We had few discussions on let and if and when to award fresh two serves, stemming from my last match: we didn’t offer our opponents ‘take two‘ when ball rolled onto our court or I went to ball-chasing in between their serves. Simon even followed me once to the court behind us (with thick blue vinyl): the pro was helping too.
Q ..
Also a ball rolled onto our court before the second serve. Shall we award her a fresh first serve or continue with her second?
If my memory serves me right, she hasn’t started her motion. She saw the ball was rolling in and stood there watching Andy swiped it back to the next court with his racket.
A ..
You are only required to award two serves if the interruption occurred while the server had started their motion. In this case it didn’t, so it’s up to you.
Q ..
If the server is on his second serve, why would you give him 2 serves, even if there was an interruption before the motion started? Logic would say he gets another chance at his second serve. But the rules say he gets 2 serves again?
A..
Its a let. So replay the point, 1st serve.
Kai is forever the gentleman and generous on court. I actually learned this act – ‘take two’ from him during the years playing with his group: I didn’t get to play with him often because he’s super doper popular, everybody wanted to be his partner.
The reason we didn’t offer them ‘take two’ I felt was due to the strained atmosphere on court. I have never played with any one who didn’t at least occasionally raise their hands or nod their head after my loud “good shot.” shout Andy make a great shot to the deuce court, landed on line and skipped out. Simon went to chase but couldn’t even touch it. He shouted “great shot!”
I looked at them, high fiving each other .. .. then moved on.
A ..
You don’t have to if the interruption is short, but if the incident causes a delay (let’s say 15 – 20 sec’s +) then good sportsmenship warrants that you should
Here’s what I found on the net ..
Let in tennis is when a point has to be stopped because of a distraction in the middle of a point from something like a balls rolling on to the court. A let is also where the serve hits the net and goes over into the correct service box. This rule applies to everything but the lets in World Team Tennis and Division one mens college tennis.
A let is a stroke that doesn’t count and must be replayed. This most commonly happens when a serve touches the net before entering the proper service court. It’s also a let if the serve is delivered before the receiver is ready, if play is interrupted by some unusual occurrence (such as an animal running onto the court), or if a linesman’s decision that resulted in stoppage of play is reversed by the umpire.
