General LRTA Tournaments

1. All entrants shall be members of the LRTA if based in the UK.
2. Entries shall not be accepted without a written form filled in and a full entry fee paid. Recognised professionals are not required to pay entry fees.
3. Predominantly white clothing shall be worn during a match, although coloured track suits are permissible during the warm up.
4. Local rules of Tennis in use at the court where the tournament takes place (for example, whether balls hit over the roof beams are still in play or not) and any rules specific to the tournament will govern play.  Rules specific to the tournament shall be made available to all competitors with information about the draw and shall be on display at the court during the tournament.
5. Play shall be continuous; players may only leave the court during a match with the permission of the marker.
6. Seeds will be determined by Singles handicap as shown on the RTO (Real Tennis Online) handicap system on the date of the draw.  If there are insufficient recent results recorded to justify the current handicap or there is any other suspected anomaly or discrepancy, the matter will be dealt with as per the T&RA Tournament Rules re Handicaps.
7. Once the draw has taken place, it cannot be re-framed to accommodate late entries, whatever the standard of the late entrants.  If one or more seeded players scratches before the start of the event, the Tournament Committee shall, if practicable, revise the seeding list and replace the seeds in the draw appropriately, the number of seeds being made up by the highest ranked previously unseeded competitor.
8. It is not permissible to make changes to tournament draws once the first ball has been struck.
9. Players entering a tournament must be prepared to play during the week if necessary.  In order to try to avoid serious inconvenience, space shall  be provided on the entry forms for players to state times which are particularly inconvenient.  Though not bound to consider these times, the Tournament Committee will try to comply with reasonable requests.
10. Where applicable, players shall play at times allocated by the Tournament Committee and shall be ready to play 15 minutes before the scheduled match time.  In a “continuous play” tournament with no set match start times, players must be ready to play as soon as the
    court is free from the preceding match, even if a previous match is scratched or curtailed for some reason.  The time at which the court becomes free shall be used as the “scheduled match time” for the purposes of judging late arrivals.
11. No player may use a court for practice in the hour immediately preceding a match in which they are playing.  Apart from in round robin
    format, no player shall commence a match within one hour of completing her previous one.
12. Late arrivals shall be scratched if not on court by 10 minutes after the scheduled match time or, in the case of a match delayed for
    more than 10 minutes, if not ready to go on court immediately the previous match has finished.  In the case of round robin matches, in fairness to other group players, the scratched player shall have to forfeit all matches in the group, but, if so requested by the Tournament Committee, shall play the remaining group matches (although the results cannot count).  Where there is a plate competition, a player who has been scratched under this rule may only play in it at the discretion of the Tournament Committee.
13. When a player is unable to play at the scheduled match time as a result of totally unforeseen circumstances, the Tournament Committee is empowered to alter the time of play, provided it receives at least 48 hours’ notice, but it is not obliged to do so.  A player who thus cannot play at the scheduled match time must first get the consent of her opponents/other players involved to any alteration and agree a possible alternative time before requesting the Tournament Committee to make the desired change.  If the Tournament Committee consents to the alteration, it shall make the necessary arrangements.
14. If a player is repeatedly late for matches or repeatedly scratches, the LRTA Executive Committee reserves the right to refuse future entries from that player to LRTA Tournaments.
15. The T&RA Match Regulations, Section E of the T&RA Tennis Tournament Rules and Procedures  (https://tennisandrackets.com/real-tennis/tournament-rules) shall apply to the extent that they do not conflict with the LRTA Rules.
16. These rules may be amended by the LRTA Executive Committee.

