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. Way back in 2021, I wrote about an incident that occurred at the Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge. Coco Vandeweghe attempted to refuse to warm up when her match resumed after a suspension of play due to extreme heat. When the umpire and her opponent forced her to participate in the warm-up anyway, she petulantly refused to expend any effort.
Fortunately, the internet served us up a short video that documents the incident.
Vandeweghe later said she had been suffering from intense cramping and nausea during the second set prior to the suspension of play. Additionally, she proposed 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.
As is my custom, I did a complete rules trace on this episode shortly after the incident occurred. I believe the broad strokes are still correct, but it is important to note that these are the rules as they stood in 2021. The Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge was not a WTA tour event, but rather a USTA Pro Circuit event. 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. Consequently, it is unclear whether 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 with clear applicability in this case. When reporting on this 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 are also completely silent on whether warm-up is compulsory and any alternative procedures if a player declines to participate.
Since the USTA Pro Circuit is operated by the USTA and staffed by USTA officials, it is reasonable to assume that the USTA Friend at Court is also applicable. “The Code” section of that document is “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 when she attempted to refuse to warm up in this particular situation. However, had the tournament been a WTA event, her position would have been somewhat murkier. When I originally wrote about this topic in 2021, I anticipated that the WTA Official Rulebook would probably be updated to explicitly cover this situation in the future. To tie up that loose end, there hasn’t been an update to address this particular situation in that rulebook in the interim.
All of this brings us back to the obvious question of whether players are actually compelled to warm up in a USTA match. The answer is no. The Code makes it clear that while players are expected to provide a cooperative warmup, participation is not mandatory. A player who refuses simply forfeits their own right to a warmup, leaving the opponent free to hit with someone else. However, touching on many of the themes we have explored over the past couple of weekends, should a player elect to participate in the warm-up, cooperation, including the stipulation to hit balls directly to the opponent, is expected.
- 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
- 2025 WTA Official Rulebook, WTA.
The Code treats warm-ups as a cooperative activity, not a competitive practice. If an opponent is hitting at a pace where you cannot reasonably get a racquet on the ball, the warm-up has already stopped serving its intended purpose. Asking to rotate so you can warm up at a reasonable pace, including with your partner in doubles, is not refusing a warm-up. It is a reasonable attempt to restore a functional, Code-consistent warm-up, and the obligation to adjust the pace rests with the player disrupting it, not the one requesting accommodation.
Hi I’d love to know if the line in The Code about being able to warm up with your partner while the opponents warm up has any qualifications? In a recent USTA adult league match, my opponent was hitting “winners” and I couldn’t get a racquet on a ball so I asked nicely if she’d rotate over a spot so I could warm up with my partner and she could warm up with hers. Now I’m being accused of refusing my opponent a warm up.