Davisville Tennis Club – Ladder Rules (revised
03/16)

The Ladder gives Davisville members the opportunity to play singles matches with a variety of players in a competitive, but friendly environment.
The Ladder season runs from May to September in an online box format accessed through the Club’s website.
There will be 4-6 players in each box of the ladder, playing each other once during a month. All Ladder matches are to be played at Davisville Tennis Club, during Club hours. All players are equally responsible to arrange matches with their box opponents.

Joining the Ladder
Both the men’s and ladies’ ladder are restricted to 55 participants. The cost to join the Ladder is $20 for the season. After Opening Day, you can register at the Club with the Court Steward on duty. Participants will be placed into the Ladder in a box with players of a similar skill level. Ladder participants must have a player rating OR the Player
Development director must have an idea of your level of play. You can join the Ladder at any time, with any new entrants beginning play at the start of the following month.
NOTE: If you join the Ladder after June 1st and do not begin Ladder play until July 1st, you are ineligible to win the Ladder (either Most Points or Top of the Ladder), regardless of your standing at the end of the season.

Booking Matches
There are 2 ways to play matches on the Ladder. You can play Instant Ladder or you can book a specific date and time on Court 4 only using the website.

Instant Ladder
If you and a current box opponent are both at the courts or are going to be later that day, you can tag up to play a Ladder match on any available court, with one MAJOR CONDITION. If you tag for a time and it becomes a DOUBLES ONLY time, you are NOT permitted to keep your court for Instant Ladder. Failing to comply with this rule will result in both players being removed from the ladder for the following month.

Booking Court 4
Once you’ve confirmed a playing time with a box opponent you can reserve Court 4 online. At Club opening the court stewards will block off reserved courts on the tag board, but will not be able to update the board during that day. Once the club opens, any matches not previously booked for that day will have to be played by Instant Ladder. If for any reason a booked match cannot by played, the online court booking MUST BE CANCELLED to free up that time for other players.
Please respond to match requests promptly. You may only book a court if you have confirmed the time with your opponent. The online booking system will send confirmation emails to each player. You can book as many of your
matches at a time as you wish but you are only allowed to play each person in your box once.
You are not allowed to book back to back time slots per Club tagging rules. Prior to the scheduled day of play, cancelled matches must be removed from online booking.
On the day of play, the Court Steward MUST be notified of any cancelled matches so that they can free up the slot on the tag board. If you or your opponent fails to do so, you will both be defaulted.

Defaults

Type 1
If a player fails to attend or cancels within 24 hours of a booked match, the offending player loses by default. The “winner” is awarded eight points, the defaulter zero points. The match cannot be rebooked or played via instant ladder. Players cannot agree to reschedule within 24 hours of a booked match.

Type 2
A player who fails to respond to a match request with prospective play dates, or otherwise declines to play, will lose by default. This includes inability to play due to INJURY.

If in a period of fifteen consecutive days a player has sent three challenges with consecutive play dates, the
player may ask the Player Development director, by email, to approve a default.

Type 3
If you are late for your match (even 1 minute), you start the match down 1-0. If you are 5 minutes late, you start the match down 2-0. If you are 10 minutes late for your match, the match is considered a default. The Court Steward will release the court and any member present can now tag for that court.

Type 4
If both players fail to attend a booked match and neither player notifies the Court Steward to release the court, the match is considered complete and both players defaulted.
Matches will proceed unless in the opinion of the Court Steward the court is unplayable due to weather or other unforeseen circumstance. The Court Steward may call you in advance to let you know of the cancellation, but
may not be able to.
Please call ahead if you think that your match might be cancelled for any reason.

Questions and Answers
Q: What happens if my Ladder match gets rained out?
A: You are permitted to re-book it or play it via Instant Ladder.
Q: What happens if my opponent doesn’t show up because he/she thought it was raining or the courts were wet (and they were not)?
A: Only the Court Steward can determine when courts are unplayable. A default win will be recorded for the person that was there waiting. You are not permitted to rebook this match or play it via instant ladder.
Q: It rained during our ladder match and we didn’t get to finish! What do we do?
A: You are permitted to re-book it or play it via Instant Ladder.

Warm-Up
Please keep your warm up time under 5 minutes. Remember that you only have 40 minutes to play your match. The longer you warm up, the shorter your match will be and fewer points scored.

Scoring & Match Details
All Ladder matches are 40 minutes in duration, regardless of whether or not there is someone coming on the court after you. When serving for the first time, please allow FIRST IN. As the warm-up time usually does not allow for serve practice, this is recommended. If both players agree to NOT play FIRST IN, that is acceptable.
The Ladder match is played as a Pro Set. A Pro Set is a set where the winner is the first to win 8 games, by a margin of 2 (for example, 8-6). If a match is tied at 7-7, a 7-point tiebreaker is played to determine the winner of the match. The score after a tiebreaker will always be 8-7.

All games are played with No-Ad scoring. Playing out deuces will only reduce the amount of games that you are able to finish. In No-Ad scoring, games that go to deuce are decided on the next point, with the receiver choosing which side to return serve from. As a result, there is only 1 point played after deuce. The winner of that point is the winner of that game.
If you have not reached the end of the Pro Set in the allotted time, whoever is ahead after the 40-minute time period has expired is declared the winner.
You are NOT permitted to finish your game once other players have arrived at your court to remove you. If the score of the match is tied (5-5, 30-30, for example) after 40 minutes, the players must play one more point to determine the winner (5-5, 40-30, for example). The winner of that last point gets a game added to his/her total, and wins the match 6-5. NO TIES ARE ALLOWED.

Recording the Score
After the match is completed, the participants are responsible for recording the final score of games won. Unless otherwise agreed, the winner will be responsible for recording the results.
One point is awarded for every game won in the match. The match winner also receives three bonus points, the loser one bonus point for playing.

Movement on the Ladder
At or near the start of each month new boxes are created based on the results of play.
As a general rule, those who win matches will rise and those that lose matches will fall. Adjustment of the Ladder boxes and addition of new players is at the discretion of the Player Development Director.
Anyone playing fewer than three matches during the month will be ineligible for promotion to a higher box.
If you play no matches or default more than once, 2 months in a row, you will be removed from ladder play for the remainder of the season. Your fee will not be refunded.
The top 2 ladies in the highest box on the Ladies Ladder will have the option (they will be asked in advance of the end of the month) of moving to the Men’s Ladder. They are not required to go to the Men’s Ladder; it is optional. If they choose to move to the Men’s Ladder, they will be placed into a box on the Men’s ladder with players of similar skill level. If a Lady chooses to crossover to the Men’s Ladder, they do so with the following caveats: 

1. They are moving to the Men’s Ladder for the remainder of the Ladder season. 

2. They are not entitled to win either award on the Ladies Ladder. They can win the Men’s Ladder, either for Most Points or Top of the Ladder.

Year End Winners
Prizes are awarded separately for the Men’s & Ladies’ Ladders, with two ways to win:
1. Be the player who is at the top of the Ladder at the end of the season.
2. Be the player who has accumulated the most total points on the Ladder at the end of the season…