The Rules of Tennis
We did it! Well… almost. Today marks the final rule documented in Section 27 of the ITF Rules of Tennis as published by the USTA Friend at Court. I feel like this is cause for celebration. For the most part, the “Correcting Errors section has been a mind bending exercise for me. The mental trauma of struggling to understand how some of the errors could even occur, coupled with corrections that did not always seem equitable, has been a struggle.
Today we are rewarded by our intrepid persistence through this section with a reasonably easy scenario to discuss. At the same time, it is almost completely irrelevant to most recreational tournament players.
If the balls are not changed in the correct sequence, the error shall be
ITF Rules of Tennis, USTA Friend at Court, 27(i)
corrected when the player/team who should have served with new balls is next due to serve a new game. Thereafter the balls shall be changed so that the number of games between ball changes shall be that originally agreed. Balls should not be changed during a game.
It has been a long time, but the procedure for changing balls during a tennis match was discussed way back in January in “New Balls Please.” In tour level professional tennis, the most common practice is to change balls after the first seven games and on every 9 games thereafter. I didn’t appreciate the nuance that the number is always odd at the time, but the error correction procedure makes it clear that serving with new balls is an advantage to the server, hence the odd number of games between every ball change.
For the vast majority of adult recreational players, the only time we are likely to experience a ball change is when playing a full two out of three sets. In that case new balls are provided for the third set should the match reach that point. It is hard for me to imagine that the new balls would be forgotten in that scenario, but now we know that that could only be corrected in to start the subsequent odd numbered games in the set.
In celebration of the completion of the “Correcting Errors” section, I am providing some related bonus content which I encountered while perusing the USTA 1980 Yearbook over the weekend because, well… that is how I am spending my leisure time these days. I came across a delightful advertisement from Wilson for the new plastic ball can. A portion of that ad was clipped for the header image of this post and it is included in full at the end.
I distinctly remember the innovation of the plastic can and opening the enclosed game tokens trying to win the trip to the US Open. One thing in the ad that rings true is that it was not uncommon to open a metal can of balls only to discover that the can had lost pressure. The plastic can made it possible to detect that problem prior to purchase.
Fast forward to today, I exclusively buy balls by the case. I occasionally come across a punctured plastic can, but it is pretty rare. I perceive that the rate of depressurization is much lower with plastic cans over metal, but I am only basing that statement on nostalgic perception.
Given that all the ball brands eventually transitioned over to the plastic can, I am sure that means that it is less expensive to manufacture. It is also has the benefit of being recyclable, but I am pretty sure that it was also true of the metal cylinders that was the standard of the day.
In any case, I enjoyed coming across the ad and thought others might also appreciate that walk down memory lane.
