Tennis League Network Rules and Regulations

The most up to date rules are located on the city sites.
  • 1 a) Competitive Format (2 out of 3 sets)
    Tennis League Network uses the best two out of three 6-game pro sets with ads. If a set goes to 6-6 a first to 7-point tiebreaker should be used to determine the winner of the set. The tiebreaker format should be used for all three sets.
  • 1b) 2 sets with 3rd set tie-breaker
    If the match is tied at 1 set a piece and the match is running too long, the players can agree to play a 10-point super tie-breaker to decide the match.
  • 1c) 10 game pro set
    If the players agree before the match or you are limited to 1-hour of court time, a 10-game pro set can be used with ads. This means the first to win 10 games. But, if the match is ended because of a time restriction than the score at the conclusion is the score for the match. At 9-9, a best to 7-point tiebreaker will be used to determine the winner.
  • 2) Tennis Balls
    Each player is required to bring a new can of tennis balls to every match. The winning player will take home the un-opened can. The other player can take home the used balls. Players not following this rule will receive a playing strike towards the 3 strike policy.
  • 3) Honor System
    Line calls must be made without delay by the side playing the ball; otherwise, the ball shall be presumed to have been good. In general, no ball can be called out upon less than 100% certainty. The best approach on a call that both players disagree on is to replay the point.
  • 4) Changing court ends
    Participants must change court ends after odd number of games have been played.
  • 5) Choosing court location
    The league wants players to chose a location to play that is convenient for both players. The league does provide a schedule with a player defined as a home court player, that is just a guideline. The first choice should be a location that works for both players.
  • 6) Abiding by the rules of the court at which you are playing. Added 8/18/09
    Players need to follow the rules of the courts they are playing at. Participating in a Tennis League Network matchup doesn't give you privileges to break the rules of the local court. If we receive word that players are improperly using the Tennis League Network name in such cases it will lead to immediate removal from the league.
  • 7) Reporting Scores
    All scores shall be reported by the winning player using the website developed for the league.
  • 8) Rematches are now allowed! The regular season is all about playing.
    The league is now allowing players to play a rematch per opponent per season. We will be checking for a 3rd score and not allowing it to be recorded. The philosophy is that the regular season is all about playing and the playoffs are where champions are determined. This will hopefully make getting to 5 wins a little easier for some players. We still want players to meet up with as many new partners as they possibly can during the regular season.
  • 9) Qualifying for the Playoffs
    A player who gets X wins or the win criteria defined by the league during the season will qualify for the playoffs. With X being the win total on the division report. It is usually 5 wins for Male Divisions and 4 wins for Female Divisions. No-show wins will count towards the 5 wins to qualify for the playoffs. Qualifiers will be bracketed against the other qualifiers in the from the same level. Players need to be around for the first 2 weeks of the playoffs to qualify for the playoffs.
  • 10) Playoff Positioning, Tie-Breakers
    Regular season ties are broken by this order:
    1. Overall Record, based on matches over .500. So 6-1 is 5 matches, 8-2 is 6 matches and would be better.
    2. In Season Head-to-Head record for players tied at #1
    3. We want to promote players playing matches, so 6-1 would be better than 5-0.
    4. Percentage of games won
  • 11) Home Court for Playoff matches
    Higher seeded player gets home court during playoffs. But, just like the regular season we want players to chose a location that works for both participants
  • 12) Player Disqualification
    Based on complaints to the organization, reserves the right to:
    1. Place any player who has violated the standards of good conduct, abuse of tennis club cancellation policy, abuse of league administrators, fair play and/or good sportsmanship on probation for an indefinite period. League fee will not be reimbursement in such player disqualifications.
    2. Ban any player from the league indefinitely.
  • 13) Canceling a scheduled tennis match
    A participant is required to make phone calls and send emails to cancel a tennis match. The league is not responsible to cancel matches for players. If the player doesn't try all forms of communication to cancel a match a strike will be applied to the offending player.
  • 14) Withdrawals from league
    A participant who withdraws from the league due to injury or time constraints is required to make the administrator aware of the withdrawal. This player will either be removed from the website or receive the '**' Out for the Season flag. The player will not be reimbursed the league fee.
  • 15) Guidelines
    Tennis League Network needs to set up guidelines to get matches in. This will make sure players aren't over-whelming other players in the divisions with requests to play.
  • 16) Lack of Payment rule
    No player shall receive the contact information of other opponents in his/her projected league until they have made payment to the administrator. If a player has started in a league w/o payment, Tennis League Network reserves the right to replace that player at anytime with a player who has paid League fees.
  • 17) Match Play Official Defaults
    An opponent subject to any of these violations must be found in default.
    1) 30-Minute Late Rule without notification: Failure to appear on the court within 30 minutes of the starting time without notification.
    2) Injury or Walk-off: Matches not completed due to an opponent's injury or quitting before match completion shall award the win to the remaining or non-injured player. Final score will be the final score before the injury or walk-off.

