The Ladder Rules

• Players may challenge any player at any position on the ladder for their first challenge. All subsequent challenges can only be made against a player within 8 places of the challenger.
• Any new player joining the ladder after the ladder has been launched can challenge any other player on the ladder for their first challenge. If they are unsuccessful in that challenge they assume the place at the bottom of the ladder. If it is a successful challenge then the winner takes the place of the person they beat on the ladder and the losing player drops one place. All players ranked below the defeated player will shuffle down one place on the ladder.
• All games should be played within 15 days of a challenge being made unless there are clearly extenuating circumstances, in which case common sense should prevail and the match should be played within a grace period of five days after that deadline. If a game has still not been completed within this extended period it will be deemed forfeited by the player who is challenged unless that player notifies the administrator with an acceptable reason for their inability to play. If the game cannot be played because the challenger is unable to play then the challenge will be cancelled.
  
• All games will comprise of two full tie-break sets and a championship tiebreak will be played, if required, as a deciding third set. The championship tiebreak is won by the player who is the first to ten points, to win by two (i.e., 10-6, 11-9, 12-10 etc.). Please enter the score of any championship tie-break and not the standard tie-break score.
• If the player challenged gives a walkover, that player will fall to the place below the challenger, with all subsequent players falling one place. In other words, the challenger does not rise up the ladder to assume the higher position just because there was a walkover. In this case the challenger should cancel the challenge and contact the ladder administrator to update the walkover. However, a match, once commenced but then conceded through injury or whatever reason, is counted as a match played for the purposes of ranking changes.
• The challenger is free to cancel a challenge at any stage with no consequences, although he should provide his opponent with as much notice of the cancellation as is practicable. If a match has not been cancelled (or rearranged), and one player is more than 20 minutes late in attending the agreed match time without prior contact then the late or non-attending player is deemed to have forfeited the challenge and loses the match, with whatever consequences that has on the ranked positions of both players.
• A player who loses a challenge cannot challenge the same player again until a different challenge has been completed.
• A player who is injured for a period likely to exceed three weeks is free to suspend themselves from the ladder (thereby not having to concede challenges and endure the negative consequences of such on their ranking), and to have their ranking protected for a period of two months, or longer at the discretion of the tennis committee. If the injury exceeds that period of time, a player is likely to be deemed a new player to the ladder and rule 2 will apply.
• If a player wishes to suspend themselves for another reason (e.g. holidays, business etc.) they should notify the administrator with the reason for the suspension and the return date. The player will then automatically be made available from that date.
• A player who has not made or received a challenge in a 6 month period will be removed from the ladder.
• Any club championship match between two players on the ladder will be deemed an official challenge for the purposes of rankings and will automatically be entered by the ladder administrator.
• The player challenged has the choice of playing on an indoor or outdoor court.