Unique Tennis Format

[fifthsettbssuck]

I'm organising a singles tennis league at my local tennis court in south-east Ireland.

I've invited numerous people to join it, with a minimum number of participants set at 5, & I'm currently waiting on 1 more to join (I had enough players around a month ago, but then a player got injured on Week 1, & is still in recovery)(tennis isn't very popular, here).

Where things get interesting, & why I've made this post, is the format.
Everyone plays each other once, but the match format's akin to best-of-5 sets, except if the score reaches 2-2, another 2 sets are played, allowing for a draw if both players win 3 sets. All sets are tie-break sets, given that the advantage set format's much better suited to knockout matches.
The rules are largely in line with pro tennis, but I've made some tweaks (such as allowing the server to serve with the returner out of position, if the returner's not ready on time).

I tried to see if anyone else has used this match format online, & I've found nothing of the sort (I couldn't even find any examples of a format that allows for draws), so what I'm doing could very well be unprecedented.

I think this is a really interesting & neat concept, especially in a context in which both the amateur & pro game continues to lean towards shorter & shorter formats.

 

[TennisOTM]

Sounds like you'll need to recruit participants from players who both play tennis and compete in Iron Man triathalons. If I played a 6-set singles match you'd need to carry me off the court.

 

[socallefty]

You would probably get more people interested if you play a normal tennis format. I’m sure a lot of older players like me who grew up playing tennis want nothing to do with new formats because we don’t think anything is broken with the normal way of playing matches.

 

[sureshs]

I'm organising a singles tennis league at my local tennis court in south-east Ireland.

I've invited numerous people to join it, with a minimum number of participants set at 5, & I'm currently waiting on 1 more to join (I had enough players around a month ago, but then a player got injured on Week 1, & is still in recovery)(tennis isn't very popular, here).

Where things get interesting, & why I've made this post, is the format.
Everyone plays each other once, but the match format's akin to best-of-5 sets, except if the score reaches 2-2, another 2 sets are played, allowing for a draw if both players win 3 sets. All sets are tie-break sets, given that the advantage set format's much better suited to knockout matches.
The rules are largely in line with pro tennis, but I've made some tweaks (such as allowing the server to serve with the returner out of position, if the returner's not ready on time).

I tried to see if anyone else has used this match format online, & I've found nothing of the sort (I couldn't even find any examples of a format that allows for draws), so what I'm doing could very well be unprecedented.

I think this is a really interesting & neat concept, especially in a context in which both the amateur & pro game continues to lean towards shorter & shorter formats.

6 sets? I hope each set is only best of 3 games.

 

[fifthsettbssuck]

I almost had enough players last year, but someone got a major injury just as things were about to start.

This year, however, looks to be different, so unless someone has to now pull out, it'll happen.

I played the 1st match vs opponent D, won 7-5 6-4 6-4 (match time 1h40*^), yesterday early afternoon. It was an easier win than the score suggests, as I played aggressively, which goes against my strengths, until I had to take care with the score (I was down 3-5, 0-3, 1-4).

In my format, all set wins are equal, except for sets won by tie-breaks (I've a tie-breaker that's "worst tie-breaks difference").

* no breaks taken ^ approximate time, might be off by a few minutes

 

[fifthsettbssuck]

You would probably get more people interested if you play a normal tennis format. I’m sure a lot of older players like me who grew up playing tennis want nothing to do with new formats because we don’t think anything is broken with the normal way of playing matches.

I'd get more people interested in playing a shorter format, but I dislike playing shorter formats, & they seem to absolutely dominate the recreational/amateur level (I'm not even sure if actual b-o-3 is even common)(also the pro game, to a great extent), so it's not as if people who want to do that need more options. Also, it's neat to play a format that seems to otherwise not exist.

This isn't geared towards older players (though they can theoretically participate), but this format's tailored towards league (round-robin) play. Sure, I could play with a b-o-5 format, but then draws either don't happen or happen, but in a way that would make the format worse. We all know that tennis is generally geared towards K/O play, for which the formats are intended for.

 

[fifthsettbssuck]

6 sets? I hope each set is only best of 3 games.

If you're fit, 6 sets, once a week, shouldn't be all that difficult, at least unless many of the points are extended rallies.

 

[Nastase]

I think Victor Pecci in his prime would love this format

 

[fifthsettbssuck]

Opponent B 6-0 6-1 6-0 Opponent C (match time 55m*^)

 

[Badlad4023]

Wow, Ireland? Please post pictures of the courts if you can. Would love to see an Irish tennis court.