    The league does not give default wins for a match where two players just couldn't get on the courts and play.
  • 18) Non-playing rule
    Tennis League Network reserves the right to remove a player if they haven't played a match by the first deadline date in the season's schedule. If a player hasn't played 3 matches by the 2nd deadline date, the league reserves the right to remove the player from the contact list. The finals match needs to be played within 1 month of the last semi-finals match for the free season to be awarded. If a player defaults after 1 month the free season will not be rewarded.
  • 19) No-shows and Late cancellations, 3-strike policy, updated 8/18/09
    Late cancellations within 1 to 4 hrs: If a player cancels a match within 1 to 4 hours of when it is suppose to be play, 1 strike will be recorded against this player. Only exempt reason is rain/wet playing surface.
    Late cancellation within 1 hour of the match: Players now get a 0-0 win for the non-offending player and 1 strike will be recorded to the player canceling within the 1 hour time period.
    No-show: If a player doesn't show up to a match without trying to call and send an email, 2 strikes will be recorded against the offending player. If the player contests the 2 strikes, they can appeal and potentially have it decrease to 1 strike. The match will be recorded as a 0-0 win for the non-offending player and the league suggests the players not reschedule the match.
    The player who did not show up for the match needs to reimburse any court fees or parking fees before they will be allowed to continue playing.
    A player may receive strikes for poor sportsmanship.
    If a player attains 3 strikes in a 6 month period, they will be removed from the current season. They will also need to take a season off before being welcomed back.
  • 20) Court Fees need to be reimbursed upon No-show.
    If a player no-shows to a match and a court fee was paid for the court, the player who no-shows needs will be retired from the season until the court cost is reimbursed.
  • 21) To get credit for a Referral bonus
    The proper method to getting a referral bonus is to have the NEW member go to the join page and put the referred player in the "How did you find out about Referral" field. If this doesn't happen upon initially signing up then a referral bonus can't be credited to the member. The referred player needs to play a full season without dropping out due to injury or by the Lack of Participation rule. Doubles partner don't count towards the referral bonus. No Double discounts are given.
  • 22) 1/3 credit for Season referral, 1/4 credit for Tennis Partner referral
    Anybody that refers a friend that joins a league season will get 1/3 off their next season. If they refer a friend that joins the tennis partner program, they will get a 1/4 off their next season.
  • 23) Purity of Competition Rule
    Tennis League Network reserves the right to move a player up or down a division based on how they performed in the previous season or during the current season. A player can get promoted to a higher division by making the finals of their division's playoffs. A player can also be moved up or down during the season based on how they have performed after three matches. If a player has averaged a score of 12-3 for their first 3 matches they will be a candidate for moving up a division. Inverse is true for a player that has lost their first 3 matches by an average score of 12-3.
  • 24) League record stays with player throughout the season
    If a player is promoted or moved down during the season their record will not be reset. This gives the player the chance to qualify for the new skill levels playoffs.
  • 25) Money Back Guarantee
    The league will offer a "no questions asked" money back guarantee for up to 7 days after the league's start date. If you signed up for the tennis partner program it would be 1-week from your payment day. If we can't get you at least 6 tennis partners we will also reimburse your money. We will subtract $1 from the reimbursement for the transaction fee being charged by the payment processor.
  • 26) 10 for $5 Rule, play 20 and your next season is free Updated 7/21/09
    The league is all about players getting out there and playing during the regular season. So if a player plays 10 matches in a season not including the playoffs, they will get $5 off their next season. If a player can play 20 matches in a season, once again not including the playoffs, their next season is free. No double discounts are given. No-shows don't count as a match played for this discount. Discount doesn't apply if its coming from participating in a free season. This discount is reimbursed after purchase of a new season. Players need to also send us a reminder email to make sure the discount is applied.

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