The Rules of Tennis
The fact that the official rules of tennis are forever in English is a topic that has come up previously on this site. We have finally arrived at the place in the ITF Rules of Tennis which officially and definitively indicates that fact. It comes in a section titled “Amendment to the Rules of Tennis.”
The official and decisive text to the Rules of Tennis shall be for ever in the English language.
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Amendment to the Rules of Tennis
The remainder of the amendment section goes on to explain the high level procedures for changing the official ITF Rules of Tennis. The first sentence provides an overarching constraint, which requires the official rules to always be written in English. Additionally the word decisive indicates that if there is any alternate interpretation in the rules when translated to another language, the English version is authoritative.
If you are wondering why English is the official language of the French headquartered ITF, the executive summary is that it was a part of a complex deal. It involved the United States joining the ITF, the England Lawn Tennis Association giving up some voting power, and transference of stewardship of the rules to the ITF. The stipulation that the rules would always be in English were a part of that agreement which I can only assume involved a lot of cigars, beer, and wine. I originally wrote about that topic in “Fabulous ITF Historical Facts.”
Additionally the dominance of the English language came up more recently due to a new note added to the ITF Rules of Tennis in 2021. Essentially, the new note repeats the statement which is quoted above. I combed through the minutes of the ITF meeting where the updates were ratified, but failed to uncover exactly why the new note was added. However, I assume that there was some sort of incident involving a translation that sparked the up front reminder. That new note was more fully described in “The English Language and the ITF.”
I am not sure it is all that useful for the rank and file tennis playing community to be aware that English is the official language of the ITF Rules of Tennis. However, most people in the United States probably incorrectly assume that the USTA owns the Rules. Over the next couple of weeks we will continue in this section by exploring how the rules are updated as well as the limited authority that the USTA does have.
- United States Tennis Association (2021), Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations, White Plains, NY
