The “Serving” section of the ITF Rules of Tennis in the USTA Friend at Court describes where the server stands when delivering the serve and where the serve is to be delivered to on the opposite of side of the net. This was discussed yesterday in “Serving It Up.” There is an additional sentence sandwiched between the rule statements covered yesterday.
In a tie-break game, the service shall be served from behind alternate halves of the court, with the first served from the right half of the court.
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 17
In the background of this project I have been on an unsuccessful quest to obtain historic copies of the ITF Rules of Tennis so I can trace through the evolution of the wording as new rules are introduced into the game. Of particular interest to me is when the tie-break game was inserted into the rules which I assume to be sometime around 1970 which is the year the tie-break was introduced in the US Open. I previously wrote about that topic in “Heading into a Breaker” earlier this year.
The challenge of locating early editions of the ITF rules of tennis is compounded by the fact that the era of interest predates the internet. Organizations did not produce electronic forms of the materials because there was no consumer market for those materials. So while the internet assists in the search, the rules of tennis is an area that the internet is somewhat blind to.
I allegedly have a copy of the ITF Rules of Tennis from the early 70’s en route from the UK. As it turns out, getting something shipped from an area under COVID-19 stay-at-home orders to another area which is also under stay-at-home orders has thrown a spanner into the works. Apparently shipping books is not an essential business.
Exactly where and how the implications of the tie-break game were added to the ITF Rules of Tennis is completely fascinating to me. Tie-break implications are sprinkled throughout the main body, appendices, ITF Case Rulings, and USTA comments. While the representation that exists in the rules today manages to adequately explain the tie-break mechanics, it is only through a meandering journey through the complete rule specification.
I am coming to think of the tie-break game as the mascot of this project in general. Both are a meandering journey of discovery.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
