What's the call? Serving from the wrong end

Have you ever had a dispute with a fellow player over a call on the court that you couldn’t settle? Maybe you’re just curious about how some scenarios, from the common to the ridiculous, are resolved.

Question: In my last singles match, we somehow forgot to change sides and realized that we were in the middle of the fourth game, when we should have changed sides after the third game.  That left me serving with the sun directly in my eyes. My opponent wanted to stay and finish the game, but I insisted that we switch so I didn’t have to continue serving with the sun directly in my eyes. What should we have done?

Answer: We don’t want to blame the sun, but odds are that if it was a cloudy day or an indoor match, your opponent would not have protested correcting the error immediately.  During a standard game or tiebreak, if the players are at the wrong ends of the court this should be corrected immediately. The server will then serve from the correct end of the court according to the score. (ITF Rule 27)

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For the "Friend at Court" handbook and more information on the rules of tennis, visit the rules and regulations homepage.