Last Sunday, as I explored disqualification and misconduct rules sparked by an incident at the Tom Fey Tri-Level National Invitational Championships earlier this year, I ran across something in my notes that was reportedly said to the captain of a player who retired a match. One of the Championship Committee members asserted that players were required to take a medical timeout and summon an official to the court before retiring from a match due to injury.
Usually, when taking notes (and I take a lot of notes), I put a big exclamation point in the margin when something seems significant. When something is said that I think is questionable, it is marked with a “?!” which also happens to be the notation for a dubious move in chess. In this particular case, there is a big “WTF” out in the margin. I will not elaborate.
It is certainly not true that tennis players have to summon an official before retiring from a match in any USTA-sanctioned event. I want to believe that the statement was made in the context of a debate on whether or not the player who retired was actually injured. Curiously enough, while an official may be summoned for a medical timeout, it is not compulsory. The optional nature is backed up by THE CODE and the USTA Regulations.
Requesting officials during play. While normally a player may not leave the playing area, the player may contact an official for assistance. Some reasons for contacting an official include:
USTA Friend at Court, “THE CODE,” Principle 41.
- Stalling
- Flagrant foot faults;
- Extreme grunting;
- A medical or bleeding timeout;
- A scoring dispute; or
- A pattern of bad calls.
Request for medical timeout. A request for a medical timeout may be made by a player to the Referee, Chair Umpire, or other official at any time during the match or warm-up.
USTA Frient at Court, Part III, USTA Regulations, III.E.5
The USTA Friend at Court conveniently has a definition for a medical timeout that underscores another justification for why the players would not have sought a medical timeout before retiring from the match.
Medical Timeout. A Medical Timeout consists of evaluation time as determined by the Referee plus a maximum of three minutes to treat a medical condition that is treatable. A player is not entitled to a Medical Timeout if the condition is not treatable.
USTA Friend at Court, Glossary
A sore elbow due to overuse, which was the actual claim by the player who retired from the match, is not a treatable condition. He would not have been entitled to a medical timeout had he asked. The procedure for retiring from a match is to approach the net, tell your opponent you will not continue to play, and shake hands which seals the deal. There is nothing in the rules that indicates otherwise.
This vignette is just one more strange twist in this overall saga.
- USTA Tri-Level National Invitational Welcome Page, USTA SoCal Hosted Informational Page, last viewed April 6, 2024.
- 2024 USTA League National Regulations, USTA Resource Document, March 14, 2024.
- Friend at Court: The Handbook of Tennis Rules and Regulations, USTA, 2024
- USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking, & Sanctioning Regulations, USTA Regulation, as amended December 14, 2023.
- USTA League Suspension Point System Calculation Tables, USTA Resource Document, February 6, 2024.
- USTA League Suspension Point System 2024, USTA Resource Document, February 6, 2024.
- USTA League Suspension Point System Frequently Asked Questions, USTA Resource Document, March 23, 2023.
It’s all in the name….
A ‘sore elbow’ is an ‘untreatable condition’ but a ‘muscle strain’ could be treated by a trainer/phsio/family member after 2minutes evaluation time and 3 minutes treatment time.
It’s all in what the player calls it….
I had a match once when the player appeared to be suffering from leg cramp, but the trainer evaluated a muscle strain… treated the area required and 5 minutes later the match resumed after the player had chance to recover….. – but they later had a full on cramp and I had to stand over them with a stop watch… Players can concede points until a change of ends and treatment during the changeover…. if they really don’t want to give up!
That seems a bit odd the player’s wording of an injury determines what actions occur. Anyway, the player could just remain mute on the subject and not say anything. Or the call the ‘sore elbow’ actually ‘tennis elbow,’ as an actual injury, too. Is there a rule that talks about these things though?
You may have already address this but is there a rule that says once a player retires from a match in a tournament, that person cannot play another match in that tournament?
It’s a referee determination. It was described in this post:
https://fiendatcourt.com/examining-the-rules-of-tennis-match-retirements-in-the-usta-tournament-regulations/
If they withdrew from ‘Singles’ they can compete in the ‘Doubles’ ….
I’m a little confused what you mean by this twist. Do you mean the officials made up a rule on the spot about players requiring to call an official for a medical timeout? This tournament seems very odd overall. But, I guess everything you’re talking about boils down to just this one seem match retirement fiasco, which shouldn’t be a big deal and is actually allowed.
Also, how do you know a sore elbow isn’t a treatable condition? Is there a rule that says that? Lots of tennis players have bad elbows that often improve just like any most any other injury.
I am choosing to believe that rather than a rules error that the context was debate over whether the player was really injured.
The reason I don’t think it was a treatable condition because it was fatigue. Loss of condition is explicitly identified as a non-treatable condition.
Ok. I wouldn’t think there’d be a debate on that or why that’d be necessary. I don’t see any rule requiring a player to list an injury necessary for a retirement. Plus, I’d imagine all of us have some sort of injury almost always.
Ok, so you’re saying you’re speculating on the elbow inury not being a treatable condition? Is there a rule that actually says that? I’ve never heard nor seen that. And couldn’t we say most injuries are from overuse/fatigue?