Rules for Season 1 (Sep 14, 2026 to Jan 22, 2027)

This is a 3.5 singles ladder for the Upper Valley.

UP and DOWN matches

• An UP match is a match against someone above you on the ladder.
• A DOWN match is a match against someone below you on the ladder.
• The same match is an UP match for the lower player and a DOWN match for the higher player.
• Whether a match is an UP match or a DOWN match does not depend on who sent the challenge.
• Up or down is set by the rungs on the day the challenge was sent, even if rungs change before you play.

All ladder email goes to uppervalleytennisladder@gmail.com. Put the word "ladder" in the subject. A reply to a ladder email reaches the same address.

The ladder sends as few emails as it can. Anything sent to the whole group goes out as a blind copy (bcc), so nobody's reply goes to everyone.

For a Sunday summary, email the ladder with the word DIGEST as the subject. You get one short email every Sunday. The summary lists the matches played and any forfeits, without the scores, along with your rung and a reminder about the rules. Each email has a link to unsubscribe.

Format

• 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.
  • Pro set, to 8 games or to 10 games. Agree on 8 or 10 before you start. The first player to reach that number of games wins, by a margin of 2. At 8–8 in an 8-game set, or 10–10 in a 10-game set, a 7-point tiebreak (win by 2) decides it.
• A set tiebreak at 6–6 is played to 7 points, win by 2. All tiebreaks use the Coman format, in which the players change ends after the first point and then every 4 points.
• Report the score of whatever format you played.
• Outdoors, the only reasons to stop or cancel are rain, snow, or a temperature below 45 °F. An interrupted match resumes from where it stopped, still within the 12 days. If the match is not finished by the last day to play listed in the email you got when the challenge was accepted, the challenge expires. The ladder does not change and there is no result for either of you.

Who and what

• The ladder is for 3.5 singles players who are 18 or older. Please 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. The starting order was the order of sign-up, so the first to sign up started at the top and the commissioner started at the bottom. Join after the season starts and you go in at the bottom. The public site shows first name and last initial only, and your email and cell never go on it. You give both to the commissioner when you sign up. Your email is shared with the other players so you can set up matches, and you choose whether your cell is shared too.
• Play on any court the two of you agree on, such as Boss, Storrs Pond, Hartford High, CCBA or a town court. The court needs to be within a 40-minute drive of downtown Lebanon, and farther is fine if both players agree. If you cannot agree on a court, the player who was challenged picks it. If you book an indoor court, you split the cost.

Challenges

A challenge lasts up to 14 days, unless the challenger sets a late day as described below. You have 2 days to answer it, and then 12 days from the day you accept to play the match. The 12 days start only when you accept.

