The Rules of Tennis
Editorial Note: Our sequential march through the ITF Rules of Tennis as printed in the USTA Friend at Court has reached Appendix VI, The Role of Court Officials.
Tennis officiating is divided into quite a few sub-disciplines. At an event it is pretty typical have officials on site fulfilling various roles and responsibilities. The tournament referee is responsible for making sure the competition is fair. The referee is also responsible for ensuring the tournament is played under ITF rules of tennis in accordance with USTA Regulations.
The referee supervises all aspects of play. That includes the conduct of everyone in the competition: Players, Coaches, Parents, Spectators, Officials, Groundskeepers, and Administrative crew.
The referee is the final authority on all questions of tennis law and the referee’s decision is final.
ITF Rules of Tennis, Appendix VI.
The referee essentially has the ultimate authority over rules applications and interpretation during competition. However, they cannot rule on questions of fact under certain circumstances, including matches that are played with a chair umpire.
In matches where a chair umpire is assigned, the chair umpire is the final authority on all questions of fact during the match.
The players have the right to call the referee to court if they disagree with a chair umpire’s interpretation of tennis law.
ITF Rules of Tennis, Appendix VI.
Under the old USTA TennisLink system, all tournaments listed the referee as a part of the general information for the tournament. When the level of tournament was not required to designate a referee, that field was simply left blank. The new USTA digital platform no longer includes a specific space for the name of the referee. In fact, I tried to look it up for the National Level 1 tournaments I played this year, and neither listed the name of who served in that role.
Two steps forward, one step back.
- Become a USTA Official, USTA Web Page, viewed October, 22, 2021.
