"Tennis Tips" by Charlotte
                                       2011/ September - December
Did You Serve

While playing doubles, my opponent faulted on his first serve. I turned to see whether I needed to clear the ball. Before I could turn back, he served his second serve, which was good. Everyone on the court agreed I was not ready, so I offered my opponent another second serve. However, my opponent wanted two serves because I hadn't said that I was not ready. What's the ruling?

Answer: Assuming you made no play on that "first" second serve, you were absolutely correct. Rule 21 couldn't be clearer: "The server shall not serve until the receiver is ready." You obviously weren't ready. The server can't steal another first serve by surprising you. Note that Rule 21 adds, "A receiver who attempts to return the service shall be condidered as being ready." So if you'd made a half-hearted stab at returning, you couldn't claim you weren't ready.
                                       2011/ August
Parden Me, But

Here's a recurring problem: While a point on our court is being played, a ball from an adjacent court strays onto our court. The player from the adjacent court immediately shouts, "Ball on your court!" effectively ending our point and resulting in a let. Should our neighbors either wait until we have finished our point or until we stop play? What is the proper way to handle this situation? (Tom Malaer, San Jose, CA)

Answer: The rules are clear: "A plalyer may call a let only on the player's court (USTA Comment 23-24). That said, if you are certain that a player on another court will suffer an injury unless you warn them about a ball rolling on their court, then do it. Note the word "certain." and do not take it lightly. THE DANGER MUST BE IMMINENT AND ABSOLUTE, OTHERWISE YOU SHOULD NOT SAY A WORD AND LET YOUR NEIGHBORS DECIDE TO CALL A LET.

I Said Out!

In a doubles match, I served and our opponents returned the ball and we won the point. Then our opponent said they had called the serve out. My partner and I didn't hear them make the out call after I served, but they claimed that they did. Was this right? If they had stopped play immediately, would they have won the point or would we still replay it? (Zofia Pietrowicz, Clinton Township, MI)

Answer: Your team won the point. IF AN OPPONNENT CALLS A BALL OUT, BUT CONTINUES TO PLAY A POINT AS IF THE BALL WAS GOOD, THEN THE POINT STANDS. Prompt calls - as The Code, Item 18 notes - eliminate the possibiliuty of having two chances to win a point. If the serve was out, your oppoonents should have called it, stopped play and declined to hit the next shot. In that case, they would have won the point. Once they continued to play as if the serve was in, then their out call no longer counted.
                                         2011/ July
LET, SET, MATCH

In a doubles match, we had match point in our favor when one of our opponents stopped play right before he attempted a difficult shot. He then said that he thought someone on our court had called a let. The call actually came from an adjacent court. We claimed the point and the match. Was this the correct call? (George Anderson, Charlotte. NC)

Answer: Your opponent lost the point under Rule 24b for not returning the ball.. As USTA Comment 23-4 points out, "A PLAYER MAY CALL A LET ONLY ON THE PLAYER'S COURT." Since no one on your court called for a let and your opponent didn't return the ball, your team won the point and the match.

SLIDE RULE

In a recent clay-court match, my opponent served to the deuce court down the T, leaving a ball mark that started outside the line, but ended up touching the canter service line. We thought this indicated that the ball initially landed out, but slid into the deuce side service court. Was the ball in or out? (We played a let.) (Emerson Fales, Miami)

Answer: The serve was in. Rule 12 states, "If a ball touches a line, it is regarded as touching the court bounded by that line." In this case, the "court" was the deuce service box. And also remember The Code, Item 7 states: "If any part of a ball touches a line, the ball is good. A BALL 99% OUT IS STILL 100% GOOD."

                                         2011/ June
BLOWN AWAY

My first serve went into the net and dribbled bacfk toward my partner, who tapped it back into the net, where it stayed. After I made my second serve and a rally ensued, wind blew the first ball away from the net toward the middle of the court. When we won the point, one of our opponents said, "That rolling ball was a distraction: I should have called a let." The Code appears to be clear that my partner and I could not have called a let. What about our opponents? (Jake Boreiss, Clearwater, FL.

Answer: There's no rule that requires a team to clear the ball from the net on a missed first serve, unless the opponents request it. If the wind blows the ball onto the court during play, either team can call a let, but the call must be made immediately, not after the point ends. Rule 26 states: "The point shall be replayed if a player is hindered in playing the point by either an unintentional act of the opponent(s), or something outside the player's own control.." The wind is out of ones's control.

                                          2011/ April/May
COSTLY DROP

After hitting a ball on the run, I slipped and dropped my racquet. It touched nothing except the court on my side of the net. The ball I had hit landed in, but my opponent claimed the point, saying"anytime you drop your racquet, you lose the point. I challenged him to show me a rule supporting his claim. We haven't played since. Who was right? (Herb Duplissea, St. Stephen, New Brunswick)

Answer: Maybe you haven't played again because your opponent is still looking for a rule that doesn't exist. As long as you derop your racquet after you hit the ball, not before, you win the point -- unless it hits the net. (USTA Comment 24.8)..

KNOCKOUT PUNCH

In a recent doubles match, I hit an unreturnable volley, but I was so close to the net that after I hit the ball, my racquet crossed the net and hit the opponent at the net in the head. Our opponents said it was actually their point because I hit one of them. Was it? (Alecander Fung, Markham, Ontario).

