Ladder

Rules | Registration | Ladder Standings

Each year, 300+ players participate in the FGTA ladder between May and September. It's a great way to meet new hitting partners and improve your match play.

When you join a ladder, you can challenge other players and they can challenge you. Players schedule each match individually, so you can play at a time and place that fits your schedule. For ladder matches played in Fort Greene Park, regular signup rules apply (permit required; one hour of singles or two hours of doubles per player each day).

This year there are three singles ladders:

• A Ladder for more advanced players (USTA NTRP 4.0+ rated)

• B Ladder for beginners and intermediate players (USTA NTRP 2.0-3.5 rated)

• Women’s Ladder for all levels

As a new experiment, we’re also adding a doubles ladder, recommended especially for players rated 3.5-4.0. The doubles ladder is a points-based ladder where standings are shown by individual player (not doubles team). You don’t need a partner to join—you’ll be able to team up with as many different players as you’d like. Two people propose a match, and two others accept. Matches don’t have to be played within a certain timeframe. Each player receives 1 point for playing a match, and the winners receive 3 points. At the end of the season, the 8 players with the most points will get to choose a partner (outside the top 8) to compete in the end of season tournament.

1. If you haven’t played an FGTA ladder before, you’ll need to create a TennisRungs account to start. If you’ve played an FGTA ladder in the past, you should already have an account with your email address as the username.

2. Once you have a TennisRungs account, go to your player dashboard to see the ladders you can join. From there, you can register/pay for the ladder(s) you’d like to play:

   • Register for the A Ladder (USTA NTRP 4.0+)

   • Register for the B Ladder (USTA NTRP 2.0-3.5)

   • Register for the Women’s Ladder (all levels)

   • Register for the Doubles Ladder (all levels)

All ladder registration sales are final. No refunds.

Registration Period

• Ladder play begins May 1 and ends September 30. Registration is open through July.

• Players joining a singles ladder after May 1 will be placed on the last rung of the top, middle, or bottom third depending on rating (e.g. a 4.5 will start two thirds of the way down the ladder, and a 4.0 will start at the bottom of the ladder). Ladder admins may use their discretion on initial positioning as they feel is warranted.

Challenges (singles ladders only)

• You may issue 1 challenge at a time, and you can only be challenged by one player at a time. This prevents outstanding challenges from accumulating.

• You may challenge up to 5 rungs above your position and 25 rungs below your position.

  • If you hold a wild card, you may challenge anyone on the ladder. You will be awarded a wild card after every 5 matches you play.

• When another player challenges you, you have 2 days to accept or deny.

  • If you deny the challenge or don’t respond within 2 days, you forfeit the challenge and the challenger is granted an automatic win.

    • If you forfeit 3 matches in a row, you will be dropped 10 rungs and the admins may temporarily remove you from the ladder.

  • By accepting a challenge, you agree to play within 10 days of accepting.

    • If you know you can’t play within 10 days, simply deny the challenge. The challenger will receive an automatic win and can move on to another challenge.

    • If a challenge is accepted and not played within 10 days, it will expire. Expired challenges are deleted from the system and will have to be reissued. Of course, since ladder positions are continually changing, a re-challenge might not be possible.

• When you win a challenge, you take the spot of the person you challenged and they move down one rung.

  • You CANNOT advance on a wild card forfeit. To take the spot of someone you use a wild card to challenge, you must play and win. If the player you’ve challenged with your wild card hasn’t responded, it is your responsibility to withdraw the challenge within 2 days before the system automatically bumps you up. If this does happen, it is your responsibility to immediately notify the ladder admins of your position before you were bumped up.

• If ladder admins notice a player exhibiting patterns of poor behavior (i.e. trying to protect their position by not making good faith efforts to accept and play challenges), that player will be moved down 5 rungs.

Match Play

• BALLS: Both players/teams should bring an unopened can of balls. The challenger chooses which balls to use. The winner takes the unopened can that was not used.

• SCORING:

  • Fast 4 scoring is strongly recommended: for the first two sets, the first to 4 games wins (you must win by 2 games; if you reach 4-4 in a set, play a 7 point tiebreaker.) At one set all, play a 10 point tiebreaker.

  • If you run out of time before the match is finished, whoever has won more games is the winner. If there’s a tie, the player in the higher position is the winner.

• ENTERING SCORES: The winner enters the score on TennisRungs. Please enter the score as soon as you can after you’ve finished playing.

  • If you choose to play a pro set or a format that TennisRungs doesn’t want you to enter a completed match, check ‘ran out of time’ (there’s no consequence for that).

• You must schedule matches through TennisRungs. Ladder admins will not enter scores for matches that were arranged outside of TennisRungs or matches that were played after a challenge expired.

• You may choose to play a ladder match at any facility all players agree upon. There’s no requirement to play FGTA ladder matches at Fort Greene Park.

• For singles ladders, you must play at least 10 matches to qualify for the tournament in October.

Leaves of Absence

• You may take a temporary leave at any time by marking yourself as on leave in TennisRungs. If you go on vacation for an extended period or can’t play due to injury, you will not be able to maintain your position on the ladder.

• If you are in the top 30 rungs on a singles ladder, you may email the ladder admins with the subject line “Ladder Temporary Leave” to request one leave per season. Include your position, the time you’re taking leave, and the date you’ll return.

  • When you return, your position will be based on your position when you left and how long you were on leave:

    • Less than 21 days: 5 rungs lower

    • 21-41 days: 10 rungs lower

    • 42-62 days: 15 rungs lower

    • 63 days or more: 20 rungs lower

Inactivity (singles ladders only)

• After 21 days of no activity, a player will be dropped 5 rungs.

• After 42 days of no activity, a player will be dropped an additional 5 rungs.

• After 63 days of no activity, a player will be dropped out of the ladder.

Administration

Mohammad and Alex are your ladder administrators. Our aim is to keep participation in the ladder fun, friendly and fair. We have the right to change rules at any time if we believe it's in the spirit of the ladder. We want players to stay active and engaged. Everybody's busy, but if you ignore challenges or don't make an effort to play, it's a bummer for everyone else. The Fort Greene tennis community is big and passionate. No other ladder in the NYC area comes close to our size. So take this opportunity to play a lot of matches and have fun!

If you have questions or need help with anything, email us at ladder@fortgreenetennis.org.