In tennis, an official is a person who ensures that a match or tournament is conducted according to the International Tennis Federation Rules of Tennis and other competition regulations. [2]
At the highest levels of the sport, a team of up to eleven officials may be on court at any given time. [3] These officials are broken up into categories based on their responsibility during the match. Contrastingly, many tennis matches are conducted with no officials present directly on court.
Tennis officials are certified by their respective national associations. The ITF also certifies officials in the categories of the chair umpire, referee and a chief umpire. [4] Each ITF certification or "badge" is broken into five certification levels. The first, green badge, is considered sufficient for officiating at the highest levels of tennis within the official's own nation and is not divided into categories (and is primarily used in Spanish- and French-speaking areas, where a national organization may not be present). The second, the white badge, is divided into three categories (chair, chief, and referee) but remains only a national certification. The following three, bronze (chair umpire only), silver, and gold badge are considered international certifications. These international officials are those seen at the highest levels of play like the Grand Slams, ATP and WTA Tours, and the Fed and Davis Cups. [5]
The chair umpire is the final authority on all questions of fact during the match. Questions of fact include whether a ball was in, the calling of a service let or the calling of a foot-fault. In matches where line umpires are also assigned, the chair umpire has the right to overrule if a clear mistake has been made. The chair umpire is often situated in a tall chair at the centre of the court, behind a net post. The players' benches are to either side of the chair. From this position, the chair umpire calls the score of the match to the players and spectators between points. At the conclusion of a point, game, or set, the chair umpire times the players to ensure they follow ITF regulations on pace of play. The chair umpire is responsible for completing a scorecard, the official historical record of the match.
The line umpire (or line judge) "calls all shots relating to the assigned lines." [6] Line umpires work on court as part of a team of between one and nine line umpires. Each line umpire is assigned to one line or, in the case of a short-handed crew, a position in a system. For example, a line umpire on the receiver's side may have to cover the center service line then, following the service, move to one of the sidelines.
The line umpire signals a ball out by making a verbal "out" call ("fault" for a serve) followed by the extension of the arm shoulder high in the direction the ball was out. A ball is signalled "safe" or "good" by holding both hands together knee-high in front of the body. [7] A line umpire who is unable to call a shot (usually because a player obstructs their view) signals this by holding their hands beside their head, the upper side pointing in the same direction as the eyes; that call is then the chair umpire's responsibility. Line umpires are also responsible for calling foot faults. When baseline umpires are being used, they watch to see if the server touches any part of the baseline before the ball is struck. Center service line umpires are responsible for calling foot faults when the server steps over the imaginary extension of the centerline. Footfault calls are made with a verbal "Footfault" call followed by a vertical extension of the arm with the palm open.
To reduce staff due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the 2020 US Open employed electronic line judges on most matches, excluding those held at Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium. At the 2021 Australian Open, all matches used electronic line judges for the first time in a Grand Slam event. [8] [9]
The referee "is the official who is responsible for assuring that the competition is fair and played under the ITF Rules of Tennis." The referee supervises all of the aspects of play at a tournament including the conduct of players, coaches, spectators, and administrative crew. [10] The referee must be present whenever matches are being played.
The referee also "is the final authority on all questions of tennis law..." [11] Any player may appeal the chair umpire's interpretation of tennis law to the tournament referee or deputy referee. In making the decision on an appeal the referee must consider the rulings of fact of the chair umpire, as well as statements of the players and line umpires. The referee's decision is final.
The referee is also responsible for making the tournament draw in accordance with competition regulations. The making of the draw includes determining seeds and placing players and byes. The referee must then work with tournament organizers to schedule matches. This process has been made much easier in recent years with the introduction of computer programs that complete draw sheets and schedules based on online player entries and court availability.
During play of a tournament, the referee is the sole authority on the suspension of play due to weather and other concerns. [12]
The referee is usually only seen on court during the administration of a medical timeout. Due to the complex regulations dictating medical timeouts the referee accompanies the medical trainer onto court. The referee is present to explain procedures and regulations to the player and trainer, and to time the timeout to ensure no extra time is given, as this would be construed as an unfair advantage.
