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...
3 comments:
B is the correct answer since the player the ball is traveling towards is responsible for making the call. This is no different than a player making the call on a ball her opponent hit through the net or into the ground before it goes over the net.
I would go with "A" Team A. Same way the person touching the net or a double bounce has to make the call on themselves. I don't know if this is addressed in the FAC
Since the roof is a "permanent fixture" and is out of play, and it is the receiving team's call, I would agree that B is the correct answer. Let's say there was an argument as to whether a ball hit the stanchion holding up the net. It would be the same ruling.
However, in many cases like this, where the teams are friendly and agree to being unsure, I could see a let being agreed to as well.
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