1
FOREWORD
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of the game of
tennis and its duties and responsibilities include determination of the Rules of Tennis.
To assist the ITF in carrying out this responsibility, the ITF has appointed a Rules of
Tennis Committee which continually monitors the game and its rules, and when
considered necessary makes recommendations for changes to the Board of Directors
of the ITF who in turn make recommendations to the Annual General Meeting of the
ITF which is the ultimate authority for making any changes to the Rules of Tennis.
Appendix V lists all known and approved alternative procedures and scoring
methods. In addition, on its own behalf or on application by interested parties, certain
variations to the rules may be approved by the ITF for trial purposes only at a limited
number of tournaments or events and/or for a limited time period. Such variations are
not included in the published rules and require a report to the ITF on the conclusion
of the approved trial.
Note: Except where otherwise stated, every reference in these Rules of Tennis to the
masculine includes the feminine gender.