, lol.

Seriously though, even if puddles are rolled and the sun is coming out who wants to turn an ankle in a usta match....sooooooo not worth it

Not sure how to attach a picture here but we took time stamped pics. The courts were dry and two pros gave us their courts.

 

[bcart1991]

Always have a helicopter on standby for fast court dry out.

The brilliance of this post did not go unnoticed.

 

[OnTheLine]

Ultimately, the problem is that the competitors are left to police themselves. Which creates massive conflicts of interest.

This is a fundamental problem with tennis that you do not see in other "organized" sports. This is league play? So there are inherent expectations of fairness & rules enforcement, despite the fact that there really isnt anyone there to do the job.

Tennis should have umpires on site all the time. You wouldnt play city league basketball without multiple referees. And dont say tennis is more civilized, clearly it isnt. It's as petty as any other sport. And humans generally will take advantage of situations when presented the opportunity.

Adult rec sports rarely have officials in my experience.
Played adult soccer ... we were self refereeing ... one member from each team (non-playing for that game) served as ref or teams would agree to simply self-police on the field ... and really only blatant penalties were called
Adult softball ... the catcher from the batting team was umpire for that portion of each inning
Husband played adult rec volleyball ... I don't recall ever seeing a ref at a match

In basketball referees are more integral to the way the game itself is played ... difficult to have a tip off without one. Same would go for hockey I suppose.

I have played 100s of league matches and can think of perhaps 4 matches total where an official would have been nice to have around ... not necessary, but nice.

The rules of tennis as used for ITF and USTA are clearly designed to be played without an umpire/referee. The assumption is that the matches are all un-officiated.

Logistics .... Where are you going to find all these officials? I think in Las Vegas there are about 6 certified USTA officials.
I am in a minor metro area ... on any given Saturday each facility hosts roughly 6-18 team matches (depending on how many courts they have) ... Let's just use 10 for a round number.
8 primary facilities, 10 team matches each, 4 courts for each team match ... 320 matches on a single Saturday.
Does each court get an official? Then each facility would need 4-18 officials (depending on courts being used) from 7:30am - 6:30pm ... 32-60 officials needed just to cover one Saturday league matches
Or, does each facility need a "roaming" official? Now you only need 2 more certified officials than LV has right now ... and they all need to be willing to work for 11 hours every Saturday

How about we consider Atlanta instead? How many officials are you going to need there on League day? 500? More?

If you were to require officials for league, you would basically kill it off. A. There aren't that many officials. B. No one would be willing to pay for them on top of what they are already paying. (imagine playing $40 for your court time and then another $30 for your official for a league match .... 6-8X a season!)

In the case of OP's dilemma what occurred was an interpretation of the local league's rules, not the rules of tennis per se .... that is going to be under the purview of the LLC and wouldn't have been an official anyway. (just as an official should refer to the TD regarding something similar in a tournament)

 

[5sets]

Lol lol..... I don’t know but most of us want to play given the chance. I don’t think they took time out of their weekend to drive down there and then just got scuuuuuurrrrreeedddd and said the courts were too slick to play on.

And wouldn’t you want to play again in a rescheduled match? Why the thirst for a default win?

I played a Men’s Open last spring and some competitors refused to play. The director gave us all squeegees and said play when you’re ready, no rush.

 

[Moveforwardalways]

Yep. We are number 1 and they are number 2. Last match decides we wins to go to playoff match. They needed to win all 5 courts to beat us.

There you have it

 

[Aztennisgal]

Lol lol..... I don’t know but most of us want to play given the chance. I don’t think they took time out of their weekend to drive down there and then just got scuuuuuurrrrreeedddd and said the courts were too slick to play on.

And wouldn’t you want to play again in a rescheduled match? Why the thirst for a default win?

I played a Men’s Open last spring and some competitors refused to play. The director gave us all squeegees and said play when you’re ready, no rush.

They didn’t have their main singles players—everything was on the line for them not for us, courts were dry (we have pics), tennis director told them that there’s no rule-they get a 10 warmup based on local league rules. We all wanted to play. It was childish for them to not even wait until match time. I don’t know-I don’t reward bad behavior with my kids—kind of the same.

 

[5sets]

They didn’t have their main singles players—everything was on the line for them not for us, courts were dry (we have pics), tennis director told them that there’s no rule-they get a 10 warmup based on local league rules. We all wanted to play. It was childish for them to not even wait until match time. I don’t know-I don’t reward bad behavior with my kids—kind of the same.

Yeah if the courts were dry it is childish and we’re still waiting on those photographs for confirmation

 

[Aztennisgal]

I can’t figure out how to insert the pic...is there an icon on this menu that does that?

 

[rogerroger917]

Ladies rec tennis is life or death it seems. Wow.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[navigator]

I can’t figure out how to insert the pic...is there an icon on this menu that does that?

No, you need to have an account with an outside image storage site - like image shack, photo bucket, etc - and put the link to the photo in your post. You can't just grab an image from your pc/phone.

