Book of Rules - How to play

[Catriel]

Welcome!

L.R.W.T.T. (Lower Ranked Women’s Tennis Tour) is a fantastic game where you are a female tennis player (or her coach) and you compete with other players who represent other tennis players.

Here is the Complete Book of Rules but you can start playing just reading this brief explanation.
If you have any doubts, refer to the full set of rules posted below.



RULES EXPLANATION


A- CHOOSE YOUR PLAYER

To play in LRWTT you have to pick a player ranked below the 150th position in the WTA singles ranking.

You can find out a player here: www.wtatour.com/rankings/singles_numeric.asp?page=2

You can also start with an available retired LRWTT player.





B- PLAYER SURFACES STRATEGY

You receive 400 points to play with, you must divide these points between 4 different surfaces.


An example:
Hard: 150
Clay: 100
Carpet: 25
Grass: 75


You can not allocate more than 150 points in a surface or less than 3 points.

Choosing these points will be crucial when playing and entering events, and could affect your results against other players so choose carefully & wisely!





C- ENTERING INTOA TOURNAMENT

In this forum you will find a topic called "Commitments for xx month". You must enter there and choose which tournaments your player will enter.

You can play only one tournament each week.

You can also enter in a tournament topic and ask for a WC if first round has not been played yet.





D- PLAYING THE TENNIS MATCHES

To compete in the tournament you must send (by PM or email to the LRWTT administration) the amount of points you have chosen for the current surface divided in 3 sets.


Example 1: if the tournament you have entered is a Hardcourt Event, and you have allocated 106 points for your player on hardcourt, then 106 points is what you will have to divide between the 3 sets.


Example 2: if you are playing a Clay Court tournament, and you have allocated 88 points for your player, then you will have only 88 points to share between the 3 sets.

Example 3:
Tournament Surface: Grass
Points Allocated for Grass: 104
Set 1: 40
Set 2: 30
Set 3: 34
TOTAL: 104

Your points will be compared with you opponent’s points in the current round. The winner is whomever wins 2 out of the 3 sets and the score is determined by the table you can find in later in this thread.
If you win, you enter the next round and your points will be compared again with another player’s points.






E- PLAYING DOUBLES

In each tournament’s thread you can pick a doubles partner. To play doubles we add each player’s singles points, so you don’t have to send doubles points, just sit back and watch. You can talk with your partner in private to decide a points strategy.






F- THE RANKINGS

Depending in the importance of the tournament (whether it is a $10K, $25K or $50K), your player earns different amounts of ranking points and of course, the deeper you make into a tournament the more points you get.

LRWTT rankings work like WTA ranking: the best 17 results in singles and the best 11 in doubles during the last 12 months.

You also get "quality points" if you defeat a Top Ten player during an event.






Now you are ready to play. In the following posts you will see the full explanation of these rules.

Good luck! [/font]

[Catriel]

Full Explanation

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Chapter A - Choose your player



1- Pick a New Player

To play in LRWTT you have to pick a real female tennis player ranked between position 150 and the end (1.300 or so).


Your player:

- must be ranked better that 150th but must have a ranking

- cannot be retired

- you may not use a player that someone else is using

- cannot be a reserved player


Here is the link to the official WTA singles ranking, where you can find your player:
www.wtatour.com/rankings/singles_numeric.asp?page=2




2- Pick a Retired Player

You can also use a retired player from LRWTT if she is available.


That means:
- she has not entered the top 150 in WTA
- she has not fall outside the rankings or retired.
- she may not be ranked in the Top 15 (singles or doubles) in LRWTT
- her previous coach has not reserved her.

If you use a retired player you will start playing with her current ranking points and positions (singles and doubles). But you will have to defend the points she obtained during the past 12 months with her old coach(s).

If you use a retired player you don’t have to play with her previous Surface Strategy points. You will chose your own Surface Strategy.




3- Special Case

If a player enters the WTA top 150 or retires while you are playing with her name, it will not affect you and you can continue using her name.

If you retire from LRWTT she will not be available for other players to use her name, and you will not be able to use her if you leave and then come back.




4- Players Retirement

To retire a player from the game her coach has to start a topic (on WTA World or Talk Tennis or both in the LRWTT section) announcing that she is officially retiring from the game. She will be pulled out from the next tournaments she has committed to.

