How Would You Rule: Ball Hitting The Roof Indoors

Beautiful new indoor facility at SMU.

We recently got a phone call from a local pro asking for a ruling about a ball hitting the roof of an indoor facility during play.  It gives me a great opportunity to share a picture of the new indoor facility at SMU and also give you an opportunity to share your wisdom about tennis rules.

NOTE:  The following event did not occur at SMU but at a country club facility in Dallas.

SCENARIO

In an unofficiated indoor ladies doubles match, team A hits a lob which goes extremely close to the roof and may or may not have hit the roof.  Both teams agree that the contested call happened as the ball was directly above the net so it was not at one end or the other.

Team A says their ball did not hit the roof and Team B says that it did.  

How would you rule and who has the authority to make this call?  Here are your choices:

A.  Team A has the authority to make the call since they hit it and the lob is good so they win the point since Team B stopped play to claim the point.

B.  Team B has the authority to make the call since the ball was coming toward them and they win the point since they say the ball hit the roof.

C.  Play a let since noone can be absolutely sure the ball hit the roof or who has the authority to make the call.

D.  Since both teams were mad and arguing with each other and disrupting play on adjoining courts, default both teams.

Let us know how you would rule...

Interesting Results From Fees Collected For Tournaments That Are Cancelled

We just finished our poll that asked the question about what should be done with entry fees when the tournament is cancelled due to weather.

Here are the results:

71% said that 75% of the entry fee should immediately be refunded to the participant.

21% said that there should be no refund.

7% said that the participant should receive a 50% discount for their entry into the next tournament.

Quite interesting don't you think?

Acupuncture During A Medical Time Out? Legal or not???

I was privileged to do some chairs at the Masters Tournament in Austin this past weekend and came across a scenario that I thought would be perfect for the blog...

Player A takes a medical timeout during his singles final.  During the MTO his wife did acupuncture on his elbow.  She then repeated the procedure during the 10 minute break between the second and third sets.

Here is the rule from the FAC:

Page 111 (E, 4):
4.  Non-treatable medical conditions.  Plays may not receive a medical timeout or treatment any time during a match or a warm-up for the following medical conditions:

c.  Any medication condition requiring injection (other than insulin injection), intravenous infusion, or supplemental oxygen.  A player who receives any injection, intravenous infusion, or supplemental oxygen, except under circumstances specifically authorized by USTA Regulations, shall be immediately defaulted.

The ruling at the tournament was that acupuncture is not an injection and is therefore permitted.

Do you agree or disagree?