Question

State any five duties of the chief umpire in tennis.

Answer 1

The Chief Umpire shall:

1. Recruit a sufficient number of competent officials for the tournament.
2. Conduct the necessary pre-tournament training of officials including review of the Rules of Tennis, the appropriate Tournament Rules and Regulations, Code of Conduct and the Duties and Procedures for Officials.
3. Prepare a list of officials which shall include mailing address and ITF/national certifications, if any, of all officials used during the tournament. A copy of such list shall be delivered to the ITF Supervisor/Referee and, if required, to ITF Officiating.
4. Schedule the on-court assignments of officials for each day of the tournament, subject to the approval of the ITF Supervisor/Referee.
5. Conduct meetings with all on-court officials to specify court assignments and the procedures to be used for making calls, hand signals, rotations and other responsibilities. For further details of Line Umpires’ responsibilities please refer to the ITF Line Umpire Guide.
6. Evaluate the performance of all on-court officials.
7. Be present on-site at all times during play.
8. The Chief Umpire shall not be a Chair Umpire or Line Umpire in that event, unless approved by the ITF Supervisor/Referee.
9. Assist the ITF Supervisor/Referee in the performance of his/her duties.
10. All Chief Umpires at ITF World Tennis Tour events must be completely familiar with the live-scoring hand-held devices and the correct use thereof.