Tennis Stakeholder,

As we are always excited to expand our Tournament Alignment relationship with both Adult and Junior Competition, we are reaching out regarding more information on our alignment within these spaces. With this alignment comes the introduction of various aspects into the competitive landscape, but there is one area in particular that we would like to focus on heading into 2023 concerning tournaments across the United States.

While Wheelchair Tennis long ago adopted the Code of Conduct for Players, the addition of Suspension Points was recently voted into the Wheelchair Regulations and will take effect January 1, 2023.

General Information

For all Wheelchair Tennis events, it is required that any Code Violations assessed during matches, at tournament activities, as well as unprofessional conduct at tournament hotels/accommodations, facilities, and functions will garner Suspension Points.

Each violation issued (whether a Code Violation within a match, or misconduct outside of a tennis match) is attached to Suspension Points that will be assessed by the Referee of the specific event where the infraction occurred, a designee of the Section who granted the tournament sanction, or the applicable Suspension Point administrator.

A full explanation of all processes and procedures surrounding Suspension Points is outlined in the Friend at Court (FAC) from pages 113-117.

Scale and Penalties

Suspension Points will stay on a player’s record for one 12-month period. Once a player accrues 10 or more Suspension Points in this time period, they will be suspended from competition for 3 months.

Further penalties and suspensions are outlined in the Friend at Court.

Appeals and ITF Events

Appeals at Level 3 Closed, Level 4, and Level 5 events within the same Section shall be made to the Section which granted the sanction for the event(s).

At all National Level 1, 2, and 3 events, the appeal shall be made to the National Grievance Committee following the guidelines in the Friend at Court. Should a player receive any USTA Suspension Points while participating in an ITF event, these appeals will follow the appeals procedure for National Level events. The same procedure shall be followed if all Suspension Points are accrued at Level 3 Closed, Level 4, or Level 5 events that took place across different Sections.

All ITF Suspension Points shall directly correlate to USTA Suspension Points. Because ITF tournament results are also translated to USTA ranking points, any Code Violation assessed at an ITF event will be logged into Serve Tennis, which will also carry USTA Suspension Points.

Players will be notified of their suspension via first-class mail by the USTA and their suspension will begin 30 days after the date that this notice was mailed, should any appeal be made and denied. Appeals may only be made once a player garners 10 Suspension Points in a 12-month period.

Further information on the appeals process can be found in the Friend at Court.

Should you have any further questions concerning Suspension Points or any processes thereof, please contact Jo Wallen via email at joanne.wallen@usta.com.

We appreciate your involvement in continuing to contribute to a higher level of professionalism at our Wheelchair Tennis events across the country.

Sincerely,

USTA National Wheelchair Tennis Committee & Staff