 

[R1FF]

I haven't seen this, personally. I played eight years of competitive tennis as a junior and I've played another five-ish as a senior, so hundreds of competitive matches (tournaments, HS matches, non-team league play, etc), and I can count on one hand the number of disagreements I've had which, in and of themselves, were pretty minor. My observation has been that most folks almost never have issues while a small percentage of players seem to have issues all the time. And I tend not to have any issues with these "prickly" players.

With respect to the OP's issue, I just would've said, "The courts look ok to me but if you want to play another day, fine. What's the date?" No big deal. The underlying attitude should be, "You can lose today or you can lose another day. Which do you prefer?" There are few things more satisfying that allowing someone to engage in gamesmanship with no complaints, and then just beating the snot out of them anyway.

Yeah ok. Way to sidestep the issue... nobody should have to bend over backwards dealing with gamesmanship.

Tennis players are as petty as they come. Tennis is no different than any other sport except that it expects the inmates to run the asylum.

 

[R1FF]

Adult rec sports rarely have officials in my experience.
Played adult soccer ... we were self refereeing ... one member from each team (non-playing for that game) served as ref or teams would agree to simply self-police on the field ... and really only blatant penalties were called
Adult softball ... the catcher from the batting team was umpire for that portion of each inning
Husband played adult rec volleyball ... I don't recall ever seeing a ref at a match

In basketball referees are more integral to the way the game itself is played ... difficult to have a tip off without one. Same would go for hockey I suppose.

I have played 100s of league matches and can think of perhaps 4 matches total where an official would have been nice to have around ... not necessary, but nice.

The rules of tennis as used for ITF and USTA are clearly designed to be played without an umpire/referee. The assumption is that the matches are all un-officiated.

Logistics .... Where are you going to find all these officials? I think in Las Vegas there are about 6 certified USTA officials.
I am in a minor metro area ... on any given Saturday each facility hosts roughly 6-18 team matches (depending on how many courts they have) ... Let's just use 10 for a round number.
8 primary facilities, 10 team matches each, 4 courts for each team match ... 320 matches on a single Saturday.
Does each court get an official? Then each facility would need 4-18 officials (depending on courts being used) from 7:30am - 6:30pm ... 32-60 officials needed just to cover one Saturday league matches
Or, does each facility need a "roaming" official? Now you only need 2 more certified officials than LV has right now ... and they all need to be willing to work for 11 hours every Saturday

How about we consider Atlanta instead? How many officials are you going to need there on League day? 500? More?

If you were to require officials for league, you would basically kill it off. A. There aren't that many officials. B. No one would be willing to pay for them on top of what they are already paying. (imagine playing $40 for your court time and then another $30 for your official for a league match .... 6-8X a season!)

In the case of OP's dilemma what occurred was an interpretation of the local league's rules, not the rules of tennis per se .... that is going to be under the purview of the LLC and wouldn't have been an official anyway. (just as an official should refer to the TD regarding something similar in a tournament)

Correct. The actual rules of tennis are not under criticism. The fact that the competitors are left to police themselves is what is asinine.

It’s the ONLY organized sport I’ve ever played in which this occurs.

The other sports you mentioned have ways of policing themselves. That net in tennis is like a protective barrier that gives a lot of players a sense of security u dont find in “contact” sports.

Now if it’s pickup basketball, u police it yourself. Sometimes a scrap is necessary. Sometimes just a dirty elbow. Almost always there is debate. You know that going into the situation.

League basketball? Different story. There are expectations of SANTIONED events. League tennis play is sanctioned. People expect fairness. When expectations aint met, they’re disappointed.

You can make up excuses as to why tennis shouldnt have to get with the program. Meanwhile people vote with their wallets. League tennis play from these forums and local chit chat at local courts just seems like a ton of drama. It’s no surprise that the participation numbers continue to dwindle.

Which is a shame because it’s a very cool sport. It’s just run poorly.

I’ve yet to be at a youth event and not see rampant rules violations by kids/parents. Which is not inherently a tennis issue. Youth basketball gets just as bad if nobody steps up and enforces the rules.

Maybe having enough officials is difficult. So then the penalties should just be super severe. Make examples out of all the sideline coaches, sandbagging team captains, line call cheats, etc. Because as of now, there is absolutely zero penalty or incentive to play honorable tennis imo.

 

[tennis tom]

The opposing team walks off our courts at 10:15, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled match time at 10:30am.

I don't know what it's like in league play, but in the Seniors matches aren't called off due to rain until after 12 noon--until then you wait around and play checkers, backgammon or read a book.

 

[R1FF]

Side note: you know what I cant figure out?

I cant wait to get to the courts.

And these clowns are looking for a reason to get out of playing.

Huh? What’s the point of joining a league if you’re gonna dodge matches. Weird behavior.

 

[JLyon]

Were scorecards/line-up exchanged? If so then the rescheduled match should use those line-ups?

 

[kevrol]

there were some small puddles here and there that just needed to be rolled and it would dry immediately but only near the back part for two of the five courts were like this, the rest were just fine.

