Miriam Ullah is a marketing manager with experience in areas of corporate sales, market evaluation, client retention, and much more. Beyond her activities as a marketing professional, Miriam Ullah likes to stay active through tennis. She both follows the sport and plays recreationally.
During a tennis match, a let may be called for reasons as varied as the server’s ball clipping the net or a player being stung by a bee. Though the reasons behind a let can differ, there are several rules that should always be followed. For example, a player cannot call a let after the point has ended. In the event of an unintentional hindrance like a bee sting, the player must stop the point immediately after being stung. He or she cannot continue play, lose the point, and then declare a let.
Similarly, a player should refrain from using the let call to gain an advantage in a point they have no reasonable chance of winning. For example, if an opponent hits a clean return winner just as a ball from a neighboring court rolls into play, it would be considered in poor taste, but within the rules, to request a replay.
Some let rulings depend on whether or not a tournament official is present. For instance, a let should always be called after a loose ball has fallen out of a player’s pocket during a live point. An umpire will immediately make this call and issue a warning to the offending player. Any repeated behavior would be considered an intentional hindrance worthy of a point penalty.
Players need to handle these situations slightly differently in a recreational environment. Because a player cannot call a hindrance against themselves, a player that drops a ball cannot call a let. Instead, it is up to the opposing player to stop the point with a let call. Players cannot penalize one another, but when repeated this behavior is considered impolite and unsportsmanlike.
