Playoff Sandbaggers Beware!

We will be looking for you at Districts Eastern! Checking IDs too! See you there! Tom & Kat

District Playoff Regulations

Congratulations on a successful season and reaching the playoffs. Captains and players should review the following regulations PRIOR to their playoff matches.

Venue: Matches will be played outdoors at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. For directions, visit www.metrotennis.com. In case of rain, do NOT assume your match is cancelled. Tournament staff may elect to resume play when the weather clears, re-schedule or move the matches to another location. Captains will be contacted when a decision has been made.

Playoff Format: This is a single elimination tournament. Each court is worth 1 point. The team that wins the most courts in each match is awarded the win. The team that wins each level will advance to the Regional playoff’s.
Schedule: The match schedule is attached. Matches may start earlier than the scheduled time.

Eligibility: Players must have 2 local matches recorded. Only 1 default may count towards eligibility. All teams must have a minimum of 8 players available in order to participate in the championships.
All players must have government issued photo ID. Random checks will be done throughout the tournament.

DNTRP Strikes: Winners will not be announced until match scores have been entered into TennisLink and a strike report has been run by the Section.

Check-in and Scorecards:
Captains are required to check in at the tournament desk upon arrival. Captains must present their lineup 30 minutes prior to their scheduled match time. If a player is late, the captain must put the missing player in the 3rd doubles or 2nd singles position before the lineup is submitted.

All match times are approximate except for the first match of the day. All other matches will be called as courts become available. The default time will start when the court is called.

All players must be present and ready to play 30 minutes prior to the start of their match. When called, all players must report to the tournament desk and then go immediately to their court. Please remind player to use the restrooms in advance of their match time. Players who delay the start of a match will have a penalty point accessed.

IMPORTANT: Players will receive a 30 minute rest period between matches at the same level. Players who elect to play at 2 levels are NOT entitled to a rest period.

Match details:
Warm up: 10 minutes, including serves.
Games are regular scoring, with a set tie-break (first to 7 pts) when 6-6 in games is reached during the first 2 sets. If you split sets, a 10-point tiebreak will be played in lieu of the 3rd set. In doubles, order of serve and receiving order can be changed after each set.

Coman tie-break procedure is used for all tie-breaks: players change ends after the 1st point and after every 4 points thereafter.
Breaks: A 2 minute break is permitted between the 1st and 2nd set. Play is continuous between the 2nd set and 3rd set tiebreak unless there is a changeover. A maximum of 90 seconds is allowed on changeovers, 20 seconds between points.

All matches are played to completion.
All players (winners and losers) are required to turn in the balls and report their scores to the tournament desk IMMEDIATELY after their match finishes.
Captains must sign the scorecards after all courts are completed.

Player Etiquette:
Players must follow the USTA Code of Conduct at all times.
The server must call the score loudly and clearly before each serve. Players are responsible for ensuring they have heard and understood the score. If all players on a court forget the score, go back to the point that everyone agrees on.

Make all line calls clearly and immediately on your side of the court. If there is doubt, the ball is good. (A ball that is 99% out is still 100% in).
All cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off during matches.
Bathroom breaks may be taken, but should be on a changeover. Players may not talk to their teammates, coaches or spectators during a bathroom break.

Spectator Etiquette
Spectators, family and team members are encouraged to attend our playoffs, as long as they abide by the following:
 May not talk to players on the court. Coaching is not allowed, and talking to players will be perceived as coaching.
 May not comment or make visual signals on line calls.
 May not cause any distractions to the players.
 May not engage in any form of verbal abuse against players, spectators, or tournament staff.
 MUST limit clapping and cheering as it disrupts play on adjacent courts.
 MUST turn off all cell phones and electronic devices.
 May not use flash photography nor videotape matches.
Spectators who violate these rules will be asked to leave.

A warning and/or a penalty may apply as a result of any player, captain or spectator interfering with match play and abusing the code of conduct. This includes disruptive behavior on or off the court. Spectators who violate these rules will be asked to leave.
 

bodieq

Rookie
It seems this thread is "mis-titled." Checking ID's is to make sure the player on the court is the same player in the line-up (and on the team roster).

But if I'm a self-rated sandbagger...my driver's license isn't going to say that.
 

JLyon

Hall of Fame
interesting they are not following USTA rules on breaks between matches which requires a minimum 1 hr break.
 

cll30

Rookie
It seems this thread is "mis-titled." Checking ID's is to make sure the player on the court is the same player in the line-up (and on the team roster).

But if I'm a self-rated sandbagger...my driver's license isn't going to say that.

DNTRP Strikes: Winners will not be announced until match scores have been entered into TennisLink and a strike report has been run by the Section.
 

kylebarendrick

Professional
interesting they are not following USTA rules on breaks between matches which requires a minimum 1 hr break.

Are they required to ensure that break time is met when a player is competing in multiple divisions? This seems to come up most often in combo where someone can legitimately play at two levels (7.5 and 8.5 for example). Our section makes it clear that scheduling conflicts between levels are the player's problem.
 

JavierLW

Hall of Fame
Are they required to ensure that break time is met when a player is competing in multiple divisions? This seems to come up most often in combo where someone can legitimately play at two levels (7.5 and 8.5 for example). Our section makes it clear that scheduling conflicts between levels are the player's problem.

No it's just for your current division.

There is also a rule that they can not schedule you for more then two singles matches on a given day, but that's only per division as well.
 

netlets

Professional
Oh, great. God forbid should anyone clap at a tennis match. Only the USTA would prohibit that. What sport out there forbids too much clapping after good shots. We need some new blood in that organization to make it a less pretentious sport. If you can't play through a few people clapping and saying good shot, then your concentration isn't so great.
 
 MUST limit clapping and cheering as it disrupts play on adjacent courts.

Oh, great. God forbid should anyone clap at a tennis match.


They are not forbidding clapping only asking that it be done in a manner that is respectful to players on nearby courts who are in the middle of a point, I think that's fair.

It can be just as much of an art to be an intelligent spectator at a tennis match as to be a player. Polite applause is appreciated by the players but overly zealous and boisterous shout-outs can be embarrassing to players it is intended for. A good reason for quiet during a tennis match is that the sound the ball makes coming off the racket is critical to perceiving the quality and speed of the hit. Hearing a framer will alert a player that the ball will be taking an erratic trajectory and bounce.

Applause can be timed so it doesn't interfere with adjoining courts. It's better to hold the applause or quietly clap, if it may interfere with a point in progress on a nearby court. You'd be surprised how well the players can hear the slightest sounds. Another courtesy to the players is not to walk behind or alongside the court while a point is in progress.

But, if this is a league match, disregard all of the above and feel free to bring out your cheer-leaders, pom-pom girls and barking dogs.
 
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fantom

Hall of Fame
I'm interested to see if things are different concerning "ringers" this year after the mass bump-ups. The last time I played districts was in 2005 where I lost a 4.0 singles match to a guy who was easily a 5.0. He was later defaulted.

I'll be there again this weekend looking forward to some competitive, but fair, matches.
 

fantom

Hall of Fame
Well, I'm happy to say that the competition at districts was fair this weekend for the most part. There was one self-rated player that was disqualified to my knowledge. There was also another player from the same team who was clearly tanking his matches before pulling out the win in an attempt to stay at his rating. It was kind of amusing (and sad) to watch him tank the second set to a clearly inferior player who was actually trying to lose. People will do anything, I swear.
 
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