My opponent cheated me out of a game to 'win' the match

kevin qmto

kevin qmto

Hall of Fame
Tonight I had a major brain fart and should have stood up for myself more than I did. Sorry both my opponent and myself are by chance wearing nearly identical clothes. I'm the guy with the orange strings, starting the video on the far side of the court. I lost the 1st set in a close tiebreaker. And when I last played this opponent, I won in straights.

dead time edited out of the video for brevity's sake.

I told the league coordinator via email that I refuse to let this match go down in the books as a 6/7, 4/6 loss, as that's not what the score is. its 5/5. I either want to redo the set, or at least meet up and start at 5-5 and continue from there. I have a decent case right?
 
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diggler

diggler

Hall of Fame
Cheat is a harsh word. You were both confused.

Why do your matches get recorded?

Technically you are correct, but it is in the scorebook now. What is the benefit of correcting it? Making the semis? Prizemoney? If it is just pride then it doesn't matter what is in the books. You know the truth. Show your opponent the tape. See what they say.
 
kevin qmto

kevin qmto

Hall of Fame
It's harsh but maybe 'gaslit' is a better term? I mean, I almost immediatly noticed the score felt wrong, then said that I broke his last serving game, but he was just so flat in saying "nope, you're mistaken." that I kinda just instantly believed him and felt like I was losing my mind. It was late and I was tired, and I don't like arguing with people. But it really threw me off for the rest of the match.

I did send him this unlisted video, and he apolgized, but didn't respond to my wanting to play again on another day to properly finish this match. Or play a whole new set to determine the outcome. I'm down for either, I'm just NOT down for taking this loss as is.
 
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Pass750

Professional
Once you accepted that was the score and continued to play, video or not it’s too late anything else is sour grapes. I can understand why you were thrown off, but you need to reign yourself in an try to control the anger. He beat you in first set, even with correct score you would have had to have won that set and next set to win match. Take the loss and use this a learning experience to stay on top of score and not back down.
 
MisterP

MisterP

Hall of Fame
Show the email from your opponent to the league coordinator where he apologizes for being mistaken.
 
tennisandtennis

tennisandtennis

Semi-Pro
I think you’re right to be upset, but you had the tape there. Next time stand your ground and use the tape on the spot. Once you conceded, the score is what it is.

I’d be mad too, but this is why you call the score out before every set, game and point.
 
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travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
kevin qmto said:
It's harsh but maybe 'gaslit' is a better term? I mean, I almost immediatly noticed the score felt wrong, then said that I broke his last serving game, but he was just so flat in saying "nope, you're mistaken." that I kinda just instantly believed him and felt like I was losing my mind. It was late and I was tired, and I don't like arguing with people. But it really threw me off for the rest of the match.

I did send him this unlisted video, and he apolgized, but didn't respond to my wanting to play again on another day to properly finish this match. Or play a whole new set to determine the outcome. I'm down for either, I'm just NOT down for taking this loss as is.
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This actually happened to me in a usta 9.0 mixed match.

My partner and I won first set. Then in 2nd set, my partner’s serve at 3-4. There had been no breaks in the set, and my partner and I had not lost serve the whole match. After we lost a “I-should’ve-called-a-let” point when people neighboring indoor court walking across onto our court middle of point when I was chasing a lob and they were in same corner as me, my opponents claimed they broke serve and called game, when it was actually deuce and we hadn’t even faced a single break point yet.

The 5.0 guy held serve after that to take the set. Then my racquet came apart (buttcap fell off) at untimely moment middle of super, and we lost. Sour.
 
Power Player

Power Player

Bionic Poster
I got hooked on a set point in a close battle last night. I honestly don't think he is a cheater or anything like that, it was just a close call and he called it his way. I honestly consider it as flattery that the other guy is scared he could lose, and has to resort to those measures. The second set he gave me the wrong score, so I stopped the match and corrected him. I did not see that as on purpose either though. It's a personal experience though. Typing this out someone could think the guy was a cheater, but I am 95% sure he is not since we spent a lot of time talking before and after and I got to know him. I can't tell from the video what kind of guy you are dealing with, but you have to fix score errors on the spot or they will stand.

It's super easy to forget scores sometimes. Some people do it maliciously I guess, but that's pretty soft behaviour.
 
cks

cks

Hall of Fame
Pass750 said:
Once you accepted that was the score and continued to play, video or not it’s too late anything else is sour grapes.
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Agreed.

I think Friend at Court covers this in The Code. If you shook hands at the end of the match, then the match is over. Any right to dispute the set score would need to occur before shaking hands and ending the match.

2. Points played in good faith are counted.
All points played in good faith stand. For example, if after losing a point, a player discovers that the net was four inches too high, the point stands. If a point is played from the wrong court, there is no replay. If during a point, a player realizes that a mistake was made at the beginning (for example, service from the wrong court), the player must continue playing the point. Corrective action may be taken only after a point has been completed. Shaking hands at the end of a match is an acknowledgment by the players that the match is over
Click to expand...
 
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TennisOTM

Professional
kevin qmto said:
It's harsh but maybe 'gaslit' is a better term? I mean, I almost immediatly noticed the score felt wrong, then said that I broke his last serving game, but he was just so flat in saying "nope, you're mistaken." that I kinda just instantly believed him and felt like I was losing my mind. It was late and I was tired, and I don't like arguing with people. But it really threw me off for the rest of the match.

I did send him this unlisted video, and he apolgized, but didn't respond to my wanting to play again on another day to properly finish this match. Or play a whole new set to determine the outcome. I'm down for either, I'm just NOT down for taking this loss as is.
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I feel you on the gaslit, losing-my-mind feeling - I tend to get brain foggy when tired and will defer to a more confident opponent in an argument.

As for replaying, I'm thinking that others are probably right that you are stuck having agreed to end the match on the court. The wild card though is your opponent and the fact he now agrees that the 7-6, 6-4 score is wrong after watching the video. If both you and your opponent refuse to accept that score being entered on Tennislink, then what happens??
 
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tennis3

Hall of Fame
It's funny how often this happens. Nobody can keep track of the score anymore.

Clearly what's needed here is better real time technology. I don't think it's realistic to ask rec tennis players to keep track of the score anymore. This may have been a fine idea 20 years ago, but I think we've advanced beyond simple counting now. If we can't get some technology to keep track of our scores, I think we just shouldn't keep score anymore.
 
legcramp

legcramp

Professional
There are score cards right there on the right side of the net! You should start using it! I have an opponent I play with regularly and he brings one himself and I find it always helpful than me asking "What's the score? I forgot derp".

I would probably buy one myself but they are like $50 for freaking scorecards on the rain forest site.

Edit: just saw more of the video.... I am derp you guys did use it but your opponent accidentally put in the wrong point. I actually accidentally did this also but did it the other way around where I won the point but gave it to my opponent but he corrected it. lmao
 
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PaddyDutch

Semi-Pro
cks said:
Agreed.

I think the Friend at Court covers this in The Code. If you shook hands at the end of the match, then the match is over. Any right to dispute the set score would need to occur before shaking hands and ending the match.
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This.

All else is a slippery slope, because next thing we’ll be coming back to that one ball that was mistakenly called in or out, that 40-15 that was actually 30-30 etc etc.

You are 100% right and have the video to back it up, so I get it is hard to take, but it is over and done.
 
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