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Rule of the Week (3/1/98)

"Always signal when ball is good?"

Every week TennisONE will respond to a frequently asked question about the rules of tennis.

Rule of the Week Question

We played a match the other week. We sent several lobs over our opponents' heads that they coudn't get to. These balls landed close the baseline. Our opponents didn't call them out, but didn't signal that they were good either. That left us no option but to ask them, and we felt we shouldn't have to do that. What do the rules day?

Answer

The rules mostly focus on the requirement to make an instaneous out call when a ball is out. In general, if there is no out call, the ball is considered good. However, you still have a valid gripe. The spirit of the Code of Tennis is that your opponent is entitled to a prompt signal to resolve any ambiguity. In this situation--an opponent running to the back fence to retrieve a ball--his/her "out" call could easily be missed by the opponents. This obligates them to clearly signal whether the ball was good or not.

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