• Challenge within 5 rungs above or below you. Players on leave do not count toward that, so your range reaches past anyone who is away. You can be challenged from above or below too. Either way, you must answer, and the match counts toward your 2 matches. You also get one free challenge a season. The free challenge can go to anyone on the ladder, any rung. Use the free challenge in the first two periods of the season, any time up to Dec 10, 2026. After that the free challenge is closed and every challenge is within the range. The free challenge is for players who sign up by Oct 27, 2026.
• The free challenge is used up when the challenge ends with a result. That means the match is played, the challenged player declines or does not answer, a forfeit is reported, or the challenged player goes on leave. You keep your free challenge if the challenge expires, if you release it, or if the other player withdraws from the ladder, or if you go on leave yourself, and you can send it again until Dec 10, 2026.
• One challenge at a time. You can have only one challenge at a time, and you can't be challenged while you have a challenge or match pending. Once that match is played and the score is reported, you can be challenged again. On the Challenge someone page you cannot pick a player who has a match pending. After a match is filed, no one can challenge either player in it for 2 hours. The Challenge someone page shows the time that player can be challenged again.
• Challenge from the site. Tap Actions, then Challenge someone. Pick your own name. Tap Challenge next to the player you want. A short form, with your name already filled in, asks for the ladder PIN. Once you submit the form, you both get an email about the challenge. The challenged player's 48-hour deadline to accept starts when the challenge is submitted, and the email gives the exact time. A match counts only if the challenge was submitted through the site first.
• The last day to send a challenge is Jan 20, 2027. A challenge sent after that would not leave time to answer it before the season ends on Jan 22, 2027.
• Answer from the challenge email. The challenge email has a link to accept and a link to decline. Accepting opens a short form. You have not accepted the match until you press Submit. Answer within 48 hours of the challenge being submitted, which is 2 days. No answer within those 48 hours counts the same as a decline.
• Declining counts as a loss. The challenger gets the win without playing. If the challenger is below you, the challenger takes your rung.
• You have 12 days from the day you accept to play. The day you accept is not counted, so a challenge accepted on the 3rd has the 15th as its last day to play. The email you get when the challenge is accepted lists that day. Near the end of the season, the last day to play is never later than Jan 22, 2027. If the two of you don't play within the 12 days, the challenge expires. The ladder does not change and there is no result for either of you. If the only day you can both play falls in the 7 days after the 12 days end, the challenger can still set that day on the site, as long as it is set before the 12 days end. The last day to play then moves to the day set. Otherwise, a match played after the 12 days does not count. If the challenger set the match day on the site, a match played on the last day can still be reported the next morning. If no match day is set, the challenge expires at 6 am the morning after the last day to play, so set the day.
• The challenger can release a challenge after 5 days. The 5 days count from the day the challenge is accepted. No reason is needed, and it does not matter whether a match date is set. The challenger does this under Actions, Release a challenge. A release takes effect within a few minutes. The ladder does not change and there is no result for either player. Both players get an email saying the challenge was released, and you can both challenge or be challenged again right away.
• Concede a match (CHALLENGED player). The CHALLENGED player can concede an accepted match under Actions, Concede a match. Conceding counts as a loss for the challenged player, and the challenger gets the win without playing.
• Cancel a challenge (CHALLENGER). The CHALLENGER can cancel a challenge that has not been answered yet, under Actions, Cancel a challenge. There is no penalty, and there is no result for either player. Once the challenge is accepted, the challenger uses Release a challenge instead.
• Leave and challenges. If you are away or hurt, go on leave before anyone challenges you. If someone has already challenged you, you can still go on leave, but that challenge counts as a loss for you. If the challenger is below you, the challenger takes your rung. That is true whether or not you had accepted the challenge. If the open challenge is one you sent, whether or not it has been answered, going on leave cancels it. The ladder does not change and there is no result for either of you, and going on leave uses your one leave for the season. Please tell the other player why. Whenever a challenge ends without a match, the ladder emails both players to tell them.
• Set the match date. Once the challenge is accepted, the challenger gets an email with a Set the match date link. Call, text or email each other to agree to a day and start time. Then the challenger enters the day and start time with that link. You both get an email with the day and time. If plans change, the challenger sets a new day and time with the same link. The challenger brings a new can of balls, and the winner keeps it.
• You cannot challenge the same opponent again within 14 days of a match the two of you played, and neither can that opponent challenge you. The 14 days start only after a match you actually played. If a challenge ends without a match, because it was declined, not answered, expired, released, or ended by a leave, the 14 days don't apply and you can challenge each other again right away.

No-shows and rescheduling

• If you need to move the match, agree to a new day with your opponent. The challenger enters the new day with the same Set the match date link. Any day up to the last day to play is fine.
• A player who is not there within 15 minutes of the start time forfeits the match. The player who showed up reports it on Report a score, choosing Forfeit, and gets the win.
• In an emergency, tell your opponent as soon as you can. If your opponent agrees to a new day by the last day to play, it is not a forfeit. If your opponent does not agree, it is a forfeit.
• The challenged player who can't play the match may concede it under Actions, Concede a match. The challenger gets the win. The challenger who can't play uses Release a challenge.
• The match must be played by the last day to play. If it isn't, the challenge expires. The ladder does not change and there is no result for either of you.

