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Highbury Fields Tennis League

Rules & Regs

Important or useful to know

Matches are self-umpired and should be conducted in the spirit of fair play. Disputes will be settled by an impartial third party - but we hope there won't be any.
 
Important: No one at this site or connected with the League can take responsibility for the safety or security of players whether playing on Highbury Fields or elsewhere. Players compete at their own risk and are solely responsible for court hire, tennis ball provision etc. 

How to book courts
Highbury Fields' courts must be booked at the tennis hut, in person or on the phone: 020 7226 2334. It's manned between ten to and ten past each hour, 8am-8pm. Courts get very booked up on weekdays after 7pm, and the best way to get one is to get an Izz card from Islington Council, which lets you book a week in advance. There is less pressure on courts at the weekend, and during the day, there is no need to book at all. If you wish to play elsewhere, that's fine. Both players must agree to the venue.
 

Balls and courts

Courts: Please share the cost of the courts, and allow for two hours of play. We expect most matches to be played on Highbury Fields, but if both players agree matches can be played at any appropriate venue and on any surface.
 
Balls: Balls must be of a good quality if not new and both parties should provide a set. Either party has the right to object to poor balls (prior to the match). If the balls are objected to, and no alternatives can be found, the match must be re-scheduled. In this case the challenged player pays for courts and balls and takes responsibility for making the booking.

What if?

If it rains before the match starts, the whole match must be re-scheduled

If it rains during the match... either player may decide to call a halt to the match, but the match must still be completed. Matches should be re-started with whatever the score was when play stopped. Players must share any additional court fee. If re-scheduling becomes impossible, the score can be reported as final if both parties agree

If a player retires injured, unwell or for any other reason, he or she loses the match - it cannot be re-played.

If a player does not turn up at the agreed time, or is more than half an hour late, he or she forfeits the match.

If one or other player decides they don't want to play a match they can not offer a walkover to the other. That is, for points to be awarded a match has to be played.

 

Scoring rules

  • Matches will be the best of three tie-break sets
  • The winner of each set wins 1 point
  • An additional two points will be awarded to players who have completed three of their matches by the half way point. This is to encourage everyone to get on with it!
  • Players who have paid their subscription fee will also get a FREE set of balls for completing three matches by the mid way point.
  • The player with the most number of points at the end wins their group.
  • In cases of two or more players with the same number of points, the player who beat the other during that round wins.
  • Where possible, the top one (or two) players in each league will be promoted to the league above (if there is one). Similarly, the bottom one (or two) players will be relegated.

Need to know how to play a tiebreak? Click below

Tiebreak rules

Reporting matches
 
Winners report matches. Please email Sally: highburyfieldstennis@gmail.com with the date of the match, who you played and the full score.

Email the result here!

Highbury Fields Tennis League