Do You Know the Rules?

Queen City Tennis League Rules
Adopted August 5, 2007
USTA Rules and Code of Conduct (Sportsmanship) apply. Copies, along with the QCTL By Laws and Rules, are available upon request.
Also, see "The Code" below.

1. Host Clubs:
   1. Host Club must provide a new unopened standard size can of balls appropriate to the court surface per line.
   2. Host facilities must be of playable condition or have off site courts available with access to restrooms and water.
2. Match Play:
   1. A match consists of best of 3 sets. A 12-point tiebreaker to break 6-6 ties. See USTA tiebreak rule.
   2. Play is to be continuous, except for a 1-minute break between court changes and 10 minutes between 2 nd and 3 rd set. Injury or illness time out is 5 minutes.
   3. No coaching, gesturing or line calls consulting allowed from spectators.
   4. No disruption from the sidelines allowed. If play continues match will stand as played.
   5. Cell phones are not allowed to hinder play. Penalties will be assessed.
3. Forfeits:
   1. Each commissioner will determine league-wide starting times. Warm-ups begin 15 minutes prior to starting time. Delayed teams have a 15-minute grace period. A forfeit may be taken when grace period expires. If a forfeit is not taken, the match stands as played.
   2. Forfeits called before match must start with the lowest position. Forfeits called at the start of the match must be from the lowest position scheduled for that location and start time. Please see rule 7d)
4. Roster:
   1. All teams must submit a roster prior to the first match. The roster must include the player’s name; position, phone number and e-mail address if available. Substitutes must be listed on the roster as such. Additional substitutes may be added to the roster during the season any time.
   2. Salaried Professional may only play in the division specified per league:
      Div. #1 of   Mixed, Weekday and Saturday Ladies
      Div.#1 & #2 of Men’s league.
5. Team Lineups & Player Positioning:
   1. Team captains must exchange lineups prior to the start of play and indicate the use of substitutes.
   2. The best team must be rostered at line#1, the next best at line#2, and so on.
   3. A player or sub can only play one line per match day.
6. Rescheduling: Every effort should be made to complete matches as scheduled
   1. If a match is rained out before any lines have started, they will play on the rain date scheduled by the league commissioner. Since no points have been played the line-up submitted by captains becomes void, including forfeits.
   2. If a match is interrupted by rain then completed lines stand as played, interrupted lines must be completed as soon as possible, match-picking up from the last point played with the same players.
   3. League commissioners have final decision on handling of particulars of a rain delay.
   4. Rescheduling of a match due to any event affecting play date as determined by the Commissioner will be given to captains at the earliest possible date.
   5. Once a make-up match is scheduled it cannot be rescheduled unless all 4 players are in agreement. Keep in mind that changes to the lineup can occur until start of match.
7. Players Movement & Stacking:
   1. Weekday Ladies League will observe a 1-up/1-down movement. A sub will move up/down 1 position from their first-position played. If a club has more than one team playing on a given day in the same league, a rostered player can sub for a team higher or lower and still be allowed to move up/down 2 positions from where they are rostered (i.e., a player rostered at position 6 on team A may play position 1 or 2 on Team B). This is the only case where a player can move up/down 2 positions.
      This rule does not apply to the Saturday Weekend Ladies League.
   2. Substitutes may move up or down 2 positions from initial placement.
   3. No stacking is permitted. Stacking is defined as the illegal placement of a weaker team in a higher position, to better assure a victory for a stronger team playing at a lower position.
   4. To avoid a last minute forfeit a player may move up more than 2 positions. The player will resume his normal position at the next match.
      ** Men’s League will play 2 up/2 down from last position played.
8. Scores:
   1. The home team captains are responsible for reporting scores according to methods and procedures specified by the league commissioner.
9. Penalty Points:
   1. League commissioners may issue penalty points for infractions of the rules.
10. Protests:
    1. Protests must be made in writing by team captains only to the league commissioner within 24 hours of match. Either captain may file an appeal to the Competition Committee in case of an adverse ruling by the commissioner.
    2. If a protest is received regarding stacking, all weeks played will be reviewed and a ruling will be decided.
11. Division Standings:
    1. Total number of matches won determines division standings. If there is a tie the position will then be determined by the following order:
    2. Total matches won in head to head competition.
    3. Total sets won in head to head competition.
    4. Total games won in head to head competition.
    5. Total games won for the season.

"The Code"

"The Code" or the rules, we as tennis players, live by. These are the rules developed by USTA and the rules we use for local play, in addition to our own Queen City Rules.

The principles set forth in The Code apply in all unofficated matches.
As tennis players and team captains, we should all familiarize ourselves with The Code and all the principles it addresses.

The first principle of The Code is Courtesy.
Tennis is a game that requires cooperation and courtesy from all participants. Make tennis a fun game by praising your opponents' good shots and by not conducting loud postmortems after points; complaining about shots like lobs and drop shots; embarrassing a weak opponent by being overly gracious or condescending; losing your temper, using vile language, throwing your racket, or slamming a ball in anger; or sulking when you are losing.

Part of courtesy also involves knowing that 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 shall continue playing the point. Corrective action may be taken only after a point has been completed. Corrective action means serving from the correct side even if that is the same side last served to.

The Warm-up: Warm-up is not practice. A player should provide the opponent a five minute warm-up (ten minutes if there are no ball persons). (Queen City allows 15 minutes) If a player refuses to warm-up the opponent, the player forfeits the right to a warm-up. Some players confuse warm-up and practice. A player should make a special effort to hit shots directly to the opponent. (If partners want to warm each other up while their opponents are warming up, they may do so.)

Warm-up serves: Take all your warm-up serves before the first serve of the match. Courtesy dictates that you not practice your service return when your opponent practices serving. If a player has completed the player's warm-up serves, the player shall return warm-up serves directly to the opponent.