A few weeks ago, I announced an under-the radar contest that has recently concluded. Three photos showing clear tennis rule violations appeared in the banner image of posts on non-rules-related topics. The first person to correctly identify each violation was to receive a FiendAtCourt embroidered hat. Alas, only one of the three photos produced a winner. The contest was perhaps a little too subtle.
“Two Things That All Adult Tennis Tournament Players Should Do” included a photo of a match with a point in progress as a towel hung on the back fence behind the baseline. This was the only rule violation to produce a winner, as the eagle eyes of “Bob from Raliegh” spotted it immediately. I believe that Bob is the first two-time winner of one of my contests. I suspect that he could have won again but gallantly stepped aside to give someone else a chance.
Since that one had a winner, I subsequently broke down the part of THE CODE that (sort of) prohibits the “Placement of Towels” in that location.
The photo used for “The 2025 National Tournament Schedule and the End of an Era” showed a 90+ women’s doubles match in progress at the Houston Racquet Club. Unfortunately, the match started with singles sticks that had not been removed after the preceding one on that court. The quick solution to that case was to simply remove them.
That episode also demonstrated the way this blog has skewed my priorities. I ensured that I had a good photo before alerting the official to the issue. The correction was made before the ensuing point.
The final rules violation was the photo used for “Tennis Beyond the Headlines: September 2, 2024.” A screenshot from earlier in the year illustrates how Aliaksandra Sasnovich frequently foot faults when serving to the deuce court. That match was from the Hungarian Grand Prix from earlier this year. It is not legal to start the service motion with one foot across the centerline of the court. Sasnovich often does that, but I have never seen it called on her.
I have made a note to make my contests less subtle in the future.
