The Rules of Tennis
One of the most culturally distinctive differences between tennis and other sports is how opponents are expected to cooperatively warm-up with each other prior to competition. It is a really strange practice when you think about it. A couple of week’s ago at the Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge, Coco Vandeweghe tired to refuse to warm-up when her match resumed following a suspension for extreme heat. When the umpire and her opponent forced her to warm-up anyway, she petulantly refused to expend any effort.
In case you missed it, here is a short video that captures her behavior.
Vandeweghe later claimed to have been suffering from intense cramping and nausea during the second set prior to the suspension of play. In her defense, she proposed that her that her opponent, Ekaterine Gorgodze, warm up with her coach instead. Gordodze refused that option.
From a strategic standpoint, Vandeweghe was attempting to preserve health and energy while Gordodze wanted to extend Vandeweghe to the greatest extent possible.
What are the Rules?
This is an interesting one. The Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge is not a WTA tour event, but rather is a USTA Pro Circuit event. It is the largest developmental tennis circuit in the world and provides players with an opportunity to gain the professional ranking points they need to compete on the major pro tours. The USTA has published the following diagram that explains the structure.
The USTA is the organizing body of all Pro Circuit events in the United States. The tournament is staffed by a USTA Referee and Supervisor who have acquired Gold or Silver ITF Certification. However, tournaments at the $25,000 level and up award WTA rankings points.
It is not clear if the WTA Rulebook applies to USTA Pro Circuit events. That is an academic distinction in any case because the WTA Rulebook only specifies the length of the warm-up under various scenarios. The document is completely silent on whether cooperative warm-up participation is compulsory.
The ITF Rules of Tennis is the next document in the hierarchy of rules and has clear applicability in this case. When reporting on the Vandeweghe episode, some media sources indicated that the ITF rules allow a player to warm-up with their coach if their opponent refuses to participate. That reporting was incorrect. The ITF Rules of Tennis is also completely silent on whether compulsory warm-up and alternate procedures if a player declines to participate.
Since the USTA Pro Circuit is operated by the USTA and staffed with USTA officials, it is reasonable to assume that the USTA Friend at Court is also applicable. “The Code” section of that document is the “The Player’s Guide to Fair Play and the Unwritten Rules of Tennis.” Principle 3 speaks directly to this situation. I added the bolding to highlight the relevant sentence.
Warm-up is not practice. A player should provide the opponent a warm-up of five to ten minutes. If a player declines to warm up the opponent, the player forfeits the right to a warm-up, and the opponent may warm up with another person. Some players confuse warm-up and practice. Each player should try to hit shots directly to the opponent. (If partners want to warm each other up while their opponents are warming up, they may do so.)
USTA Friend at Court, “The Code”, Principle 3.
Technically Vandeweghe did nothing wrong in her attempts to not warm-up in this particular situation. Had the tournament been a WTA event, her position would have been significantly murkier. I am anticipating that the WTA Official Rulebook might be updated to explicitly cover this situation when the 2022 edition is released.
- CoCo Vandeweghe explains bizarre refusal to warm up with opponent, Elizabeth Karpen, The New York Post, August 13, 2021.
- USTA Pro Circuit, USTA Web Page, viewed August 28, 2021.
- Getting Started on the Women’s Pro Circuit, USTA Document, viewed August 28, 2021.
- Kosar Jewelry Challenge Tournament Fact Sheet, USTA Web Page, viewed August 28, 2021.
- 2021 WTA Official Rulebook, WTA.
- 2021 ITF Rules of Tennis, ITF.
- United States Tennis Association (2021), Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations, White Plains, NY
