Mythbusters: Do You Think You Know All the Rules of Tennis? Here Are 16 Rules You Might Not Know

Knowledge is power and even though I have been in tennis for more than 30 years, there are a lot of rules that I learned or wasn’t sure about when I read Friend at Court, The Official USTA Rulebook. In the last issue of Long Island Tennis Magazine, I covered some of these rules. This is the second half of the book. I want to thank Dave Hanzies, head of tennis officials in the Eastern Section, for confirming that these rules are in fact correct.

1. If a player was not in the draw due to a tournament director error and the tournament has not started, the omitted player must be placed in the draw even if it affects the draw. There is a system in the rulebook to do it as fairly as possible.

2. In singles, when playing a best of three tie-break third set match outdoors, any player is allowed a two-hour break before their next best of three tie-break set match … even if one of the players retires during the match.

3. If a player aggravates an old injury during the warm-up, they can take an injury timeout of three minutes from when it starts being treated (not to exceed 15 minutes). If they re-aggravate the injury during the match, they can take another timeout of the same length for the same injury.

4. An injury timeout is a maximum of 15 minutes, but only a maximum of three minutes for treatment. The remainder of the time is getting the official, supplies and evaluation on what the injury is.

5. A bleeding timeout consists of up to 15 minutes to stop visible bleeding, clean up the court and throw things out. If this is not enough time to stop the bleeding, the player must retire.

6. A player is entitled to a medical timeout for cramps, vomiting, dizziness, blisters or any treatable condition. “General player fatigue” is not entitled to an injury timeout. Author’s note: This is a terrible large loophole players can use to bend the rules.

7. A player is allowed to leave the court to get/buy a drink if they get permission from the umpire. If there is no umpire in the area, the player is assumed that permission.

8. If players lose one of the balls, they should get a new ball if the lost ball is discovered before the third game of a match. Otherwise, it should be replaced by a ball similar to the balls in play.

9. Interestingly, ball abuse is when a player deliberately hits, throws or kicks a ball that is not in play when the ball leaves the playing area, comes close or hits a person or could cause damage or harm. This would seem to imply that a player who slams a ball into the back curtain on his/her side without spectators nearby would not be subject to the code.

10. If an umpire sees a code violation from a few courts away and another point is played while the umpire walks over, that point stands and the penalty is enforced once the umpire gets there.

11. A player who is the beneficiary of a penalty imposed on an opponent may not decline to accept it. A player who disobeys the instructions of an official in such a case can be defaulted.

12. Making an obvious bad call in retaliation to an opponent’s call is an immediate code violation.

13. If both players arrive and check-in late (but less than 15 minutes), the clock starts at the first player’s arrival. If both players are more than 15 minutes late, the official can default both players or use the first player’s arrival as the match time and penalize the second player accordingly.

14. If a player is late after the 10 minute rest period between the second and third set, up to five minutes, it is a game penalty. If it’s more than five minutes, it is a default.

15. When playing an outdoor tournament, there should be no play for at least 30 minutes after a lightning strike.

16. A roving umpire who is stationed on a court can call a ball “out” that was played as good if the ball was obviously out.