UTR Sports Adult Team Tennis - Rules and Regulations

I. Mission

UTR Sports Tennis Adult Team Tennis enables a fun, level-based, competitive environment for Adult tennis players to experience the enjoyment of a team sport and improve their game. All matches in team sessions count for the Verified UTR Rating.

II: League Sessions Format

*Local league divisions and formats may vary depending on location. Ensure you check the session page for specific details on your area.

• 2 singles lines, 2 doubles lines
• Minimum 4 players per team match. Recommend 6-8 players per team. Max players up to team captain.
• Two out of three 6 game sets,10 pt tiebreaker for 3rd set, NO AD scoring
• Divisions: UTR 1-2.99, 3-4.99, 5-6.99, 7+
• Co-ed or Gender-based (men’s or women’s)

III. 2024/2025 Season Dates

*Season dates may vary based on league location. Make sure to check utrsports.net for upcoming seasons.

• Winter:
  • Dates: 1st week of December to last week of January
  • Playoffs: 1st or 2nd weekend in February (Includes Fall/Winter)
• Winter/Spring: 
  • Dates: 2nd week of January to 3rd week of April (8 weeks to get 6 matches done)
  • Potential Playoffs: 3rd weekend of March 
• Spring:
  • Dates: 3rd week of Feb to 3rd week of April
  • Playoffs: 1st weekend in May (Includes Winter/Spring)
• Summer:
  • Dates: 2nd week of June to 1st week of August (to account for July 4th)
  • Playoffs: 3rd week of August 
• Fall:
  • Dates: 1st week of September to 1st week of November 
  • Playoffs: Weekend before Thanksgiving
• Fall/Winter:
  • Dates: 2nd week of October to last week of January 
  • Playoffs: 1st or 2nd weekend in February 

IV. Registration

• Timing: Registration must be completed on the UT website before a player’s first match is played. Captains are responsible for ensuring their players are registered on time. Any player who plays a match before registering will put their own score and team score at risk of not counting.
• New to UTR? If you do not have a UTR profile, you will create one at https://app.utrsports.com/join. After that, you can register for a league session. Each player profile must use a unique email address.

V. Rules and Regulations

1. Age/UTR division requirements
   • Players must be over the age of 18 for the full duration of the league season.
   • Divisions are based on UTR level, not age.
   • If a player has a projected rating or not 100% reliable rating, it is up to their captain to decide which UTR division they belong in.
     • Within 1 match a player gets a rating, within 5 matches the rating becomes reliable.
   • 100% reliably rated players must play within their UTR division
   • UTR division placement can be determined either by singles or doubles rating
2. Lineup - Captains Must Maintain Honest Practice
   • Captains must arrange players by UTR, high to low in order of lineup. Singles highest UTR plays line 1 etc. Doubles combined rating of line 2 must not exceed the combined rating of line 1.
     • Some discretion may be used here as ratings may be projected or not fully reliable yet.
       • Repeated lineup abuse may result in penalties for the team.
   • Locking your lineup: Captains are highly encouraged to lock their lineup in the UTR Sports team match 48 hours before the scheduled match day. Captains may not adjust their lineup upon seeing the other team's lineup.
     • The lineup may only be adjusted after locking if a scheduled player becomes injured or sick or the difference in UTR ratings of a line is greater than 1.5-2.0 and therefore needs to be adjusted to create more level-based play.
3. Captains
   • Pre-Match and Match Day Procedures
     • Home Team Captains
       • Must verify matches with home court facility.
       • Must provide balls.
       • Must communicate with the opposing team captain 5 days in advance if rescheduling is necessary.
       • Must report scores from the team match.
       • Captains must communicate ahead of time if they will not have enough players for every line to be played in the team match.
       • Captains and players must arrive at least 10 minutes before the scheduled match time to ensure play begins on time.
4. Match Rescheduling/Rain
   • Match cancellations are highly discouraged. If a match cannot be played at its originally scheduled time, captains should work together to reschedule the match at a different date that is still within the session dates.
     • The rescheduling captain must provide at least 2 different dates/times for the opposing captain to choose from.
     • The new match date must be confirmed 48 hours before the originally scheduled team match.
     • A new match date cannot conflict with another future scheduled team match for one/both of the teams involved.
   • Rain: If there is a rain delay - please communicate with the away team captain. If play seems unlikely for the day, please communicate with the away team captain at least 4 hours in advance of the scheduled match time.
5. Coaching
   • Coaching can only come from assigned team captains to their own team players.
   • Coaching is allowed on the court between points and games but must not disrupt the natural flow of the match (25 seconds between points, 90 seconds on changeovers, 120 seconds between set breaks).
   • Coaching must not distract or interfere with the opponent.
6. Standings
   • Team Match Winner Criteria:
     • First by number of lines won.
     • If tied, the team winner is the % of games won
     • If still tied, the team winner is determined as the team who won the #1 doubles line.
   • Team Standings Criteria:
     • First by match wins
     • Ties are broken by
       • H2H record
       • Then % game won
       • Then the team that won the last H2H  
7. Players
   • Players must understand the general flow and scoring of a tennis match.
   • Players must be of eligible age and UTR range to compete in a given session.
   • Players must adhere to good sportsmanship and behavior on the court.
   • Players are subject to the UTR Player Guidelines here.
8. Conflicts
   • Conflicts between captains must be resolved and handled with each other. Should the issue continue, please reach out to the league coordinator promptly.
   • Captains should allow players to try to resolve on-court conflicts first. If the issue is not being resolved, captains may intervene.
   • Captains should not interact with other teams’ players unless the opposing team captain has given permission.
   • Captains are responsible for the actions of their players and spectators.

     Issues with an opposing team player/parent should be brought to the attention of that team’s captain. The opposing team captain should address the issue their player/spectator is causing directly with them.

   • Any spectator who is not compliant or acting inappropriately may be asked to leave a match and/or banned from attending future matches.

   • All participants must adhere to the UTR Sports Team Tennis Code of Conduct

   • Matters that cannot be resolved by Captains at the time or with assistance by the League Coordinator, conflicts will be dealt with by the Code of Conduct

9. Additional fees
   • Team captains may charge their team fee outside the UTR Sports session fee. Captains determine this at their discretion and it is facilitated outside of UTR Sports. All players must pay the UTR Sports session fee upon registering online.
   • UTR Sports does not cover court fees. The participating captains must convey appropriate court fees.
   • Any other additional costs teams may have outside of the UTR Sports session and league fee are not under the responsibility of UTR Sports.
10. Scoring
    • All divisions can adhere to one of the following scoring formats: Fast 4, Two Sets with Tiebreaker, or 8 Game Pro Set in the given time-based period (if applicable), NO AD.
      • 5 min warm-up, 30 min doubles, 5 min break. Followed by singles (lines 2 & 4) and another round of singles (lines 1 & 3)
      • For time-based formats: if the set score is tied in games at when "time" is called (ie: it is 5-5 40-15 and time is called), players should finish the game to determine the set winner, so that one person leads in games (6-5).
    • Pro-Tip: Make sure to review our How To Record A Tiebreak guide to ensure the tiebreaks for your teams are input appropriately.

Captains, players, spectators, and/or teams may be removed from the league at the discretion of the league coordinator. Examples of when this may occur are failure to respect the rules and regulations above or three or more complaints against a team/player/parent/captain. Other situations may arise that can result in disqualification from the league.