I am in the middle of a systematic march through the ITF Rules of Tennis as published in the USTA Friend at Court. In the course of doing this, I am encountering some of the ITF Case Rulings for the first time in my life. I had no idea that some of these scenarios had been codified into the rules. We have arrived at another one of those instances today.
Case 3. In a doubles match, the receiver’s partner touches the net before the ball that has been served touches the ground outside the correct service court.
Decision. The receiving team loses the point because the receiver’s partner touched the net while the ball was in play.
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 24
My initial thoughts on this case decision was that me or my partner topples over and makes contact with the net before the serve bounces. At some point in my tennis career that may be a legitimate concern. I make no secret of the fact that I aspire to play competitive tennis deep into my 90’s. That may be something that concerns me in the distant future.
After some additional time spent mulling over the possibilities, I think I finally landed on the actual impetus. It is to prevent the server’s partner from literally holding down the net as the service is delivered. As a person with historically low net clearance on my serve, I can see where this would be a real benefit to some servers if allowed.
This Case Decision and the two preceding cases exist to put a very fine point on the fact that the ball is in play from the moment it contacts the server’s racquet. It is a recurring theme in the cases for this rule. The need for that might be because some people obtusely want to incorrectly assert that the serve isn’t in play until it bounces on the receiver’s side of the court.
The next logical question would be what happens if a hat from the serving team falls from a player’s head and contacts the net between the delivery of the service and the initial bounce. In that case I think the point would be lost because it is something the player was wearing that contacted the net. But if the hat was no longer on the server’s head… are they wearing it?
I think I need another pint to fully consider the ramifications.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