The coach can reserve the player for 3 months for an eventual comeback. After this period the player will be available to be taken by somebody else.

Also, a player is considered retired when she did not commit to any events in 2 consecutive periods (commitments threads).




5- Switch Players During the Season

At anytime you can leave your player and use another one, picking a new one or an available retired player from LRWTT.

You must go to the Sign up thread and post the player’s name and her new Surface Strategy. Your previous player will automatically become an available retired player.

To change player again you must wait a 5 week period. If during a season you return to a player you used before, you have to use the same Surface Strategy points you were already using before.

You cannot reserve a player when you switch to another one.




6- Reserved Players

As explained in rule number 4you can reserve a player if you have to retire for personal reasons. You must notify everyone by starting a new thread where you declare that you are retiring but your player is reserved.

You then have 3 months to come back and claim your player. You must use the same Surface Strategy points you were using before.


If your player retired from WTA or entered the Top 150 in the singles ranking during your absence you can not use her and you have to pick a new one.




7- Changing a Player´s Name

You cannot change your player’s name during the season! If you want, you may switch to another player, like explained in Rule N° 5.

LRWTT organization will open a thread to change the player’s name only twice ayear: At mid-season (first week July) and at the end of the season (December). These are your only chances to change names.

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[Catriel]

Chapter B - Player Surfaces Strategy





8- Tournament Surfaces

The only kind of surfaces used in this game are: Clay, Hard, Grass and Carpet . If another surface is used in an ITF tournament we will change it to the most similar surface to play in this game.

Example: Rebound ace is considered "Hard".

Indoor is not the same as Carpet. If a tournament is played in "Clay/Indoor" it is considered Clay to play LRWTT.




9- Allocate Surface Points

Each player receives 400 points to distribute between the 4 surfaces. These points are used to play the tournaments, so the player may perform better on the surfaces she allocates more points to.


Example:
Hard: 125
Clay: 105
Grass: 82
Carpet: 88
(Total: 400)

This player may have better results on clay than grass, but it is also a matter of luck.




10- Surfaces Points Limitation

The limit to distribute these 400 points between the 4 surfaces is 150 max. and 3 min.

A player can not choose more than 150 points in a specified surface and not less than 3.




11- Changing Surface Strategy Points

You can not change your player’s Surface Strategy Points during the season. If you want, you can switch to another player, like explained in Rule N° 5.


LRWTT organization will open a thread to change the player’s Surface Strategy Points twice a year: At mid-season (first week July) and at the end of the season (December). These are your only chances to change your surface strategy.[/font]

[Catriel]

Chapter C - Enter in the Tournaments[/size]





12 - Using the Commitments Thread

n the Forum of the LRWTT Game there is a thread where you commit tothe tournaments. It is always made for a period of 5 weeks, and isposted at least 10 days before the first of these tournaments begins.

There is one or two tournaments in a week,a player can only commit to one tournament per week.

To commit to the tournaments, postthe name of the player and the name of the tournaments she wants to enter.




13 - Asking for a WC

If tournament is ready to start, a player can ask for a Wild Card (special invitation) before the first round singles results are posted. The player has to reply in the Tournament Forum asking for a WC.




14 - Placing a WC player in the Draw

If the player enters before the Main Draw is posted, she will be seeded if her ranking allows her to be.But if the player asks for the WC after the draw is done, she will not be seeded, and she will take one of the available posts in the draw, or play a qualifier round with the lower ranked players if there are not free spots in the draw.

A player can not enter in a tournament once the first round has been played.




15 - Players placed in the Draws

The best ranked players will be seeded based on the latestranking posted, no matter if this ranking is not the current ranking.

If the tournament needsto play a qualifying round because the amount of committed players exceeds the available spots, the lower ranked players will play the qualifiers round to enter the main draw.

If a player have asked for a WC, read Rule N° 14.