LRTA International Invitation

In addition to the LRTA Rules for Ladies’ Tournaments please note that the following rules will apply and, where applicable, will supersede the LRTA Rules:

1. The tournament consists of two round robin groups of four players each.  The winners of each group will go on to play a Final.  Positions following the round robin will be decided on: (a) Matches won; (b) If matches won are equal, it will be decided on who won the most number of games; (c) If the numbers of games won are equal, it will be decided on who lost the least number of games; (d) If still equal, it will be decided on the result of the match between the two equal players.
2. All matches will be the best of three first-to-six-games sets.
3. Play will be continuous from the start of play each day, so players must be ready to go on court immediately the preceding match finishes.
4. Players must wear predominantly white clothing.
5. If a player scratches before the tournament starts, another player may be substituted.  If a player scratches during the round robins, none of the results of matches in which that player took part will be included in calculating the group positions.
6. The decisions of the Tournament Committee are final.

LRTA British Handicap

Revised January 2017

1. ROUND-ROBIN SINGLES for the Groups of four players, all matches: 25 minutes allowed, starting at 1 all and playing first to 6-game set; for the Groups of three players, all matches 35 minutes allowed, starting at 1 all and playing first to 8-game set.  Positions following the Round Robin will be decided on: (a) Matches won; (b) if matches won are equal, it will be decided on who won the most number of games; (c) if the number of games won is equal, it will be decided on who lost the least number of games; (d) if still equal, it will be decided on the result of the match between the two equal players; (e) If there is still a tie in a group of three, the result will be decided by the toss of a coin – all three players toss at the same time and the odd one out goes out.
2. Whilst the Round-robin matches are not timed, knock-ups will be limited to two minutes.  The timer for the knock-up will be started as the players in the previous match leave the court.
3. ALL KNOCK OUT MATCHES (doubles and singles), 30 minutes allowed per match, 1 first to 6-game set, starting at 1all.  Matches will not be time limited, but knock-up time will be strictly limited to 2 minutes, the timer being started as the players in the previous match leave the court.
4. Players must arrive AT LEAST half-an-hour before their match.  We play to a VERY TIGHT SCHEDULE.  Following the two minute knock-up time, for each two minutes a player is kept waiting for her opponent on court (even if the match starts early and is within a quarter-of-an-hour of the scheduled time) a game shall be awarded to the waiting player.
5. The Tournament Committee reserves the right to revise handicaps if necessary.
6. All players should wear predominantly white clothing.
7. The decisions of the Tournament Committee are final.
8. The format of the tournament may change depending on the number of entries.

LRTA High/Low Doubles Handicap

1. Players enter as individuals and are paired “best handicap with worst handicap” throughout.
2. Entry is limited to a maximum of 16 players.
3. There will be a single round robin group ensuring all pairs play all other pairs and that all players get matches on both days of the tournament.
4. Matches will be one first-to-six games set, played off handicap and starting at one-game-all if there is a full draw or time constraints exist.
5. The top four pairs go through to a knock out, with 1st place playing 4th place and 2nd place playing 3rd place.
6. Positions in the knock out group will be decided on: (a) Matches won; (b) If matches won are equal, it will be decided on which pair won the most number of games; (c) If the number of games won is equal, it will be decided on which pair lost the least number of games; (d) If still equal, it will be decided on the result of the match between the two equal pairs; (e) if there is still a tie, the result will be decided by the toss of a coin – all tied pairs toss at the same time and the odd one out goes out.
7. Players must arrive AT LEAST half-an-hour before their match. We are playing to a VERY TIGHT SCHEDULE. Following the two minute knock-up time, for each two minutes a pair is kept waiting for their opponents on court (even if the match starts early and is within a quarter-of-an-hour of the scheduled time) a game shall be awarded to the waiting pair.
8. Whilst the Round-robin matches themselves are not timed, knock-ups will be limited to two minutes. The timer for the knock-up will be started as the players in the previous match leave the court.
9. Every effort will be made to ensure that handicaps are accurate and that matches are played using the correct handicap differences. However, it is the responsibility of players to check that these are right and to query them before a match begins as matches cannot be replayed once started.
10. The Tournament Committee reserve the right to revise handicaps if necessary.
11. The decisions of the Tournament Committee are final.