Answer: You won the point, as long as your racquet didn't touch the net or your opponents' court, or prevent your opponent from makng a play on the ball. It was an accident. The Code, Item 34 states: "A let is authorized only if the player could have made the shot had the player not been hindered."

HAND IT OVER

In a tournament, a nervous friend called the ball out, but she signaled with her hand that it was in (with the horizontal open palm gesture.) When her opponent asked her to confirm the call, my friend said that the ball was out. Her opponent argued that since my friend signaled with her hand that the ball was in, she was going to accept that call. Was the opponent in a position to choose her own call because of my friend's error? (Steve Cosio, Mansfield, Texas)

Answer: Simultaneous and contradictory calls imply uncertainty about whether the ball was in or out. Even though your friend's gesture was a result of nerves, under The Code Item 6 she should have given the opponent the benefit of the doube and forfeited the point.

                                          2011/ February/March
TO BE HONEST

In a mixed doubles match, my partner called fault on a few of our opponnts' serves that I saw as clearly in. I wanted to overrule her, but as this was our first match together, I did not want to jeopardize team harmony. Was this wrong? (Charlie Koo, Bethesda MD)

Answer: Teamwork is essential in doubles, but not at the expense of fairness. If you saw the ball as clearly in, you had an obligation to your opponents under The Code to speak up and give hem the points in question. The Code, Item 6 requires that "any doubt must be resolved in favor of the opponent." Clearly in, is more than doubt. Your best bet would have been to gently overrule your partner, and then pull her aside and explain why you did it.

HIT JOB

In a USTA doubles match, I was receiving in the deuce court and my partner was standing at the net in the ad court when the serve struck my partner's racquet. The ball went back over the net, landed in the server's court and bounced twice. The server claimed the point, but we argued that we deserved the point because the ball bounced back into the serving team's court. Who was right? (Michael Baloy, Jacksonville, FL)

Answer: A serve that hits the receiver's partner counts as a point for the server, unless the first serve hits the net, in wihch case you should play a let (Rule 24, Case 7). A serve must be returned by the receiver, not the receiver's partner, and after the ball bounces (Rule 17.)

IN BLACK AND WHITE (JUST FOR LAUGHS)

After my dink first serve went into the net, I aced my opponent on my second serve. He said it was his point, because the rules state that the second serve must be slower than the first. I said this was hogwash, but he needs to see it in print (Brock Jones, MO)

Answer: HOGWASH!

                                          2010/ December-2011/ January
DUCE TWO

In a doubles' match our opponents served at deuce. We won the point after a long rally, and then the server served the next point from the deuce court again. As she served, I realized that the score wasn't deuce, but our ad. They won the point, but we agreed to ignore it and play the ad point from the ad court. Was that correct? (B. Maas, Naples, FL.)

Answer: No. Even though your opponent served to the wrong service box, the point was played in good faith and should have counted. As Rule 27 explains, when an error is discovered, "All poionts previously played shall stand." Once you discovered the mistake, you should have played the next point as deuce and your opponent should have served to the deuce court.

A CHANGE IN THE CODE

In a singles tournament, I hit a first serve that appeared to hit the line, but my opponent called it out. He immediately changed his mind and asked to play a let. An official agreed with him, saying that it was a let because the opponent had returned the serve in play. Was that the right call? (N. Dodson, Cary, NC.)

Answer: It was indeed the right call--untill January of this year. For 2011, the USTA has approved changes to The Code that simplify the rules for reversed calls. In short: If you change a call from out to in, you lose the point, no matter if you returned the ball in play. Until this year, The Code, Item 12, called for a let in this situation, as long as the player who changed the call didn't hit a return that could be deemed a "weak sitter." The amended Item 12 says, "The point goes to the opponent and is not replayed." The Code now mirrors college tennis in this regard.

STRIKE OUT

During a doubles' match, my partner whiffed on his first serve. His next serve went into the net. Our opponents called a double fault, but we contended that the whiff on my parner's first serve didn't count. What's the rule? (W. Parker, Centennial, CO.)

Answer:Your partner double faulted. Rule 19, which defines service faults says, "It's a fault when the server missed the ball when trying to hit it.? A whiff is just an ugly miss.

                                           2010/ October-November

TARGET PRACTICE

In the third set of a doubles match, my partner was returning and I was at the service line when the opposing server hit me with her serve. She has an accurate, powerful serve, and I later wondered whether she hit me on purpose to win a quick point. Did I have any recourse?
Ginger Dampler, Watkinsville, GA

Answer: You lost the point under Rule 24, Case 7. The receiving team cannot touch a serve before it bounces. Though it may seem impolite, it's legal to hit a ball at an opposing player in tennis (overheads are the most common example). Doing so on the serve is a risky proposition, and not likely to pay off; but sometimes it does. In the future, be prepared to step aside and let the ball go out.

MY CALL OR YOURS

If I see the ball bounce twice on my opponent's side before his racquet touches it, can I stop play and claim the point?

Answer: You can't call a double bounce on your opponent. It's up to the offending player to own up to it (The Code, item 20). In instances like this, you could immediately stop play and question your oppoonent, but if he insists that he got to the ball on one bounce, you lose the point. If however, he admits uncertainty, the point goes to you without "further delay or discussion" ( The Code, item 16)