Point system  - Points Race  -  What you win by playing  -
  Bad blood & disputes  - 
  General rules  - Gift certificates and points 
 Divisions ratings & levels  - MIA/Forfeit week  Affiliations 
FAQ about the playoffs - The Open division - Finals day

The standings are be to computed and sorted according to the following criteria.

1) W    (Match wins)
2) BP   (Bonus points)
3) TP    (Total points)
4) GW  (Games won)
5) GL   (Games lost)
6) Head-to-Head   

The formula for points are:
Games won minus games lost

Standings Example for a match played.
Name                   W       L      GW     GL       P       BP     TP
Ted Simmons        1        0       12        8         4       12       16
Mitch Miller           0       1         8        12       -4      12        8             

Ted won his match 6-4,6-4,  he won 12 games and lost 8, which gave him 4 points for the match, plus 12 points for playing, total points 16. Ol Mitch lost the match 4-6,4-6, won 8 games and lost 12 games which gave him -4 points for the match, plus 12 bonus points for playing, total points 8.

Standing example for a match NOT played:
Name                      W      L    GW       GL      P     BP     TP
Robbie Robertson    1        0    12          0        12     6       18
Frank Zappa            0       1      0          12       -12    0      -12

The system compensates actual match play and discourages forfeits, if you play and lose 0 & 0, you would still get 12 bonus points for playing, but if you don’t play and just give your opponent a default win, you would get a -12 points on your record, which will greatly affect your standing and chances at making the play-offs, and earning points to buy stuff.  It's much better to play than to forfeit -

Standing example for playoff consideration dealing with forfeits
Name                   W      L      GW      GL      P       BP        TP
John Farse            3       4       40        90    -50       84         34
Rick Dash             3      4        70        90      -20     60        40

Farse finishes ahead of Dash because he played "ALL" of his matches, while Dash had 3 matches unplayed and wins by forfeit. A win on the court has more weight then a win by forfeit.

The Year long Points Race

Your total points will be calculated and carried over from season to season, for example if you earn 100 points this season and next season you earn 120 points, your total for the year will be 220, at the end of the year, the top 20 players with the most points will receive prizes from Wilson and other companies.

The contest is across the board meaning all players and divisions, men and women in each cities are competing against each other, any player from any division has a chance at beating other players at other levels, it’s a free for all, good luck! Points are accumulated during the regular season only, play-off wins do not count toward the points race.

Winner of the 1stserve points race for the year will be declared 1stserve champion for their respective city and receive a $200 gift certificate. The more you play, the more your chances of winning.

Every season you will acquire points according to the above scoring system, at the end of each season, your points will turn into gift certificates to buy products from our sponsors. For every 10 points equals one dollar. You can buy ANYTHING that we have as long your total purchase minus shipping is $25 or more!

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*The eventual champion of each division will receive a yellow shirt signifying the fact that they are champions and only champions will wear the yellow jersey! This honor will be given at the banquet.
Wear it Proudly like the champion that you are!
****G.C. Gift certificates can be cashed toward anything that we have

Gift certificates and points

Keep track of your gift certificates by login on and clicking on gift certificate from your singles personal info menu.  Gift certificates never expire and you can use them towards anything.

Keep track of your points by login on and clicking on your standings from your playing info menu, or seasonal points race from the same menu. Points earned in one season expire before the start of the next season, which means that you have to use them or lose them.

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BAD BLOOD AND DISPUTES

Situations, tactics, tantrums, episodes, schemes, incidences, allegations delays and revelations that may come up.

 Although 95% of everyone will get along and play without any issues, there will be a time where you come across something that just does not smell right. The best thing to do RIGHT NOW if you have not done it yet or have not in a long time, READ and FAMILIARIZE yourself with the code of tennis. It will help in two ways:
1) You will quickly recognize when someone is producing unethical behavior
2) You will know and stay away from yourself producing smelly behavior

So click on the tennis code now or at your earliest convenience THE TENNIS CODE

After you've read the code or the part that deals with the smelly situation that you were subjected to,  contact me, I will deal with it in the following manner. 

1) Listen to your side
2) Make sure that you are on the correct side of the code
3) And will post an "Internal" dark spot on the person that did you wrong
4) If I receive a second report concerning the bad player from a second player 

I will investigate and the offending individual will be warned, if a 3rd different person complains, then the player will be suspended for 2 seasons from playing the 1stserve league.

