MTA Standard Rules of Match Play
- The rules of tennis as set forth by the United States Tennis Association and all other rules and regulations of the USTA, STA and MTA shall govern individual and organizational members during MTA sanctioned tournaments.
- No player shall be permitted to play a first-round match unless he or she has a valid USTA membership. If the player cannot be located in the TDM membership, he/she must apply electronically or by calling the toll free USTA membership number (1-800-990-8782) before playing their first match. For seeding purposes a player should submit any pertinent information to the Tournament Committee.
- Players are solely responsible for obtaining their own starting times. A player should check online draws or contact the tournament director or referee to obtain their playing times.
- All matches will be the best of three sets except for Junior doubles matches, which may be an 8 game pro-set format, and one-day tournaments, which can be pro sets or short scoring. In lieu of a third set, a Match Tiebreak (first to 10 by a margin of 2) may be played to determine the winner of the match; however, if this option is selected, it must be published as such. This applies to all tournaments except the Mississippi Junior Qualifier Championship. In all circumstances, the Set Tiebreak (first to 7 by a margin of 2) will be used at 6-6 in a set. This includes sets where No-Ad scoring is in effect. See Section II.14 for options to use in case of inclement weather.
- Warm-up time shall be limited strictly to a maximum of five minutes, unless otherwise decided by the event organizers. The spin of the racket must be taken before warm-up so that the players can warm-up on the same side from which they play their first game.
- After the first game of each set and during a tie-break, play shall be continuous and the players shall change ends without a rest period. At the conclusion of each set, there shall be a set break of a maximum of 120 seconds (2 minutes). Between 2nd and 3rd sets without match tie-break there will be a rest period of 10 minutes, except for 18 year-olds, Men’s Open, Men’s 25’s and 30’s.
- Appropriate tennis attire is requested for all match play.
- Players should report to the tournament director or referee 30 minutes prior to their scheduled starting time.
