Walkovers and no-shows: fair rules for leagues

Every league organiser knows the message. “We never managed to play. Can I have the walkover?” A walkover is a match awarded to one player without a ball being hit, because the other could not or would not play it. Sometimes the answer is obvious. More often, both players are sure they were the one who tried. The organiser is left deciding between two members who will both be at the bar on Friday.

The way out is to decide every case before it happens. A walkover rule that is written down, agreed at the start and applied the same way every time is not a judgement about anybody. It is just the rule. Here is how to write one that is fair, and that players will accept even when it goes against them.

Walkover, unplayed or retired: three different results#

The first mistake is treating every match that did not finish as the same thing. There are three different results, and each deserves a different score.

Result	What happened	The winner gets	The other player gets
Walkover	One player was ready to play and the other was not	The points for a win, no sets or games	Nothing
Unplayed	Neither player got the match on, or neither could	Nothing	Nothing
Retired	The match started and one player could not finish	A win, with the games played as they stood	Any set they had already won

Giving a walkover no sets or games matters more than it looks. When two players finish level on points, the tie-break goes to sets and then games. A player who won on a walkover should not climb a box on games nobody played.

A conceded match, where a player says in advance that they cannot play it, is a walkover. Say so in the rules, and thank the player who told you early: it is far easier on everyone than silence.

The three-dates test: who really tried#

The hard cases are the matches nobody played, where each player says the other would not commit. The fairest test looks at the dates each player offered, not at who sent the first message.

1. The first askOffer three datesA few days apart, at sensible times, all before the closing date.
2. Within three daysThe answerAccept one, or offer three dates of their own.
3. A week of silenceChase onceAsk again, and keep every message with dates in it.
4. The closing dateClaim the walkoverForward the messages. It goes to whoever offered real dates.

The rule has four parts:

1. Offer three dates. The player asking offers three, a few days apart, all well before the closing date.
2. Reply within three days. The other player accepts one, or offers three of their own.
3. Chase once, and keep the messages. If a week passes with no answer, ask again. Keep every message with dates in it.
4. Claim at the closing date. If the match is never played, forward the messages to the organiser. If one player offered real dates and the other offered none, the player who offered gets the walkover. If both offered dates and nothing fitted, the match is unplayed and nobody scores.

“Real dates” does the work in that rule. Three slots on weekday mornings sent to somebody who works full time are not real dates. Neither are three offered on the day before the closing date. Most organisers know a genuine attempt when they see one, and the rule gives them the words to say so.

The test only works if it starts early. A walkover claimed in the last week of the round, with no dates offered in the first five, is one to refuse.

When a walkover would be unfair#

Some unplayed matches are nobody’s fault, and a walkover would punish the wrong person:

• Both players were slow. If neither offered dates until the final week, the match is unplayed.
• A holiday or an injury declared before the round started. That player should have been given the round off, and put back in the box they left when they return.
• No court could be had. If every court was booked on every date both players offered, it is unplayed.
• The organiser changed the closing date. Any match affected stays open until the new date.

Late arrivals and cancellations on the day#

Write two numbers into the rules: how long a player waits, and how much notice a cancellation needs.

How long to wait. Fifteen minutes is fair on a one-hour booking, because after that too little of the booking is left for a fair match. On a longer booking, many clubs allow thirty. After that, the player who turned up may claim the walkover if they want it. Many will choose to play anyway, and the rules should let them.

Short-notice cancellations. A cancellation with less than 24 hours’ notice may be treated as a walkover if the other player asks for one. The kinder version, which many clubs use, gives both players one more try at a new date first, and the walkover only if that fails too. Illness and family emergencies happen. A player who cancels three matches at short notice in one round is a different matter.

Rain, bad light and unplayable courts#

Weather never earns a walkover. If either player reasonably thinks the courts are unsafe, the match is postponed, and nobody is expected to play on a wet or slippery court to protect a result.

A match stopped part way through restarts from the same score on another day, before the closing date. Write down the score at the moment it stopped, in the same message to both players, so nobody remembers it differently a week later.

Retirements and injuries part way through#

A retirement is a real match. The player who stops loses, and the games played count as they stood. Any set the retiring player had already won stands, along with the points a set earns under your scoring scheme. A set they were leading when they stopped is not a set won.

Say Jo wins the first set 6-3 against Sam, then retires at 1-2 in the second. Sam wins the match. Jo keeps the set, and the games go down as 7-5 to Jo.

That last part is why some leagues use a second rule, and give the winner the games needed to complete the match: 6-3, 1-6, and the match tiebreak to Sam. It stops the loser finishing with more games than the winner. Games only decide a box when points, the result between the two players and sets are all level, so either rule is fair. Pick one and write it down.

Never let a retirement become a reason to replay. A player who stops at a set down and asks to start again next week is asking for a second chance their opponent did not get.

A player who drops out part way through a round#

People move house, get injured and lose interest. When a player leaves part way through a round, choose one of two rules and write it down:

Rule	What happens	Fairness
Remove all their results	Every match they played is wiped, as if they had never been in the box	Fairest: nobody is helped or harmed by when they happened to play them
Keep what was played	Their played results stand, and every match left is a walkover to the opponent	Simpler when they leave near the end, but helps the players who had not yet met them

Some clubs combine the two: results are removed if the player leaves before playing half their matches, and kept if they leave after. It is a fair compromise, as long as it is decided before anyone knows who it helps.

Players who never play#

A player who plays nothing in a round goes to the bottom of their box and down one at the end of it. After two rounds without a match, take them out of the league until they ask to come back. Before you do, send a friendly message. Most players who go quiet have a reason, and many are glad to be asked rather than dropped.

The bigger problem is the player who plays a little and ignores the rest, leaving three or four people in their box with matches they cannot get on. Name them, kindly, in the halfway reminder. If that fails, the three-dates test does the rest: their opponents each claim a walkover, and the box carries on.

When one partner cannot play: doubles walkovers#

Doubles has the same problems with four diaries instead of two. Most clubs let a pair bring in a substitute of the same standard or below. The substitute’s results can keep a pair up, but cannot send it up. With no substitute, the match is a walkover to the other pair. How to run a doubles box league or ladder covers substitutes in full.

Ladder challenges that are never answered#

A ladder has no closing date, so it needs its own version of the test. The usual rule gives the challenged player a week to reply and two weeks to play. If they do neither, the challenger takes their place as if they had won. Ladder rules for a tennis club sets out the full rules, and they work for any sport.

Disputed scores and who decides#

Somebody has to have the last word, and it has to be one named person. Usually that is the league organiser. When the organiser is one of the players in the dispute, it is somebody else from the committee. Name them in the rules in advance, so nobody chooses the referee after the fact.

Their job is to read the messages, ask each player once, and decide within a week. Their decision is final. A dispute that can be appealed to the group chat is never over.

For a score that both players remember differently, the fairest rule is that the score entered first stands unless the opponent questions it within two days. After that, it is part of the table.

Walkover rules to copy#

Put this in your league rules before the first round, and point to it when the first walkover is claimed. Change the numbers in brackets to suit your club:

The box league rules template puts these rules together with your scoring, box sizes and closing dates on one printable page, and rewrites itself as you fill it in.

How to keep walkovers rare#

The best walkover rule is one that is hardly ever used. Three things keep them rare:

• A message at the start of every round with each player’s list of names and the closing date. How to run a tennis box league has one to copy.
• A reminder halfway through naming the matches still to play. Players book matches when they see their name on a list.
• A box manager in each box once the league is big, so somebody notices a stuck match in week two rather than at the closing date.