Keep in mind that a player can be a jerk if he wants too, as long as he keeps his jerkish behavior on his side of the court and does not direct it at his opponent in any way shape of form, which means, he should not curse, yell, make obscene gestures, go on the other side of the court, threaten, use angry abusive language, hit his opponent and constantly make unfair calls. His/her childish behavior and tamper tantrums can not be noticed and interfered with his opponent and or other people playing nearby.

THE NEW BALL AND CELL PHONES A new larger ball has been introduced, BOTH players must agree to play with the new larger ball, if one player objects, then the match must be played with the conventional regular size ball. Players can not receive or take cell calls during a match! If you must make a call, do so during the change over and it must not go beyond the allowed 90 second change-over rule.

DON'T LEAVE YOUR OPPONENT HANGING: If you schedule a match and do not show up, or do so 30 minutes late, your opponent is entitled to a 6-0, 6-0 default win.

CANCELING A SCHEDULED MATCH: Do not schedule if you are not sure you can make it, if you cancel, it could become difficult for your opponent to find another time to play and you may have to play at your opponent’s home site.

KEEP IN MIND THAT: You are allowed 90 seconds between change-overs and 20 seconds to put your first serve in play. You may take a 10 minute break if you split sets, and one 10 minute bathroom break if necessary. NO OTHER breaks are allowed, play MUST BE CONTINUOUS

AUTOMATIC LOST: A player who walks off the court or refuses to continue playing, for any reason other than acts of God, will be DISQUALIFIED!  Play can be suspended and continued at a later time, if both players agree to do so. Remember that it is only a tennis match, you and your opponent are out there for one main reason, that is to have FUN. Play by the rules, give the other guy the benefit of a doubt and enjoy. 

A MATTER OF COURTESY: If you receive a call from an opponent about playing and you are not ready to play - If possible, please return the call and inform the other player that you will make contact at a later date about playing - find out what their best time to play in the their profile and and keep it in mind.

THIRD PARTY INTRUSION: If a third party, a person or child is at the root of a dispute, the player who's family and brought the family and or friend to the match will bear the responsibility for providing the fuel to start the fire. Bottom line, if you are bringing a friend, family member, and child, please make sure that they do not interfere in any way with the match

MIA'S: If you call or e-mail your opponent on many occasions and get no response, you may place he or she on the missing in action list and if by forfeit week ( 2nd to last week of the regular season) the match is not played because the player is still missing,  you may post a forfeit win over him and he will be credited with a lost by forfeit. It will then be the missing player's duty to contact his opponent to arrange a match at the available player's convenience. 

WHEN IS FORFEIT WEEK: 

The second to last week of the regular season, please see the calendar under 1stserve events

WHO CAN POST A FORFEIT:

Any player who posted a missing in action complaint against his opponent. If you did not challenge, surface or respond to the complaint, before forfeit week, the forfeit against you will stay until the match is played. 

WHEN MUST THE FORFEIT MATCH BE PLAYED:

If you post a forfeit against a player on forfeit week, you must provide your opponent with 2 possible days, (one weekday and one weekend day) for the match to be played. The missing in action player must accept one of those two days, or else the forfeit is permanent.

FAIR & BALANCE FORFEITING

Sometimes a player will forfeit to one player but actually play another and mess up the standings. Here's what I mean - Player A played and lost to Player B, Player C won by forfeit against player B. Player C has benefited by not playing ( even if it's not his/her fault). If player B pulls out of the season, Player A can request to throw out the match that they lost to Player B in favor of a forfeit. The only way that player A can make such a request is if: 1) Player B played less then 4 on court matches, pulled out of the season, and or does not make the playoffs. Player A can not substitute a win on court for a forfeit win. Player A has to officially request the change, it will not happen automatically.

GENERAL RULES

Official roster:

Once the roster is made and your name is in it, you are in the league and must pay all due league entries, responsible to play ALL of  your scheduled matches, familiarize yourself with the rules and the site.