Injury, or time runs out

• You play at your own risk. The ladder arranges matches. It does not supervise play, inspect courts, or provide medical care. When you join, you agree to this and release the Upper Valley Singles Ladder and its organizers from any claim arising from your play.
• If a player stops, for injury or any other reason, the other player wins the match. A match that ends early counts like any other match. The winner reports it on Report a score, choosing Ended early, with the score as it stood when play stopped.
• If court time runs out, USTA New Hampshire's "2-2-2" rule decides the winner. The player ahead by 2 points wins the game. The player ahead by 2 games wins the set. The player who has won 2 sets wins the match. With no 2-point or 2-game margin, one deciding point settles it. The winner reports it the same way, choosing Ended early. The full rule is as follows:
  • Set a timer to go off 5 minutes before your court time ends. When it goes off, finish the point in progress. That point counts.
  • If a game is in progress, the player ahead by 2 or more points wins the game. Otherwise, the game does not count.
  • If a set is in progress, the player ahead by 2 or more games wins the set.
  • If a set tiebreak is in progress, the player ahead by 2 or more points wins the set.
  • A player who has won 2 sets wins the match. If a 10-point match tiebreak is in progress, the player ahead by 2 or more points wins the match.
  • If there is still no winner, one deciding point settles it. In an unfinished set with no 2-game margin, the deciding point settles the set. With sets split, or a match tiebreak with no 2-point margin, the deciding point settles the match. The serve stays in rotation. The receiver chooses which side to receive from.
  • A pro set works the same way. The player ahead by 2 games wins it, and otherwise one deciding point decides it.
  • The USTA's own wording, with a link to the document, is in the footnote at the bottom of this page.
• If rain, snow or cold stops the match, that is different. The match resumes from where it stopped (see Format).

Results and movement

• Beat someone above you and you take their spot. Everyone in between moves down one. If the player higher on the ladder wins, the ladder does not change.
• Report the match the same day you play it. The winner fills in Report a score (winner, loser, the exact score of every set, date). Only the winner reports. If you lost, ask the winner to report it. A score reported the day after the match is still accepted. A score reported later than that may not count. Both players get a confirmation email with the exact score, and the standings update within the day. The site does not show the exact score, only who won and which sets each player won. A player who disagrees with the score replies to that email. Reporting the same day matters because other players pick whom to challenge from the rungs the site shows, and a score reported a week late moves people after they have made their choices.

Activity

• Play at least 2 matches per period.
• You must play at least 2 different players.
• At least 1 of your matches must be a DOWN match (against someone below you on the ladder).
• The periods are:
  • Sep 14 – Oct 27, 2026 (44 days)
  • Oct 28 – Dec 10, 2026 (44 days)
  • Dec 11, 2026 – Jan 22, 2027 (43 days)
• If you don't meet all three of those requirements (the matches, the different players and the DOWN match), you drop up to 5 rungs as a penalty. Players who met all three requirements move up past you. If players near you also miss, you drop fewer rungs, because everyone who missed drops at the same time. The penalty applies in every period, the last one included. The last period's penalty is applied right after the season ends, before the final standings and the playoff field are set.
• For the DOWN match, up or down is set by the rungs on the day the challenge was sent. If you were in the bottom three at any time during the period, you do not need a DOWN match that period, even if you move up later. For a new period, the bottom three is counted from the day the last period's penalties are applied.
• A match counts for the period you play it in, whatever period the challenge was sent in. For it to count, the match has to be played by the last day of the period.
• If a challenge is declined, not answered in 48 hours, or ended because the challenged player went on leave, the challenger gets the win without playing. That win counts toward the challenger's 2 matches as an UP or DOWN match, according to the rungs on the day the challenge was sent. The challenged player gets no credit.
• A match won by forfeit, such as a no-show or a concession, counts the same way for the player who gets the win. The player who forfeits gets no credit.
• If you join in the second half of a period, you do not need to play any matches for that period. You stay on your rung when the period you joined in ends, so you do not move up when players above you drop for missing their matches. Going on leave does not lower the number of matches you need in a period. The periods are long enough to play 2 matches around a leave.

Leave

The planner shows what a trip does to a challenge, to the day.

• If you are traveling or hurt, fill in Go on leave under Actions, with the date you are back. Your rung is held for up to 2 weeks, and you can't be challenged and can't challenge (shown as on leave). You get one leave per season. If you are away longer than 2 weeks, you drop 5 rungs at the 2-week mark, and you stay on the ladder, on leave, until your return date. After that drop, there is no second penalty for a period in which you were away 2 weeks or more. You stay on your rung when that period ends.
• If you are away less than 12 days, you may not need leave. If you are challenged, you have 48 hours to answer and 12 days from accepting to play. Accept, and set the match for a day after you are back.
• If you are away about 3 weeks, take the 2-week leave. If a challenge arrives after the leave ends, accept the challenge and set the match for after you return. The 2 weeks plus the 12 days cover the trip with no drop in rungs.

