Choice of Ends and Service Revisited

Last weekend, I encountered a rules situation that was completely new to me during a USTA League Combo tournament match. My partner and I won the racquet spin and elected to serve. Our opponents wordlessly crossed to the other side of the net to start the warm-up. While they did not audibly declare a choice of ends, it seemed to be an implicit declaration of intent.

After the warm-up was completed, one of the players indicated that she wanted to change ends. I have never encountered that situation in all my years of tennis. My reflexive response that it wasn’t allowed was instantaneously overcome by the fact that my partner and I actually preferred the late-breaking change of ends. We quickly agreed to the request.

While we did not protest, exploring what would have likely transpired if we had is an interesting thought exercise. Our situation would have been complicated because the organization sponsoring the tournament has elected to conduct League playoffs without USTA officials on site. Consequently, there was nobody to summon to court to ask about the change. Presumably, the person on the desk would have had to make that ruling. That role does not require any officiating training or certification.

The ITF Rules of Tennis has a short, but very clear procedure for deciding the choice of ends and service.

CHOICE OF ENDS & SERVICE

The choice of ends and the choice to be server or receiver in the first game shall be decided by toss before the warm-up starts. The player/team who wins the toss may choose:

1. To be server or receiver in the first game of the match, in which case the opponent(s) shall choose the end of the court for the first game of the match; or
2. The end of the court for the first game of the match, in which case the opponent(s) shall choose to be server or receiver for the first game of the match; or
3. To require the opponent(s) to make one of the above choices.

Rule 9, ITF Rules of Tennis, encapsulated in the USTA Friend at Court.

The first sentence in the rule seems definitive to me. “The choice of ends and the choice to be server or receiver in the first game shall be decided by toss before the warm-up starts.” Even though our opponents made no verbal declaration, that was an implicit decision when they walked to one side of the court. Once the warm-up began, they no longer had any ability to impose a change of sides.

Interestingly enough, there is a situation when both change of service and ends can be made. That is documented in an ITF Case Decision.

Case 1: Do both players/teams have the right to new choices if the warm-up is stopped and the players leave the court?

Decision: Yes. The result of the original toss stands, but new choices may be made by both players/teams.

Rule 9 Case Decision, ITF Rules of Tennis, encapsulated in the USTA Friend at Court.

This Case Decision does not apply in this particular situation because the warmup was not stopped, and the players did not leave the court. An example of how this could occur would be if there were a substantial rain delay. For those sea lawyers out there, taking a bathroom break at the end of the warm-up cannot be used to invoke this rule.

The next day in our following match at the same event, my partner and I once again won the spin and elected to serve. It was a deja vu moment as those opponents also wordlessly walked to one side of the court. This time I asked them if that was their choice of side. They looked at me like I had rocks for brains and indicated that it was.

This makes me wonder how frequently a vocal choice of side actually occurs. Before this weekend I would have said that saying nothing is exceedingly rare. Now I am wondering if I have been mentally glossing over that part of the pre-match ritual.

---

1. Friend at Court: The Handbook of Tennis Rules and Regulations, USTA, 2023
2. ITF Rules of Tennis, International Tennis Federation, 2023