Refund policy:

Once the league begins, a schedule is produced and you are on the roster, YOU will NOT be entitled to a refund if you decide for whatever reason not to play

Credit policy:

If you are on the schedule, got hurt and did not play any matches, you will receive a credit toward the next season.   Let us know about your injury and we will make the proper adjustments. Keep in mind that the system will not AUTOMATICALLY renew you to next season, if you are on the schedule it is because at one point or another, you renewed yourself. Make sure that if you do not want to play that you DO NOT click renew for next season, if you do and want to be left out, you must notify us before the schedule is made, otherwise, you will be part of the official schedule.

Dates you must know:

The beginning of the season, the end of the regular season, the start of the playoffs, the deadline for the new season along with other dates that my pop up throughout the season. They are posted on your calendar. Click on your calendar and then 1stserve events.

Play your matches

Many things can come up that could interfere with you playing all of your matches, please try to do your best to play all scheduled matches, after all, playing tennis is our passion, by joining the league you are guaranteed to play 7-10 matches, don’t wait until the last minute, get out there and have fun.

Not enough time to complete a match

If your match has run past the allotted time and you are being asked to give up the court or if bad weather i.e., rain, interrupts the match, when play resumes it should be on the same surface of the same location or at another venue on the same surface, unless both players mutually agree to move to a different surface.

Can some match results may be voided

All match results must be reported and posted by the last day of the regular season, any results not posted by you will be considered as not being played. It is up to the player to keep track of the standings by checking the Website, to make sure his record is correct.

Please post your match results ASAP within 24 hours of the completion of the match when possible. DO NOT wait until the last weekend to post them.  All scores reported or not reported will be final as of the last day of the regular season.

Players must be aware of their standings

Players are advised to know and keep track of their results and to make sure that listed matches credited to you in the standings are correct, the standings as of the last day of the regular season will be the official standings, we will not go back and try to reconstruct your results. Make sure to check the standings on a regular basis.

The deadline dates of the season are very important and can not be extended independently by the player, if a match can not be played by the deadline date.  The deadline dates to keep in mind are, the final day of the regular season, the deadline dates for each playoff match.

PLAYING RULES: Best of three sets, ( the first player to win 2 sets) with 12 point tiebreak,( meaning the first player to win 7 points, and must win by 2) if necessary. Tiebreaks are played if the set score reaches 6 games  each. 

3RD SET RULE: If you split sets, meaning your opponent wins one set and you win the other, a third set is the normal way to finish out the match, if for any reason, you are pressed for court time, inclement weather, anything that you can think of, and BOTH PLAYERS STRONGLY AND MUTUALLY AGREE WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, you can bypass the 3rd set and play a tiebreaker to decide the outcome of the match. Whoever wins the tiebreak would have won the match and will post a 7-6 score for the 3rd set. If a you suggest a 3rd tiebreak to your opponent and he or she says no, that's it, NO MEANS NO. Continue on with the normal 3rd set.

SITE: Anywhere in the city where the league is taking place, where there is a tennis court in proper reasonable playing condition, or anywhere else outside of such city, that is mutually agreed by BOTH players.

HOME & AWAY PLAYER: Each week one player will be designated the home player and the other the away player. The home player chooses the location and surface of his choice. He or she must give the away player at least three REASONABLE time and day options to chose from (exp. after 5pm and before 9pm on weekdays). If the home player chooses a private location which requires a court fee of more than $2, the home player, (being a gracious host) must pay the away player's fee. Both home and away players can schedule matches. The away player does not have to wait on the home player to call, if you are ready and want to play, just do it! TEACHING PROS WILL PLAY ALL OF THEIR MATCHES AT HOME, UNLESS THEY ARE PLAYING ANOTHER TEACHING PRO.

HOW MANY HOME & AWAY MATCHES WILL A PLAYER HAVE:

The schedule is randomly made via computer, due to odd number of players in a division and or odd number of scheduled matches, all players will not have the same number of home and away matches. You will either have 5 home & 2 away, 4 home & 3 away, 3 home & 4 away, or 3 home & 5 away.

Yes, BUT ONLY IF THE HOME PLAYER AGREES, otherwise, the home player has the full choice.

Yes, if interrupted by bad weather, darkness or bumped off due to court time expiration, BUT a player who says, "I have to go, my bed’s on fire" or any other reason, can be defaulted if his opponent wishes to do so. A player has the right to request the match be completed on the surface that it started on.

