CHALLENGE BOARD RULES
1. The challenger makes initial contact, by email, with the team/individual they wish to challenge. A copy of the challenge must be sent to challenge@paradisemanor.net at the same time. This will establish the “day challenged” and start the timeline for the challenge. The team/individual challenged will provide, to the challenger, three dates with times that they will be available to play the match. The three dates must be within ten days of the day challenged. The three dates must be provided to the challenger within 48 hours of the start of the challenge timeline. No more than two times can be on the same day and must be separated by at least four hours. If the times provided are on a weekday they must be at or between 5:30PM and 8:30PM. If the times provided are on a weekend they must be at or between 8:00AM and 8:30PM. One of the weekday times can be moved to a time between 8:00AM and 5:30PM as long as all players involved in the challenge agree. If the match is rained out then the challenged must provide three more dates with times to the challenger. The three dates must be within seven days of the rainout and must be provided within 48 hours of the rainout following the same rules as above. The timeline ends when the match is played. All correspondence between the players must be copied to challenge@paradisemanor.net so the timeline can be maintained and information can be posted to the club website.
2. If the challenge is made by a team/individual that is already on the challenge board and the team/individual being challenged cannot provide the dates within the guidelines of rule (1), for whatever reason, they will be moved to the position of the challenger, the challenger will be moved to the position of the challenged and the timeline will end. If the challenger cannot agree to any of the dates provided by the challenged then the challenge will be deemed void, as if no challenge had been made. The timeline will end and no positions will change. The challenger can withdraw their challenge at any time within the first 48 hours of the timeline or after that if all players involved in the challenge agree. In any of these cases there cannot be a new challenge between these same teams/individuals for 48 hours. In any of the above cases rule 4 does not apply. If all players agree, the match can be rescheduled at any time during the timeline as long as the new date falls within ten days of the original day challenged. If a team/individual cannot start a match within 15 minutes of the agreed time or complete a scheduled match, for any reason, except for a rainout, that team/individual will forfeit the match and it will count as a win for their opponent. In this case rule 4 will apply.
3. If the team/individual is already on the challenge board they can only challenge the teams/individuals in the two positions directly above them on the challenge board. When you are involved in an existing challenge timeline you cannot challenge any team/individual until the existing timeline has ended. If you are already involved in an existing challenge timeline you cannot be challenged by any other teams/individuals until your existing timeline ends however the first team/individual that challenges you while you are already involved in an existing challenge timeline will have priority to challenge you when your timeline ends as long as no other rule is violated.
4. A team/individual that loses a challenge match cannot make a new challenge or be challenged for 24 hours and cannot challenge the team/individual they lost to for 14 days. A team/individual that wins a challenge can make a new challenge at any time, in accordance with rule 3, but does not have to accept a challenged from any other team/individual for 7 days. If a team/individual challenges the same team/individual multiple times and the challenger loses to them three times consecutively then the challenger cannot challenge that same team/individual for 6 months.
5. To be on the challenge board, a member must have attained the age of 19 by October 1st of the year concerned. An individual is considered Unranked if they are not already on the challenge board. A team is considered Unranked if one or both players are not already on the challenge board. If a new team is made of two existing team challenge board players the team is considered a recombination of ranked players. Unranked teams/individuals and recombined teams can challenge ranked players at any position to obtain a spot on the challenge board. If the team/individual the unranked team/individual or recombined team challenges declines the challenge the challenger is moved to the position of the challenged. The challenged and all other teams/individuals below them are moved down one position. If an unranked team/individual loses their challenge match the unranked team/individual moves to the bottom of the challenge board. If a recombined team loses their challenge match they will be moved to the position that was held by the lower ranked player just prior to the recombination.
6. Matches are best 2 out of 3 sets. A 7 point Coman Tiebreaker will be played to determine the set winner for any set that reaches a game count of 6-6. A 10 point Coman Tiebreaker can be played in lieu of a third set if all players agree.
7. If all teams/individuals involved in a challenge are already on the challenge board and the challenger wins, the challenger moves up to the position challenged and the challenged moves down one position. If there is a team/individual between the challengers original position and the losers original position they will drop down one position. When the challenger loses, the structure is unchanged.
8. The challenger will provide the balls and the winner will report the outcome of the match to challenge@paradisemanor.net.
9. If a team/individual claims they are injured they will be removed from the challenge board and placed on the injured list. All team/individual under them on the challenge board will move up one position. They cannot be challenged or initiate a challenge while on the injured list. When they are ready to play they will be placed back on the challenge board at or directly below the position they were in before being placed on the injured list. If the team/individual that occupies the line they were on was below them when they claimed the injury they will be placed on that line and the team/individual on that line and everyone under them will be moved down one position. If the team/individual that occupies the line they were on was above them when they claimed the injury they will be placed one line down from where they were before claiming the injury and the team/individual on that line and everyone under them will be moved down one position. After the team/individual is placed back on the challenge board they can be challenged immediately but cannot initiate a challenge for 24 hours.
10. Challenge Board standing will be used as a guide to determine competitive position on club-sanctioned teams. This protects the players from non-competitive, arbitrary decisions being made by a captain. However, if any team in a club-sanctioned league is in danger of forfeiting one or more lines, then the teams below must send up enough lines, at the lower team’s captain’s discretion, to fill the lines that are in danger of being forfeited. Final playing position of a team/individual in their respective level is left to the club-sanctioned team’s captain’s discretion. Captains of club-sanctioned teams can initiate a challenge between players in accordance with rule 3 to determine if the existing rankings are accurate.
11. When a substitute is needed to fill a position, said substitute should first be chosen from a substitute from that team’s level. In the event said substitute cannot play, the team’s captain can then pull non-ranked members.
12. The Tennis Rules Committee will consist of the Club President, the Captains of club-sanctioned teams and the Challenge Board Chairperson. Any dispute concerning tennis that cannot be resolved by consulting the posted rules will be resolved by the Tennis Rules Committee.
13. The Challenge Board shall be managed by a Tennis Committee chair or higher. The Tennis Committee Chair may delegate Challenge Board maintenance to a tennis member who is in good standing with the Club.
Coman Tiebreaker Rules
1. The player whose turn it is to serve shall serve the first point of the tiebreaker from the deuce court on the side they have been serving from.
2. After the first point, the players shall change ends and the following two points shall be served by the opponent (in doubles, the player of the opposing team due to serve next) starting from the ad court.
3. After this, each player/team shall serve alternately for two consecutive points (starting from the ad court); changing ends after every four points, until the end of the tiebreak. This will have you serving on the same side you were serving on during the set.
4. In a 7 point tiebreaker the winner is the player/team that reaches 7 points while their opponent has 5 or less points. In a 10 point tiebreaker the winner is the player/team that reaches 10 points while their opponent has 8 or less points. If the difference between the players/teams is less that two points (7 to 6 in a 7 point tiebreaker or 10 to 9 in a 10 point tiebreaker) play will continue and the winner will be the first player/team achieving a score that is two points higher than their opponent.
5. If another set is to be played after the tiebreaker the following will apply. To start the next set the player/team that served the first point of the tiebreaker will receive serve on the opposite side from where they were at the end of the tiebreaker.