Interesting Argument at USTA Jupiter Open

[tntmail]

I attended a USTA tournament today to see the level of player getting ready to compete next year.

There was an altercation on the court in the 50 and over group.
The server aced his opponent only to be told by the receiver he was looking down and not ready. This went on for about 10 minutes with neither player willing to yield and move on. The server kept saying, he had to raise his hand
for not being ready. And the receiver kept saying didnt you see me I was looking down. The receiver had dark sunglasses on. I felt the server was correct.

The USTA person running the event grabbed a stop watch telling the receiver he has 20 seconds to prepare between points, but the server said, the reciever must play at my pace.

Finally they played the point over and the server finished out the game.

thoughts?

 

[WBF]

No idea what the rules stipulate, but if he wasn't obviously "not ready" or indicating that he was not ready, I don't think the receiver has a leg to stand on.

 

[IanRichardson]

it sounds to me like the official should have stepped in and made a ruling. Funny that the older guys still like to argue like 20 year old testosterone driven psychos

 

[Clintspin]

You must play at the servers pace within reason. If the player was not ready to receive serve he should have clearly held up his hand. That is assuming the server didn't quick serve him.

 

[JLyon]

True the receiver has 20 seconds between points but if he has stepped up to the line in a return stance then it is fair game. The code is play at pace of the server, but USTA rules allow 20 seconds, still if returner is in a stance ready then the point can begin unless there is a definate signal.

 

[tennis-n-sc]

True the receiver has 20 seconds between points but if he has stepped up to the line in a return stance then it is fair game. The code is play at pace of the server, but USTA rules allow 20 seconds, still if returner is in a stance ready then the point can begin unless there is a definate signal.

Actually, I believe the rule says the receiver must play at the server's reasonable pace. The 20 seconds is mostly for the server to get the ball back in play after the last point to prevent Nadal like delays. Somewhere in the book is also states that the receiver cannot become unready after becoming ready. As an official I would have played the point over after instructing the receiver to stay away from the ready position until ready to receive. Yeah, those 50 year olds can be a handful. Thankfully, I'm past that now.

 

[kevhen]

Reciever needs to hold out hand when not ready. Looking down is not a good enough excuse. How can you see his eyes when he has sunglasses on to see if he is looking down? Why is he standing there on the baseline if he is not ready?

 

[Cindysphinx]

If the receiver made no attempt to return the ball and claims he wasn't ready, then you play a let. Yes, people usually hold up a hand, but "not ready" can look many different ways.

Cindy -- who takes so bloody long to serve that her opponents are either ready or asleep

 

[Clintspin]

A lot of times, the receiver doesn't make a move when being aced. They are caught off guard by a really good serve. So, I don't think lack of movement makes a good case for replaying the point.