• To leave the ladder for the rest of the season, use Actions, Withdraw from the ladder. It takes you through three steps first. The players below you move up one rung, and any challenge you have open is cancelled.

End of season

• The top 8 with at least 6 matches play off. Matches you won by forfeit count toward the 6. A forfeit loss does not. The field is set on Jan 24, 2027, after the last period's penalties are applied. The playoffs are 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5, then semifinals and a final. Playoff sets are short sets to 4, with a 10-point tiebreak at one set all. If fewer than 8 players have 6 matches, the field is smaller and the top seeds get byes in the first round. There is recognition for the winner and for whoever played the most matches, counting matches played and not forfeits.

Disputes

• USTA rules govern play. On court, The Code, the USTA's guide for matches without an official, applies. You call your own side, a ball you can't call is good, and a disputed point is replayed once.
• If you disagree about a score, both players email uppervalleytennisladder@gmail.com. If you can't agree, the match is recorded as not played. The ladder does not change, and the match does not count for either of you.
• The commissioner decides forfeit disputes 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.

Appendix: the numbers by ladder size

A few numbers depend on how many players are on the ladder. The rules above use the 21 and up column (25 players on Sep 14, 2026, the day the column was set). For Season 1, the column is set by the count on Sep 14, 2026, and stays the same all season, whoever joins later.

Footnote: the USTA 2-2-2+ rule in full

The wording above is ours. This is the rule as written, sections 3.9.4 to 3.9.5.8 of the 2025 NH Local USTA League Regulations. The regulations are for league play, so they talk about teams and captains. On the ladder, they apply to the two players.

• 3.9.4 How to decide a match winner when a match is incomplete, and the time limit has expired: Use this procedure to determine a clear winner for incomplete individual matches when time expires. Do not leave the court until both teams acknowledge a match winner. Regulations are applied in the order presented. Loss of the match due to lack of knowledge of these regulations is not a valid reason for a grievance.
• 3.9.5 2-2-2+ Procedure: 2 points ahead wins game, 2 games ahead wins set, 2 sets wins match
  • 3.9.5.1 Point in progress counts. Play it out. A point is in progress when the server steps to the baseline and is ready to serve.
  • 3.9.5.2 Game in progress: Team/player ahead by 2 or more points in the game in progress wins it. Awarded game is considered finished. Otherwise, game is considered tied and unfinished, and does not count
  • 3.9.5.3 Set in progress: Team/player ahead by 2 or more games, wins the set.
  • 3.9.5.4 7 Point Set Tiebreak in progress: Team/player ahead by 2 or more points in the 7 Point Set Tiebreak wins the set.
  • 3.9.5.5 Match Winner: Team/player ahead by 2 sets, wins match.
  • 3.9.5.6 10 Point Match Tiebreak in progress: Team/player ahead by 2 or more points in the 10 Point Match Tiebreak wins the match
  • 3.9.5.7 If applying the 2-2-2+ rules does not determine a match winner, follow the procedure below:
  • 3.9.5.7.1 Unfinished set ending without a 2-game margin: Play a Deciding Point to determine winner of the Set. The Serve will stay in rotation. If the last point played was part of a game that did not count, the server is technically still on, and serves.
  • 3.9.5.7.2 Unfinished 7 Point Set Tiebreak ending without a 2-point margin: Play a Deciding Point to determine winner of the Set. If the 7 Point Set Tiebreak was to determine the winner of the 1st set, play a Deciding Point to determine the winner of the 2nd set. If sets are split, play a Deciding Point to determine the winner of the match.
  • 3.9.5.7.3 Point Match Tiebreak ending without 2-point margin: Play Deciding Point to determine winner of the match
  • 3.9.5.7.4 Split sets with NO points played in the 10 Point Match Tiebreak: Play a Deciding Point to determine winner of the match
  • 3.9.5.8 How to Play a Deciding Point. The Serve will stay in rotation. If the last point played was part of a game that did not count, the server is technically still on, and serves. If the game that did not count was a Set or Match Tiebreak, server is the player who would have served the next point.

Source: 2025 NH Local USTA League Regulations, pages 6 and 7.