WHO PROVIDES THE BALLS: Both players are to bring a NEW UN-OPEN can of USTA and or ITF approved balls. The winner goes home with the NEW balls and the loser goes home with the USED balls

OLD BALLS: Both players must bring a new can of balls, if a player shows up without a NEW can of balls, the opponent has the right to NOT play the match and win by default, but if the match is played, the result will count, even if a player did not bring new balls.

T-SHIRT: Wear your T-shirt when playing league matches as often as possible, it makes it easier for us to recognize each other.

No, both the home and away player can and should call and schedule a match

WHAT IF I DON'T SEE A RULE THAT COVERS THE ISSUE OR PROBLEM:

If it's in the middle of the season, the league director will make a ruling and decide on the issue at hand. 

HOW DO I CHALLENGE OR SUGGEST A RULE?

Send us e-mail in the following format:

1) Subject of e-mail:  I'm challenging this rule or I'm suggesting this rule
2) Body of message: Name the rule that you are challenging or suggesting
3) Explain the rule
4) List the problem(s) that it will fix, or new issue that it will address

if the new rule passes these tests:
1) It is for the benefit of the whole league not just one type of player, division, level, category etc.
2) It does not create confusion and the need to establish further rules
3) It does not eliminate other rules that are in place
4) It does not lessen the effectiveness of other rules that are in place
5) It does not interfere with the concept of the league (easy, fun and convenient to everyone)
6) It does not interfere with the direction of the league (independent, non-confrontational tennis ave.)
7) It does not threaten the existence and future well being of the league and its goals

If you new rule and suggestion meet all of the above criteria, it will be put to a vote by the players and 51% majority wins. 

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DIVISIONS RATING AND LEVELS

If a player wins his or her division, he or she must move up to the next level for at least one season.

If a player goes one season without any wins or is not competitive, he or she should move down one level. If a player misses the playoffs for 3 seasons in a row, he or she must move down one level

Yes, if a player thinks he or she can do better in a higher division, he or she is welcome to try, you can play up, but you can’t play down. To maintain the integrity and competitive level of each division, requests to move up by players who have not won their respective divisions may be denied. Factors such as their record, playoff results and margin of victory will be considered.

If a player loses all his or her matches winning an average of 3 games per match, he or she should consider moving down, if a player is winning all their matches losing an average of 3 games per match or less, he or she should definitely move up next season.

Yes, the 3.0 and the pro divisions are at the end of the scale, if a player is losing all his matches at the 3.0 level, there’s obviously no where to go but to stay, the reverse is possible in the pro division, Pete Sampras has dominated tennis for the last 6 years, he is not asked to step aside, one has to tip his hat to a job well done.

Yes, there are some rare cases where a player wins his or her division and according to our analysis (of the players in the next division, the player's results and opponents played) simply will not do well, (win a couple of matches and be competitive in the others) he or she may stay put, but if he or she wins that division again, then up and away we go.

Too Many FORFEIT wins

A player must have actually played at least FOUR matches to qualify for the playoffs. Exp. if you play 4 matches along with 2 forfeit wins, you would qualify for the playoffs, (if your record and or point standing is good enough to get you in) but if you only played 3 matches along with 4 forfeit wins, you would not qualify, because you would not have played enough actual matches to get in.

Criteria used to get in the playoffs

Total MATCH WINS (W's) will determine who makes the play-offs, if even, the tiebreakers will be in the following order:
 1) Bonus Points 2) Total points won 3) Games Won 4) Games Lost 

Exp.                       W   L   GW   GL   P   BP  TP
Vanessa Dulce      5   1     60      38   22  72    94
Lisa Boudreux      5    1     68      24   44  60   104

Vanessa would be number one because she played more matches (BP) than Lisa. If both players had played the same total matches, Lisa would be number 1 for having more total points.

No, both the home and away player can and should call and schedule a match

The regular season consist of the matches in your schedule, depending on size of your division, will either be 7 or 8 matches.

Does the regular season standings matter?

Yes, they determine who plays whom in the play-offs and who has home court advantage and how many points you earn.

What if I’m scheduled to play 8 matches instead of 7

If you played all of your 8 scheduled matches, you can then drop one of your losses and have only your best 7 results count toward the standings. If you played less than 7 matches, then one of your default wins will not count towards your standings. 

What if I played 8 results 7 matches played and 1 forfeit: 

The forfeit will be dropped, you can not replace a played match with non-played forfeited result.

