Introduction
At the club and provincial levels the chair umpire will most often officiate matches
without line umpires. We call this official a solo chair umpire (SCU). The SCU
is probably the first contact with an on-court official that the average tournament
player, whether adult or junior, will have. It may also be the player's first real
encounter with the rules of tennis.
In a match officiated by a solo chair umpire the players call their own lines. The
responsibilities of the solo chair umpire are to:
- Make sure the conditions of play are as fair as possible for all players.
- Make sure the rules of tennis are followed.
- Have the players call all their own lines promptly, clearly and loudly.
Any doubt about a line call must be resolved in favour of the opponent.
- Overrule only clear mistakes. This includes
"good" balls that are called "out" and
obviously "out" balls that are called "good." It does not include
close "out" balls that are called "good."
If the SCU overrules an "out" or "fault" call, then the
player who made the call loses the point.
- Make all other calls, including, but not limited to, foot faults, lets,
not-ups (double bounces) and code and time violations.
About Me
Little has changed from the time I started out as an official. There never seemed to
be enough trained officials or others willing to act as chair umpires at club or
provincial tournaments. So I began practising calling score, marking the scorecard,
and settling on-court disputes in friends' matches. I really started getting my feet
wet as a chair umpire in the early 1980's. Later I attended USTA,
Tennis Canada, and International Tennis Federation (ITF) officiating schools.
I worked as a chair umpire at several professional tournaments, the Canada Summer
Games, college tennis conferences, and national and provincial championships. This does not include line
umpiring at Davis Cup and others. For several years I conducted umpire clinics in
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island focussing on the the duties of solo chair umpires. I have now
retired from officiating, but continue to take an active interest.