16 - Tournaments Sizes

The draw sizes will be:

$ 75K + Hosp = 32 places (28 direct, 4 qualifiers)
$ 75K = 32 places (28 direct, 4 qualifiers)
$ 50K + Hosp = 32 places (28 direct, 4 qualifiers)
$ 50K = 32 places (28 direct, 4 qualifiers)
$ 25K = 24 places (22 direct, 2 qualifiers)
$ 10K = 16 Places (14 direct, 2 qualifiers)

The draw sizes may be changed in special cases.
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[Catriel]

Chapter D - Playing a Tennis Match





17 - Sending points

To play in a tournament the player has to divide her chosen Surface Strategy Points for the tournament surface divided in 3 sets.

Example: If you have chosen 105 points for Carpet surface, you can send:
103 - 1 - 1 = total: 105
5 - 50 - 50 = total: 105
70 - 35 - 0 = total: 105

Points must be sent by email to [e-mail] or to Catriel using the Private Message system of this Board




18 - Playing a match

The player’s points are compared to her rival points in each set. The winner of each set is the player who has sent more points. The difference is represented as shown in the table posted in Rule N° 20.

When a player wins 2 out of 3 sets, she advanced to the next round.




19 - Tiebreak

If both players send the same amount of points for a specified set, the winner will be the player who sent new points that week. If both players are using new points or old points (one week old or 3 months old works the same) the winner of the set will be decided by a coin toss.
In the first case the tiebreak result will be 9-7 : set result 7-6 (7)
In the other case the tiebreak result will be 10-8. Set result: 7-6 (8)


20 - Table or set results


The difference between the player points will result in the score line below:

--If the difference between points is 90 or more, you win the set 6-0
--If the difference between points is 76-89 points, you win the set 6-1
--If the difference between points is 51-75 points, you win the set 6-2
--If the difference between points is 26-50 points, you win the set 6-3
--If the difference between points is 11-25 points, you win the set 6-4
--If the difference between points is 5-10 points, you win the set 7-5
--If the difference between points is 4 points, you win the set 7-6(7-0)
--If the difference between points is 3 points, you win the set 7-6(7-1)
--If the difference between points is 2 points, you win the set 7-6(7-3)
--If the difference between points is 1 points, you win the set 7-6(7-5)
--If the difference between points is 0, read Rule Number 19




21 - Changing points

The points sent by a player will be used throughout the tournament, you are notallowed to change points during a tournament to play different rounds.

If the tournament is being played under Round Robin system, the players are allowed to change points after the group positions are defined.




22 - Deadline

The time deadline to send points may appear in the first post of the tournament draw. Points sent after this time limit will not be counted for the current tournament but they will be saved to be used in the next tournament played in the same surface.

If there is not an indication about the time deadline, players can send points until first round is posted or until the Tournament Director posts a message declaring that no more points will be received.


23 - Sending wrong points

If a player does not send correct points for the current surface (difference between the tournament surface and the points selected by the player for this surface) she will be notified and asked to change her points.




24 - Playing with wrong points

f there is not an answer from the player, she will play the tournament with her previous points sent for the specified surface.

In case there is not a record of points for this player in this surface, the Tournament Director will:
- If she has sent less points (she was allowed to send 120 but she has sent 100) the player will play with the points she already sent.
- If she has sent more points, the tournament director will reduce the player’s points starting from the third set.

Examples: The player has to send 100

She sends: 40 - 40 - 40 = total: 120 points
She will play with : 40 - 40 - 20 = total: 100 points

She sends: 75 - 40 - 20 = total: 135 points
she will play with : 75 - 25 - 0 = total: 100 points



.

[Catriel]

Chapter E - Playing Doubles



25 - Enter into a Doubles Tournament

To play doubles a player must be playing singles in this tournament. She has to commit and playas said in Rule N° 12 and Rule N° 13

If there are two tournaments being played this week, a player can not play singles in one and doubles in the other one.




26 - Making a Doubles Team

To play doubles, a player has to pick a partner between the other players competing in the same tournament.

If a player does not have a partner, the tournament director will randomly make teams to complete the draw.

If the amount of players competing is an odd number, one of the players will not play doubles.




27 - Doubles points and matchs


Each team’s points are the result of adding both players singles points together.

The doubles matches are played like explained in Rules 18 and 20.




28 - Doubles speciallists

A player can not only play doubles tournaments. She must commit and play in the singles event to play in the doubles event.




29 - Doubles Seededs

To decide the seeds in the doubles draw, both players Doubles Ranking Position will be added, and the lower resultant number will define which teams are seeds and their order.

