Is this legal?

[SirSweetSpot]

Okay, so my opponent hoists up an easy lob which I crush with an overhead smash. However, I hit it hard enough (and short) that it bounces up over the fence where my opponent runs through the open gate and attempts to return the ball from outside the fence. He framed it.:-?

Is this a legal attempt?

 

[jonnythan]

I'm no authority, but I'm pretty sure that it is perfectly legal.

 

[autumn_leaf]

i'm pretty sure that's perfectly fine. i guess this is the same as when ping pong players have to sometime jump into the crowd to get a ball back. i'm sure some pros have tried jumping over the stands when possible lol.

 

[JRstriker12]

I have to hear the official answer to this one.

My guess is that if he gets it before it bounces outside the court, then it's still in play. The Rules say:

USTA Comment 11.1: Is a point decided when a good shot has
clearly passed a player, or when an apparently bad shot passes over
the baseline or sideline? No. A ball is in play until it bounces twice or
lands outside the court, hits a permanent fixture, or hits a player. A ball
that becomes imbedded in the net is out of play.

 

[mikro112]

I don't think a player is allowed to leave the court.

 

[fed_the_savior]

fluck man if somebody gets a shot back like that how could you possible not give it to them... and anyway you could probably just hit it for a winner. but i've never seen a rule "you can't leave the court," that's just ridiculous

 

[woodrow1029]

You are not allowed to leave the court for an unauthorized reason (i.e. extra bathroom break, make a phone call, replace rackets).

In this situation, yes it is legal to run out and hit the ball as long as it hasn't bounced twice or hit a permanent structure.

 

[mikro112]

You are not allowed to leave the court for an unauthorized reason (i.e. extra bathroom break, make a phone call, replace rackets).

In this situation, yes it is legal to run out and hit the ball as long as it hasn't bounced twice or hit a permanent structure.

Ok. Thanks for clarification!

 

[jrod]

You are not allowed to leave the court for an unauthorized reason (i.e. extra bathroom break, make a phone call, replace rackets).

In this situation, yes it is legal to run out and hit the ball as long as it hasn't bounced twice or hit a permanent structure.

Just be sure you time your smash so that any oncoming traffic aids your efforts to win the point.

 

[10s talk]

you should have locked the gate :wink:

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Sounds perfectly legal to me. And very creative to boot. I've jumped up on a bench to play a shot more than once. I've seen a few players climb almost half-way up the back fence to play high bouncing shots (the sort of thing that you see on baseball highlights).

In the future, perhaps I'll leave the gates open to facilitate this type of save.:twisted:

 

[ALten1]

Whether its legal or not, a person gets that shot back from outside the fence, im putting my raquet down and clapping.....then picking my raquet back up and hitting his return to the far end on the other side of the court and hoping the sucker doesn't run it down.

 

[Ljubicic for number1]

Legal, Novak leaps into the stands flirting with hot girls and doing his nipple tassel thing and still hits a winner. So totally legal in my opinion

 

[SirSweetSpot]

Okay, thanks everybody.

 

[FedExpress117]

That's legal and it's also something I would like to see on video . He's just not allowed to touch your side of the court. In singles, he can have his foot on your doubles alleys.

 

[SirSweetSpot]

That's legal and it's also something I would like to see on video . He's just not allowed to touch your side of the court. In singles, he can have his foot on your doubles alleys.

Is this true!?

 

[PatrickB]

Is this true!?

In singles, your doubles alley isn't part of your court, so yes, this is true. In addition, if singles sticks are in place, the part of the net outside of the singles sticks aren't part of the formal net, and can also be touched, unlike the sticks themselves and the net between the sticks.

For example, if your opponent were running for a shot at net, hit the ball in, and then placed his hand on the part of the net between the single's stick and the net post, jumped over the rest of the net without touching the rest of the net, and landed completely in the doubles alley on your side, the point would continue.

 

[woodrow1029]

Is this true!?

Yes it's true.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

"Give me land, lots of land under sunny skies above, don't fence me in..."

Legal, with "style points" to boot.