Ladder Rules

The following rules have been established to maintain the integrity of the ladder and promote fair competition.

1. Eligibility and Registration
   • The ladder is open to the public.
   • The ladder is free to join.
   • Registration is required to participate.
2. Ladder Formats & Seasons
   • The ladder includes the following Ladder Formats: Men's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Singles, Women's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.
   • You can sign up for multiple ladder formats in one season.
   • There are two major ladder seasons (Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter).
   • The Spring/Summer season tends to be most popular due to easy accessibility to many free outdoor courts.
   • The Fall/Winter season typically has less participants and often requires finding indoor court time.
   • Our goal is to retain rankings from one Spring/Summer season to the next, but we will likely not roll rankings over between Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter ladders as participation will vary significantly.
3. Ladder Rankings & Movement
   • All players/teams are ranked on the ladders for which they are registered.
   • New players/teams start at the bottom of the ladder.
   • Rearrangement of the ladder is dynamic and occurs instantly once a score is submitted.
   • If the challenge is successful, the challenging player takes the defending player's spot on the ladder and the defending player moves down by one.
   • If unsuccessful, the challenging player/team retains their original ranking.
4. Ladder Challenges & Range
   • Challenges are made by contacting opponents ranked above you in the ladder and are based on your position in the ladder:
     • Ranked 1–30: may challenge up to 10 spots higher
     • Ranked 31–60: may challenge up to 20 spots higher
     • Ranked 61+: may challenge up to 30 spots higher
   • Important:
     • Your first challenge as a member of the ladder is 'free' meaning you can challenge anyone
     • The higher‑ranked player may choose whether to enforce this rule.
     • A higher‑ranked player may accept any challenge, regardless of ranking difference.
   • All challenges must be honored, even if the match must be scheduled weeks in advance based on availability.
   • The defending team/player must, in good faith, offer reasonable dates and times for a match.
   • A defeated player must wait two weeks before re-challenging the same opponent, though this rule may be waived by mutual agreement.
5. Match Logistics
   • The challenging player/team is to propose a court time and location.
   • Matches can be played anywhere, as long as both players agree.
   • Please visit our Courts page to find nearby courts, including available attributes of each court (e.g. court surface, availability of lights etc.).
   • For indoor matches at paid venues, please confirm availability prior to match and ensure both parties understand and agree to court fees.
   • For the Fall/Winter season, it may be more challenging to align on a court location due to costs associated with indoor court time; please be considerate of this and provide others with more flexibility during this season.
   • Each player/team brings one new can of balls, and one can is opened for play.
   • After the match, the winner keeps the unopened can and the loser keeps the used balls.
6. Scoring Format & Timed Venues
   • Matches are best 2 of 3 sets, and sets are played to 6 games.
   • At 6-6, a 7-point tiebreak (win by 2) is used.
   • All tiebreaks (singles & doubles) use the Coman procedure.
   • For a third set, a 10-point tiebreak (win by 2) replaces a full third set, though a full third set may be played if all players agree.
   • If court time expires: Please refer to the USTA guidelines for uncompleted matches.
7. Ladder Match Reporting
   • The winner is responsible for reporting the scores although either player can report the scores if agreed.
   • All matches must be reported even if they don't impact the ladder rankings.
   • Ladder rankings will instantly update once scores are submitted. For this reason, it is imperative to enter your scores as soon as possible after the completion of the match.
   • Once scores are submitted, both the winner and the loser of the match will receive an automated email with the submitted scores so that players can review whether scores were correctly submitted.
   • Scores will also be displayed under the Matches page. If an error was made, please contact us at questions@wtftennis.com so we can correct the error.
8. Scheduling Issues, Dispute Resolution & Defaults
   • Please make all efforts to resolve any scheduling issues prior to contacting the ladder's administrators.
   • Please be flexible and understand that it is not always possible to align schedules; flexibility with rescheduling is encouraged when reasonable.
   • If you are unsuccessful in getting a response from a player, please use all available contact methods the player has listed prior to escalating to our site admins.
   • If you are unable to schedule a challenge and you feel you have followed the appropriate ladder challenge rules as outlined above, please contact us via questions@wtftennis.com and we can help drive for resolution.
   • A player/team should arrive no later than 15 minutes after the scheduled match time or risk a default.
   • Please make every attempt to get in touch with players if you find you cannot make a match.
   • Please contact questions@wtftennis.com to report a defaulted match.
9. Tournaments
   • At the end of the spring/summer season, there will be tournaments for each ladder format if enough players are eligible and interested in participating.
   • The tournament structure will be determined at season end.
   • Players will be seeded according to end-of-season ladder standings.
   • Tournament match scheduling rules will be more strictly enforced to enable the tournament to progress in a timely manner.
   • To be eligible, you must have played at least two ladder matches during the current season.
10. Sportsmanship & Feedback
    • Good sportsmanship is the foundation of WTF Tennis.
    • Respect your opponents and enjoy the game.
    • The ladder exists for fun, fairness, and community.
    • This ladder was built on good sportsmanship, and we believe that most issues should be resolved independently.
    • If you have any further questions about the rules or would like to request updates on this page for clarifications, please contact the admins at questions@wtftennis.com.