The chief umpire of a tournament "appoints and replaces or reassigns, when necessary, Chair Umpires, (and) Line Umpires..." [13] Chief umpires are used primarily in large professional tournaments and are responsible for the recruitment and hiring of officials for the tournament. During the tournament, the chief umpire assigns umpires to courts, subject to overrule by the referee. The chief umpire also collects scorecards from chair umpires at the conclusion of the match and thus may furnish the media with any factual information they may request.
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titles depending on the sport, including umpire, judge, arbiter (chess), commissaire, or technical official. Referees may be assisted by umpires, linesmen, timekeepers, touch judges, or video review officials.
Hawk-Eye is a computer vision system used in numerous sports such as cricket, tennis, Gaelic football, badminton, hurling, rugby union, association football and volleyball, to visually track the trajectory of the ball and display a profile of its statistically most likely path as a moving image. The onscreen representation of the trajectory results is called Shot Spot.
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grass-roots to the professional levels. The association was created to standardize rules and regulations and to promote and develop the growth of tennis in the United States.
In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live.
Jeffrey Gail Tarango is a retired American tennis player. He was a top-ten doubles player and a runner-up at the 1999 French Open men's doubles tournament. He is now the Director of Tennis at the Jack Kramer Club, which is just south of Los Angeles. In 2018, he was the tournament director of a $30,000 men's California championships. At that championships, ATP world-ranked No. 11, Sam Querrey, beat Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish to win this event.
A point in tennis is the smallest subdivision of the match. A point can consist of a double fault by the server, in which case the point is automatically won by the receiver. In all other cases, a point begins when a legal serve is hit by the server to the receiver on the opposite side of the court, and continues until one side fails to legally return the ball to the opposite side. Whichever side fails to do so loses the point and their opponent wins it.
This page is a glossary of tennis terminology.
Ball badminton is a sport native to India. It is a racket sport game, played with a yellow ball made of wool, on a court of fixed dimensions divided by a net. The game was played as early as 1856 by the royal family in Tanjore, the capital of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, India. It enjoys the greatest popularity in India. Ball badminton is a fast-paced game; it demands skill, quick reflexes, good judgment, agility, and the ability to control the ball with one's wrist.
An official in Canadian football is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game, like their counterparts in the American game. In the Canadian Football League, seven officials operate on the field. Lower levels of play up to the university level use less than the standard seven.
An electronic line judge is a device used in tennis to automatically detect where a ball has landed on the court. Attempts to revolutionize tennis officiating and the judging of calls in the sport began in the early 1970s and has resulted in the design, development and prototyping of several computerized, electronic line-judge devices. The methods have been based upon the use of pressure sensors, sensors to detect magnetized or electrically conductive tennis balls, infrared laser beams, and most recently video cameras.
Sagar Kashyap is a former under-18 tennis player from Mysore, Karnataka, India, and the youngest Indian to officiate at the Wimbledon Championship.
Adel Aref is a French-Tunisian former international tennis umpire and sports executive. He has also served as Director of Cabinet of the President at Paris Saint Germain Football Club and PR Director for BeIN Sports.
Chung Hyeon defeated Andrey Rublev in the final, 3–4(5–7), 4–3(7–2), 4–2, 4–2 to capture the 2017 Next Generation ATP Finals title.
Carlos Ramos is a retired Portuguese tennis umpire. Ramos, a gold badge chair umpire certified by the International Tennis Federation, is one of only two persons to have chair umpired a singles finals match in all four of the Grand Slam tournaments, the other being Alison Hughes. Ramos is also notable for umpiring many other high-profile matches and for penalizing several high-profile players during his decades-long career.
Kader Nouni is a French tennis umpire. He works primarily for the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and has officiated six major finals. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) certified him as a gold badge umpire in 2007. Known for his baritone voice, Nouni is sometimes called the "Barry White of tennis".
Ali Nili is an Iranian-American tennis official who has a gold badge chair umpire certified by the International Tennis Federation.