How:
Players are put into mixed-gender groups of 4 or 5 players of similar standard and have generally 4 weeks to play 3 or 4 matches, which are arranged among the players themselves.
Matches are only 13 games, so that the match could generally finish within an hour .
Sometimes it takes longer than 1h. It's up to players to decide if they want to book a court for 2h, so that they could definitely finish 13 games, or keep it to 1h and record the score reached.
Players must be available to play after 6pm and at weekends.
Players do not have to be available to play weekdays before 6pm.
Challenges must be played within 10 days:
A challenge is a direct individual request (not a general group message) to another player using email or phone number (or a relevant messenger app if both players are using any) for a match, that includes proposed specific place and time for a match.
If the person challenged cannot play for whatever reason then a walkover win is given, i.e. the opponent gets 13 points for the match.
When you challenge, you must be available to play yourself within the following 10 days, i.e., you cannot challenge someone the night before you go on holidays and claim a walkover win.
At least 1 match needs to be played within the series time, which is usually 4 weeks from commencement.
If you have played no matches and claimed no walkover wins in the series , i.e. you have 0 points AND played no matches, you will get 1 penalty point and will not be permitted to play in the next series regardless of the reason, e.g. holidays, sickness, injury, weather or not owning a racket.
If you have been enrolled into but played no matches and claimed no walkover wins in more than 3 series (i.e. you received 4 penalty points), you will not be permitted to join the league again.
The challenger is responsible for booking the court. You can play at your club or at one of the public courts.
Each match shall be a total of 13 games, with the 13th game always being a tiebreaker (first to 7 points leading by 2):
if the match is at 6 games all, a tiebreaker will be played
if one player leads 12 games to nil the 13th game is still a tiebreaker
You will be awarded one point for every game you win, i.e. player A beats player B 8 games to 5: player A gets 8 points on the scoreboard, player B gets 5 points.
It is the responsibility of the winner to record the score (or claim a walkover win) by sending the results to zurichtennisleague@gmail.com
Please try and resolve any disputes yourself and in an adult manner!
Please remember this is only for fun and not a life or death issue!
Once a challenge is arranged (i.e. day and time), if a player does not show up, this is automatically deemed a walkover win regardless of reason (e.g. forgot, traffic etc), i.e. the opponent gets 13 points for the match.
Walkovers, disputes, scores, etc will not be entertained after the end date of the series. Only what’s on the score sheet will be counted.
When reporting scores/walkovers, always add the other player in copy of the email.
When reporting a walkover win, state the date the challenge was issued and the reason for claiming the walkover win.
The cost of any court rental fees to be split 50 / 50 by the players.
At the end of the 4 week series the following happens:
group winners (by number of points) are promoted to the next higher group (depending on new entrants & withdrawals)
bottom player(s) in the group is relegated to next lower group (depending on new entrants & withdrawals)
players who have played no matches are eliminated
new league starts for another 4 weeks
Places in the group are decided by:
points won
in the event of a draw on points whoever won the head-to head match will be ahead
if no head-to head match was played then points difference counts (total points won minus total points lost)
in the event of a draw on point’s difference whoever has won the more points will be ahead
in the event id a draw on the most points whichever player is higher ranked will stay ahead
You only play players within your own group.