Rules — Season 1, the pilot (September 14, 2026 – January 22, 2027)

Men's 3.5 singles ladder for the Upper Valley.

Email from the ladder is kept to a minimum. Anything sent to the whole group goes out bcc, so there are no reply-all chains.

Who and what

Men's 3.5 singles, 18+. Rate yourself honestly. A 3.0 or a 4.0 may join with the commissioner's approval.
Join any time with the sign-up form. Rungs at the start of the season are in sign-up order: first to sign up starts at the top, and the commissioner starts at the bottom. Join after the season starts and you go in at the bottom. Your email and cell stay private; the site shows first name and last initial only.
Play anywhere. Boss, Storrs Pond, Hartford High, CCBA, a town court. Any court the two of you agree on. If you book an indoor court, split the cost.

While the ladder has 10 or fewer players, challenge anyone. From 11 players up, challenge within 3 rungs above or below you; from 21, within 5. Your first challenge of the season can always be to any rung.
The challenger makes contact and brings a new can of balls (winner keeps it).
Respond to a challenge within 72 hours and offer at least three day/times, including one evening or weekend. Play within 14 days of accepting. If you won't respond or won't offer times, you default the match.
Don't play the same opponent twice within 7 days (14 once there are 11+ players).

If the lower-ranked player wins, he takes the loser's rung and everyone in between drops one. If the higher-ranked player wins, nothing moves.
Report every match within 24 hours: the winner fills in Report a score (winner, loser, score, date). Both players get a confirmation email (the inbox is checked daily), and the standings are updated once a day. If the loser disagrees, he replies to that email.

Play at least 2 matches per period, against different opponents. Periods:
- Sep 14 – Oct 27, 2026 (44 days)
- Oct 28 – Dec 10, 2026 (44 days)
- Dec 11, 2026 – Jan 22, 2027 (43 days)
Miss it and you drop 2 rungs at the start of the next period (3 once there are 11+ players, 5 at 21+).
Once the ladder has 11+ players, one of your two matches must be against someone below you (the bottom two are exempt).
Joined in the second half of a period? Exempt for that period. On leave for 14+ days of a period? Exempt.

Pick one format when you set up the match, before you play:
- Best of three sets. If you split sets, a 10-point match tiebreak (win by 2) decides it.
- 8-game pro set. First to 8, win by 2; at 8–8, a 7-point tiebreak (win by 2).
Set tiebreaks at 6–6 are to 7 points, win by 2. All tiebreaks use the Coman format: change ends after the first point, then every four points.
Report whatever you played.
Forfeit: more than 15 minutes late (you may mutually reschedule instead). The forfeiter gets no credit; the other player gets the win and the rung.
Outdoors, rain, snow, or below 32 °F are the only reasons to cancel. An interrupted match resumes from where it stopped within 10 days. If it is not resumed by then, it is recorded as not played: no movement, no quota credit for either of you.

Traveling or hurt? Email "freeze me" to uppervalleytennisladder@gmail.com — your rung is held for up to 3 weeks and you can't be challenged (shown as <>). Longer than that and you come off the ladder, re-entering 2 rungs below your old spot when you're back.

The top four with at least 5 matches play off after January 22, 2027 (1 v 4, 2 v 3, final; short sets to 4 with a 10-point tiebreak at one set all), if there's interest. Either way, recognition for the winner and for whoever played the most matches.

USTA rules govern play. On court, USTA's The Code applies: you call your own side, a ball you can't call is good, and a disputed point is replayed once.
Score disagreement: both players email uppervalleytennisladder@gmail.com. If you can't agree, the match is recorded as not played: no movement, no quota credit for either of you.
Forfeit disputes: the commissioner decides from the emails.
If the commissioner is one of the players, the highest-ranked player who is not involved decides, and that decision is final.
The commissioner settles anything else.