Tennis League Rules & Regulations

Tennis leagues are played by juniors, adults and senior players from the local club level to the national level. There is no one way to run a league; league administrators use several formats, have options for scoring matches and enforce local rules. However, in order to be successful, they all need to follow some basic operational guidelines in addition to tennis-specific rules and regulations.

  1. Format Considerations

    • Whether the league is a club league or a USTA (United States Tennis Association) league, most use a round robin format. This is where every team or player plays all other teams or players in the group. A minimum number of players or teams may be required to have the league. Leagues are typically seasonal, but may be scheduled to run over the course of a specific number of weeks. A league administrator is responsible for its smooth operation, scheduling and score updating. To participate, players usually pay a league fee and in the case of USTA leagues, must also be a USTA member.

    Team Guidelines

    • Depending on the league, players may be required to be a certain age. USTA leagues require players to be 18 years of age prior to the league season or players must turn 18 during the scheduled league. Each team designates a person to be the team's captain. This person represents the team, is the contact person for the league administrator and handles team lineups and other team administrative matters. Teams may be required to have a minimum number of players, the team size may be limited and the NTRP skill level among the players is usually enforced. This is the National Tennis Rating Program and the system used to rate players according to their playing level and style of play.

    Team Matches

    • Team match formats are governed by the type of league and the administrator. For example, a USTA team match at the NTRP 3.5 level may involve three singles matches and two doubles matches, while a match at the senior level may only consist of three doubles matches. Whatever the format, official rules of tennis govern all match play. Individual match formats may also vary. The USTA recommends matches be the best of three sets with the first two sets played as tiebreak sets and a match tiebreak played for the third set. Other acceptable match formats are pro-sets, where matches consist of a set number of games or matches--one set is played and a tiebreak is played at 6-games all.

    Other Rule Considerations

    • Many leagues will have weather-related rules allowing the captains to reschedule for extreme low or high temperatures, rain or wind. Coaching is only allowed when the match is the best of three sets and the first two sets have been split between players. Leagues with a large number of teams at a specific level may divide the teams up into two round robins with a playoff between the two to determine the winner.