Does the seeding change if an upset occurs in the play-offs?

No, for example, if the 8th seed beats the number one seed, the 8th seed does not take over the number one position. He goes on with his number 8 seed throughout the remainder of the play-offs.

The league consists of 2 segments, 1) The regular season, 7-8 matches, 2) The play-offs, the players with the best record in the regular season, 4-8 players depending on division size and players completing all their matches.

The play-offs are similar to the regular season, but the higher seed has home court advantage.

Who makes the play-offs?

Depending on the size of your division, between 4 to 8 players will get in.

A running tally of who's in the play-offs are kept on the standings. If your name is highlighted, you are automatically in the playoffs.  Check the site at the end of the regular season, click on playoffs to see who you play.

Who’s responsible to find out if they are in the play-offs?

You are! As a player, not knowing how you stand or whether you are in the play-offs is not an excuse not to play or get an extension on the time to play. Stay on top of match results, know where you are in the standings.

No, if you see your name in the play-off draw,  call your opponent ASAP and schedule your match.

Make sure you used all listed option of connection, i.e. e-mail, home, work and cell phones. Let us know as soon as possible, we will step in and try to reach he or she also, if both players do not make an effort to play, they will both be disqualified.

How much time do we have for play-off matches?

Unlike the regular season, there’s a limited amount of time available to play the play-offs, which takes place over a three week period. You will have 7 days to play each match. If 8 players are in the play-offs, there will be two matches before the finals, the quarter finals and the semi finals.

I’m playing a tournament, I’m playing another league match, I’m playing another practice match, I don’t like playing on Tuesdays. I only like playing on weekends etc. etc. The bottom line is - to compete in the playoffs you must make yourself available to play!

4 players, 2 matches, the semifinals, then with the winners and losers playing each other receptively for 1st and 3rd place. 8 players 3 matches, the quarterfinals, the semifinals, then with the winners and losers playing each other respectively for 1st and 3rd place.

If one player qualifies for the playoffs and can not make it due to illness, injury or whatever reason, his name will be taken out and the next player who would have made it will be placed in his spot of the draw. 

For each round, (quarters, semis and finals) play-off participants should give each other 4 possible days to choose from, with one of those four being either a Saturday or Sunday. During The playoff segment, participants should be as flexible as possible, "I can only play Tuesday and Thursday this week", or "I’m going out of town this weekend" is far short of the possible four days including a weekend day.

What if  a playoff match is not played or is played after the deadline or end of season?

The match will go down as "Unplayed" and the players involved will be given credit for the last match they played. Exp, if they played the semis and did not play the finals, they will get credit for the playing the semifinals.

Are there any forfeits in the playoffs?

No, matches in the playoffs must be played, if a player decides not to play, a score of 6-0,6-0 must be entered.

BAD EXCUSES

1) I did not know the rule 
2) The site was not working  (e-mail me about the problem)
3) The site did not register my score entry (e-mail me about the problem)
4) My opponents never called me 
5) I did not know the deadline 
6) I was out of town (make plans before and after)
7) I thought you knew (don't assume)
8) I forgot 
9) My computer was down ( call me)
10) 

The 1stserve association is a USTA association, but the league is TOTALLY independent of the USTA or any other organization. 

Members of 1stserve may at times collaborate with some clubs in town on various events, but the league is a TOTALLY independent entity.

We endorse and support the efforts of the local pros and clubs in town, we do our best to promote their services and expertise to our league players. To get more information on clubs and pros in town, check our Website or give us a call.

Is 1stserve affiliated with Las Palmas Racquet Club?

The league is totally independent, all events, and functions are totally separate, BUT as mentioned above, we do work with pros and clubs to promote our mutual efforts in the game of tennis. Las Palmas has held many of league functions for many years, we encourage you to visit or possibly joining their fine facility.

Finals Day

The finals day is the date designated to be the day when finals and 3rd place matches are played. Players who are competing for 1st and 3rd place will inform the league on the time and location that they are playing their match. That information will be posted for the league to see, anyone who's interested in seeing the players play their finals will have the schedule of where each division is playing on. Suggested spots for each city will be announced. This is a perfect opportunity for other members of the league to see each other play a decisive match for the league on a specified day. Check your calendar! 

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