What happens in this situation?

Mike Y

Rookie
This happened a few months ago, but I am not sure if we resolved the situation correctly, so I am just wondering. I was playing a USTA League doubles match, and we won the 1st set on a late break. In that set, opponent Player A was receiving on the deuce side, and opponent Player B was receiving on the ad side.

In the second set, I served the first game, and our opponents decided to change things up so Player B was receiving on the deuce side, and Player A was receiving on the ad side. In the 3rd game of the set, my partner was serving, and without anyone realizing that anything was wrong, Player A was receiving on the deuce side, and Player B was receiving on the ad side (the formation they had in the 1st set, but not in the 1st game in the 2nd set). The score got to 15-all, then our opponents said that they just realized that they were receiving in the wrong positions. They asked us what we wanted to do. I wasn't sure, I looked at my partner, and my partner said "Let's start the game over", and we all agreed to do that. So Player A went back to receiving on the ad side, and Player B went back to receiving on the deuce side, and we started the game over.

So my question is, did we make the right call? Or should the points stand? Or should our opponents have been penalized in some way? And was it right for our opponents to go back to the formation that they had when they started the set?
 

woodrow1029

Hall of Fame
All points played in good faith stand. When the players change receiving order during a set, the correct thing to do is to keep the receivers where they are for the remainder of that game, then in their next receiving game, they go back to their correct receiving positions.

This is one of the very few errors that you do not correct immediately. The reason for this is to avoid the same person receiving two points in a row.
 

Mike Y

Rookie
Thanks Woodrow! Interesting. It did change strategy pretty significantly, since one of them was a lefty.
 
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