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Overruled Line Calls

On By Teresa Merklin

The “Role of Court Officials” section of the ITF Rules of Tennis contained in the USTA Friend at Court describes the roles and authority that various officials have during a USTA officiated match. The rules are clear that questions of fact, such as whether a ball was in or out, can only be ruled on by an official based on direct observation. However, the rules surrounding overrules also reveal that sometimes officials with direct observation disagree on the correct call.

The OOFOS Sandal

On By Teresa Merklin

The tennis community is always quick to share advice and experience when a player is injured. I benefitted from that first hand when I recently attended the National Senior Women’s Clay Court Championships on a knee scooter. One of the best recommendations I received for treating my own condition was from an umpire who implored me to try the OOFOS branded sandals. I wish they had come into my life sooner.

Lew Sherr named as new USTA CEO

On By Teresa Merklin

If I had to guess, most avid tennis players are not aware that the USTA has been searching for a new CEO. Additionally I believe that most couldn’t name his predecessor even if their lives depended on it. Today is a paragraph by paragraph dissection of the USTA press release announcing the selection of Lew Sherr as the new CEO. Specifically I am looking for clues about what the new era might portend for the organization. As a reminder, overthinking such things is the hallmark of this site.

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More Tennis, Less Points

On By Teresa Merklin

The Women’s 4.5 division at the 2022 USTA 18+ NTRP Doubles National Championships had exactly 12 teams in the final entry list. That number provides a lot of options on how to divide the players into round robin groups. The ultimate decision was to conduct the first round robin stage as two six team pools. The downstream side effects on this one are pretty wild.

NTRP National Championship Primer: Senior Tennis Edition

On By Teresa Merklin

I have previously written a lot about the the USTA NTRP National Championships as well as the shortened scoring format used at that event. Today’s post is an executive summary specifically written to bring Senior competitors up to speed on this (relatively) new USTA initiative. I am an active Senior age group Level 1 tournament player who has also participated in the NTRP National Championship tournament. I don’t think there are a large number of people that have competed in both event types.

Calling the Referee

On By Teresa Merklin

In officiated matches, tennis players have the right to call the referee to court if they disagree with the umpire’s interpretation of tennis law. Unless the referee is sitting on-court, the chair umpire has the final decision authority on questions of fact that might arise during the match. The referee may only rule on interpretation of tennis law when summoned to a court.