Example
1° Player A
3° Player B
5° Player C
10° Player D


If Player A and Player D makes a team, their ranking positions added gives 11
If Player B and Player C makes a team, their ranking positions added gives 8


So, team B / C is seeded #1 and team A / D is seeded #2, no matter that player ranked in the First Place is playing in the team seeded lower.



38 - Singles Speciallists

A player can not quit playing doubles because this can harm the other players chances to win doubles if they can not find a partner. If a player does not care about playing doubles, then just don´t pay attention to the doubles rankings.
Anyway, if the number of players in a tournament is odd, she will not have to participate in the doubles draw.

[Catriel]

Chapter F - Rankings




30 - The Rankings System

LRWTT rankings system is the same one that the WTA uses. This means the best 17 results in singles and the best 11 results in doubles during the last 12 months count toward your ranking.




31 - Ranking Points Scale

According to ITF system, LRWTT uses the following scale in the tournaments:

Tier	       Win	Fin.	SF	QF	R16	R32
$75 k  H	65	46	29	16	8	1
$75 k          	55	38.5	24.5	14.5	7	1
$50 k  H	45	31.5	20	11.5	5.5	1
$50 k       	35	24.5	15.5	8.5	5	1
$25 k        	25	17	11.5	7	3.5	1
$10 k   	12	8	5	3	1	
	

H : Hospitality




32 - $ 10K Tier events rule

To make the game more competitive, we use in the normal $ 10K tournaments the scale of $ 10K Master events, which gives double points




33 - First round loosers

The player who lose the first match she plays will receive 1 point, no matter round she is playing (Round of 32, round of 16, Quarterfinal or qualifying).




34 - Qualifiers

The player wins extra points each time she wins a match in the qualifiers draw.
1,25 points for 1 match
2,75 points for 2 matches
4,25 points for 3 matches
That means: if the player loses in first round of the Main Draw after playing 2 round of qualifying to enter, she will get 2,75 points.




35 - Quality points

The player who defeats a Top Ten ranked players wins extra points. These points are added to the score she wins in the tournament according the round where the player ends.

This is the scale for "Quality" points.

Defeating ranked # 1 : 3 quality points
Defeating ranked # 2 : 2 quality points
Defeating ranked # 3 : 2 quality points
Defeating ranked # 4 : 2 quality points
Defeating ranked # 5 : 2 quality points
Defeating ranked # 6 : 1 quality point
Defeating ranked # 7 : 1 quality point
Defeating ranked # 8 : 1 quality point
Defeating ranked # 9 : 1 quality point
Defeating ranked # 10 : 1 quality point




36 - Defending Points

The points that the players obtains (quality points, qualifying points and tournament points) will last 12 months. After that time they will be deleted from the player’s total score and she needs to defend them.

Note: In ITF events many tournaments are not played the same week year by year, so sometimes a player has to defend points obtained in a tournament playing in a different event.




37 - Doubles Points

The doubles points are the same as the singles but there is no quality points. Instead , the losers in each round receives complete round points, that means, if a team is defeated in the first match, they receive the points of the round they were playing.

Example:
If the team begins playing at Round of 16 in a $ 25K Tier event, they recive 3.5 points if they lose the match, instead of 1.

---

[Catriel]

Released on September 22th 2004





LRWTT STAFF


* President : PETER (U. K.)

* Vice-President : ALEJANDRO (Argentina)

* Secretary : NICKI (U.S.A.)

* Software Programmer: NATU (Uruguay)

* Tournament Assistance:
- MAL (Canadá)<br>- BEN (Australia)
- STEVE (Germany)
- SAM (Australia)

[Catriel]

Added Rules


Added to Chapter E - Playing doubles

38 - Singles Speciallists

A player can not quit playing doubles because this can harm the other players chances to win doubles if they can not find a partner. If a player does not care about playing doubles, then just don´t pay attention to the doubles rankings.
Anyway, if the number of players in a tournament is odd, she will not have to participate in the doubles draw.

[Catriel]

Rule N° 34 has been modified, since 2005 the qualifiers get more points for every match they win.

Rule N° 20 has been modified, we have a new scoring scale since February 1st 2005.