The courts were dry and two pros gave us their courts.

courts were dry (we have pics),

In your first post you said there were puddles on 2 of the five courts. However the rest of your posts say the courts were dry. Which is one is true?

Even if 3 of the 5 courts were playable you all would have to mutually agree to play 3 of 5 and mutually agree which 3 to play. I'm thinking that would not happen. It's not sportsmanlike but your opponent did nothing against the rules IMO.

 

[GatorTennis]

I'm sure I've shared this story in the past....

I asked one of the LLC's at the time about what to do in this event. Team A is hosting Team B. Rain is on the horizon, but as anyone in Florida knows, rain can pop up or disappear without much notice. Team B did not have their best players, so they kept stalling and wouldn't exchange lineups. Team A trying to be nice, kept waiting, until it started raining about 30 minutes after match time. Then Team B said they would email for a reschedule. Team A found out that the whole fiasco was about missing players and wanted to make a scene, but it was too late.

What the LLC told me was kind of shocking, in that most LLC's encourage to reschedule. LLC said Team A was screwed because they didn't follow the rules and that's why they had to reschedule. She said Team A should have demanded a lineup exchange and warned Team B that they were going to be match defaulted. At match time, send players out for warm ups. After 15 minutes, the mandatory default time, pull your players off the courts, go home, enter the match default. Then everyone's hand is forced. Like I said, it was weird hearing an LLC tell us that the answer was to play hardball.

Edit: She also said that after the 10 min warm up you could pull players and just wait the extra 5 min. Also, if the opposing captain got scared and decided to play, the warm up is only 10 minutes from when it starts. It starts when Team A would've sent their players out there. So Team B may not be entitled to any warm up.

 

[brettatk]

Is there a rule in that Area/Section saying you have to start all 5 courts at the same time or is that just assumed? That would never happen here. We might have 3 courts to work with but a lot of times only 2.

 

[J_R_B]

Lol lol..... I don’t know but most of us want to play given the chance. I don’t think they took time out of their weekend to drive down there and then just got scuuuuuurrrrreeedddd and said the courts were too slick to play on.

And wouldn’t you want to play again in a rescheduled match? Why the thirst for a default win?

I played a Men’s Open last spring and some competitors refused to play. The director gave us all squeegees and said play when you’re ready, no rush.

If I were in that situation, I would want to play, but I would enter the full match default right away anyway. Why? Because, from the second they leave, this is clearly going to be a dispute and a grievance. Having that process start with the score entered in your team's favor strengthens your negotiating position. That would allow me to "relent" and "compromise" to take the score off and play the match on my terms (e.g. with the same players that showed up that day).

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Is there a rule in that Area/Section saying you have to start all 5 courts at the same time or is that just assumed? That would never happen here. We might have 3 courts to work with but a lot of times only 2.

We often can only start a subset of lines due to court availability.

What doesn't make sense is the order in which you have to play the lines: ie all singles before doubles. Wouldn't it make more sense logistically to play doubles first so there are only half as many people waiting for a court?

 

[tennis tom]

Like I said, it was weird hearing an LLC tell us that the answer was to play hardball.

This is getting very confusing--we may need a SCOTUS clerk to sort all this out--tennis is supposed to be fun and release tension, not create it.

Playing by the rules isn't playing hard-ball--it's just playing by the rules--otherwise, it all turns to ****e--changing the goalposts in the middle of the game is not fair play.

 

[brettatk]

We often can only start a subset of lines due to court availability.

What doesn't make sense is the order in which you have to play the lines: ie all singles before doubles. Wouldn't it make more sense logistically to play doubles first so there are only half as many people waiting for a court?

If we have only two courts we'll always start line 1 singles and line 1 doubles. If we have a third the home captain will usually reach out and ask the visiting captain if he'd want to start line 2 singles or line 2 doubles as the 3rd match. The other two follow suit. That's the only way I've ever seen it done but we rarely ever run into court issues here. I guess if court time is scarce then I can see why it would be more strict.

 

[Chelsie1]

When we have wet courts at 10:00 for a 10:30 match, we work to dry them. Courts that are wet at 10:00 can very well be dry by 10:30. Who determines if the courts are playable? Here, the facility does.

 

[Aztennisgal]

We often can only start a subset of lines due to court availability.

What doesn't make sense is the order in which you have to play the lines: ie all singles before doubles. Wouldn't it make more sense logistically to play doubles first so there are only half as many people waiting for a court?

I asked to start two courts and their captain refused. I didn’t care which lines started. And no, there’s no rule here that states all courts have to start at the same time.

 

[Aztennisgal]

When we have wet courts at 10:00 for a 10:30 match, we work to dry them. Courts that are wet at 10:00 can very well be dry by 10:30. Who determines if the courts are playable? Here, the facility does.

We all did that and two were fully ready at 10:00 for them to warmup on. The others were ready 15 minutes later when they walked off. Our facility director was on the courts too and told them they were fine.