Rules & Regs

Important or useful to know

Basic rules for the tournament will be added here. We will try to keep them simple, with an emphasis on self-regulated fair play! Disputes will be settled by an impartial third party - but we hope there won't be any.

How it works
When we have everyone signed up for a round you will recieve contact details for players in your group. You will contact each player, by email or phone, and arrange a mutually convenient time to play your match. Easy!

Important: No one at this site or connected with the League can take responsibility for the safety or security of players whether playing at White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre or elsewhere. Players compete at their own risk and are solely responsible for court hire, tennis ball provision etc.

whitehartlanetennisleague@googlemail.com

Balls and courts

Courts: Please share the cost of the courts, and allow for two hours of play. We expect most matches to be played on the courts at White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre (White Hart Lane Tennis Club) but if both players agree matches can be played at any appropriate venue and on any surface.

Balls: Balls must be of a good quality if not new and both parties should provide a set. Either party has the right to object to poor balls (prior to the match). If the balls are objected to, and no alternatives can be found, the match must be re-scheduled. In this case the challenged player pays for courts and balls and takes responsibility for making the booking.

What if?

If it rains before the match starts, the whole match must be re-scheduled

If it rains during the match... either player may decide to call a halt to the match, but the match must still be completed. Matches should be re-started with whatever the score was when play stopped. Players must share any additional court fee. If re-scheduling becomes impossible, the score can be reported as final if both parties agree

If a player retires injured, he or she loses the match - it cannot be re-played.

If a player does not turn up at the agreed time, or is more than half an hour late, he or she forfeits the match.

If one or other player decides they don't want to play a match they cannot offer a walkover to the other. For points to be awarded, a match must be played.

Scoring rules

Matches will be the best of three tie-break sets
That means, if a player wind the first two sets, the game is over. A third set is only played if players have each won one set
The winner of each set wins 1 point. So, the winner of a two set match gets 2 points. In a three set thriller, the winner gets 2 points, the loser 1 point
Players play eachother just once in every Round
An additional two points will be awarded to players who have completed three of their matches by the half way point. This is to encourage everyone to get on with it!
Players who have paid their subscription fee will also get a FREE set of balls for completing three matches by the mid way point.
The player with the most number of points at the end wins their group.
In cases of two or more players with the same number of points, the player who beat the other during that round wins.
Where possible, the top one (or two) players in each group will be promoted to the group above (if there is one). Similarly, the bottom one (or two) players will be relegated.

Reporting matches

Winners report matches. Please email Sally at: whitehartlanetennisleague@googlemail.com with the date of the match, your opponent, and the full score. Match reports, with all the drama, are welcome!

Need to know how to play a tiebreak?

White Hart Lane Tennis League