Ladder Rules

1. The members of the Tennis Committee are the only persons authorized to changes the ladders.

2. The Tennis Committee will advance the challenger who has won a legally challenged match to the position of the challengee. The challengee and players down to the challenger's previous position will be demoted one position.

3. Before the beginning of each ladder season, the names on each ladder will be shuffled in an arbitrary manner. In order to remain on a ladder for the next season, a player must have participated in at least one non-tournament ladder match.

4. Players removed from a ladder for inactivity may not challenge to reestablish position on the ladder until one ladder season has passed. They may, however, elect to be reinstated on a ladder by having their name placed at the bottom of the ladder and playing a challenge match.

5. There will be two separate ladders. One ladder is the "A" LADDER and is open to any member of the club, but is primarily designed for players whose singles ability level is 4.5 or higher (NTRP rating scale). The second ladder is the "B" Ladder and is only open to those members whose singles ability level is 4.0 or below. If the player has a NRTP rating, that rating will be the primary factor in determining the appropriate ladder. In cases where a player does not have a NRTP rating or in cases where the NRTP rating is felt to be incorrect, the members of the Tennis Committee will decided on the appropriate ladder. A player on the "A" Ladder will not be allowed to play on the "B" Ladder. However, a player on the "B" Ladder will be allowed to play on the "A" Ladder. A trophy will be forthcoming for the winners of each ladder provided that they have played a minimum of two ladder matches. The winner of the "B" Ladder must move up to the "A" Ladder for the next ladder season.

6. The ladder will open on April 15 (or at the start of the Ladder Tournament if that date is earlier than April 15) and close on October 15. Challenge matches are to be completed before the closing date.

7. A player may challenge any one of the immediate six players above him. The winner of the match may not be challenged for two days following the match. The loser may not challenge for two days, and may not challenge the winner of the match for seven days. Challengers and challengees may not be challenged until their pending match has been played or forfeited. Any match won by a challenger as a result of an illegal challenge and any subsequent matches by the challenger will be reversed upon decision of the Tennis Committee.

8. A member not on a ladder has one challenge to establish a position. A loss places him at the lowest position. This must be done before May 10. (First-year members are exempt from these deadlines.) No player will be placed on the ladder (except at the lowest position as per Rule 4 above) after the aforementioned dates.

9. All challenges must be posted to be legal. The challenger must notify the challengee within 24 hours of posting, and write the date to be played on the ladder sheet. The match must be played with seven days of posting. Notification of a member of the same household constitutes a proper notification. A challenge may be withdrawn by the challenger if proper notification is not possible within 24 hours or a mutually agreeable time to play can not be found. Be sure to indicated which ladder the challenge is for on the ladder sheet.

Example: Challenge made on June 15.
Notify challengee by June 16.
Write scheduled playing date by June 18.
Play the match and record results by June 22.

10. In the event the courts are not playable due to the weather on the scheduled date, the match must be played on the first day the courts are playable or within the seven day period.

11. Non-availability for play by either the challenger or challengee for any reason shall be treated as a forfeit. If the challengee forfeits, he loses one ladder position; however, the challenger would not advance unless he was originally one position below the challengee.

12. A player who is unable to accept a challenge because of injury must be designated as such on the ladder board. Injured players may be jumped over in counting up six players for challenge purposes. In the case of injury to the number one player on the ladder, said player shall be removed from the ladder until he is able to resume ladder play. At that time he may challenge the current number one player and assume the number one position if he wins. In the event he loses, he will be placed in the number two position.

13. A challenge match will be the best of three tiebreak sets. The challenger will furnish new USTA approved clay court balls. On Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 9:00 am to noon, ladder matches are limited to one hour plus ten minutes court preparation time.