Chair Umpire Cheat Sheet Flashcards
What should you do before the match (before arriving to court)?
• Find out the match/tournament conditions
(match format, number of balls, ball change,
number of linespeople, clothing regulations,
location of toilet, physio information)
• Prepare all sections of scorecard / device
• Collect balls, open and check balls.
• Collect radio (if used)
• Apply sunscreen, fill water bottle
• Prepare court bag
• Find correct pronunciation of players’ names
• Find replacement balls (balls of ‘like wear’)
• Final toilet break
• Find a quiet spot and mentally prepare
What should be in your court bag items?
- Scorecard
- Pencils
- Stopwatch
- Measuring tape
- Scorecard holder
- Coins
- Erasers
- Pens
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Band-aids
- Safety pins,
- Spare scorecards
- Aspirin
Arriving to court. What should one do?
• Try to arrive to court 10mins before the match
• First, measure net and prepare balls
• Check court surrounds and court surface
• Position chair umpire’s chair
(not looking into sun if possible)
• Position player’s chairs
(if there are player umbrellas, make sure the player
chairs are in shade)
• Clear court of rubbish and used balls
• Line umpire’s chairs in position
Pre-match meeting. What should one do?(Process)
• Stand at the centre service line and wait for the
players at the net (with balls and coin)
• Do not wear sunglasses at meeting
• Check dress code while you wait for players
• Let the players come to you, hand them the balls
• Tell players match conditions,
speaking in dot points, then toss coin
• Pick up coin after players have walked away
Pre-match meeting. What should be covered?
- Match format (ie. best of three tie break sets, or two tiebreak sets no add scoring, match tiebreak at one match all)
- Number of balls (2/3/4/6 Balls)
- Ball change (Ball change at 7 and 9, or Ball change at 9 and 11, or New Balls, Third Set)
- Linespeople (“I’ll be calling all the lines and the net”, or “We have a linesperson calling the far sideline through the net, I’m calling the rest and the net.”, or “All lines covered byt linespeople, I’m calling the net”.)
- Adjacent courts? (“If a ball comes across from another court, I’ll call a let when I see it, play until you hear the call”)
- ** Any unique and relevent points to the match
- Questions? (“Any questions?”)
- Coin toss (Heads or tails)
Toilet Break
1. How much time is given?
2. When should it be taken?
3. How many breaks are allowed for Singles?
4. How many breaks are allowed for Doubles?
- Players allowed reasonable time
- Should be taken on a set break, or at the very least at the start of the player’s own service game
- Singles: one break for a 3 set match. Two breaks for a 5 set match
- Doubles - each team entitled to two toilet breaks, if partners leave together this counts as one break
Ball Change, what’s the procedure?
• Make sure all old balls are collected
• New balls should be checked at the ball change
prior to new balls
Replacement Balls – when replacing a lost ball
• If two or less games old, replace with a new ball
• If more than two games old, replace with a ball of
like wear
• Remember the warm-up counts as two games
Broken Ball / Soft Ball
1. If a ball breaks during play, what should you do?
2. If the ball is soft, what should you do?
3. When should you replace a broken or soft ball?
• Broken ball during play, replay the point (ball with
no compression or visible cracks/tears)
• Soft ball, point stands (ball has lost compression) - replace the ball
• Always replace a broken or soft ball after the point
Broken Strings
In professional tennis, can a player play with a broken string?
What if the receiver breaks a string returning a first serve?
• In professional tennis, player cannot start a point
with a broken string
• If the receiver breaks a string returning a first serve
fault, they can choose to finish the point with the
broken string, or change the racquet in which case
the server is allowed another first serve
Doubles can change racquet with partner so that they don’t lose a first serve when receiving
Involuntary Hindrance (Ball out of pocket, hat falls etc.) What should you do?
• First time the point should be replayed
• Any hindrance thereafter, player loses point
Re-warm-up after suspension or postponement.
How much warmup should the players have?
• 0-15 min delay – No re-warm up
• 15-30 min delay – Three min re-warm up
• 30+ min delay – Five min re-warm up
What should you do if a player is bleeding?
• If the player is bleeding you must stop play
• 5 minutes may be allowed to control bleeding
• If spilled on the court it must be cleaned before
play continues
If a player is vomiting, what should you do?
• The player may request to see the trainer
• If spilled on the court it must be cleaned before
play continues
Doubles Matches: Announcements.
How do you announce the score in doubles?
Adams/Jones just won the game.
Adams/Jones 6-2 Brown/Smith
Adams/Jones 2-3 Brown/Smith
Announce both players (ie. Game Adams/Jones, Brown/Smith lead 3 games to 2 second set, First set Adams/Jones
Announcements doubles: During warm up.
ie. Semi final doubles, no ad, two tiebreak sets with a ten point match tiebreak.
If two tiebreak sets, no-ad score, match tie-break:
“Ladies and Gentleman,
this semi final match will consist of two tiebreak sets with no-ad scoring.
A ten point match tiebreak will be used at one set all.”
Doubles: In doubles, how do you announce deuce when there is no ad scoring?
“Deuce, deciding point, receiver’s choice.”
Doubles: At 1 set all. What’s the announcement for the match tiebreak?
At one set all:
“Ladies and gentleman, a ten point match tiebreak will now be played to decide the match.”
Other standard announcements:
How do you announce Medical timeout?
“The trainer/physio has been called to court”
When MTO commences “Jones is now receiving a Medical Timeout”
Cramping: Is this a medical condition worthy of a medical time out?
No. Cramping is not considered a medical condition to stop play. Cramping can only be attended to during changeovers or end of set changeover.
