Player's Guide to LTA Competitions All Ages 2026

By calendar year: your age group for the whole year is set by how old you'll be on 31 December (Regulation 6).

Juniors (8U to 18U):

• If you'll be 12 on 31 December 2026, you're 12U from January to December 2026.
• If you'll be 13 on 31 December 2026, you're 14U all year. There's no 13U age group (or 15U or 17U).
• You move into the Open category once you're too old for 18U.
• 8U, 9U and 10U players can only play their own age group and the one above.

Adults: the same calendar-year rule. If you turn 35 on 1 June 2026, you can play 35-and-over events all through 2026. If you turn 22 on 1 June 2026, you can't play any 21U events in 2026.

Competitions spanning two years use the age groups for the year in which the competition ends (for example, an event finishing on 2 January 2027 uses 2027 age groups).

Player passports: the LTA Performance Team can, at its discretion, let a player who has run out of competitive opportunities in their age group play in older age groups. Players, parents and coaches can't apply for one, and the decision can't be appealed.

The ITF World Tennis Number is the rating the LTA uses (Regulation 33; the Regulations also call it your "Rating"). It's based on your results in matches against other players.

• You need LTA Membership to have one.
• It's issued from age 10, or from the calendar year in which you turn 10.
• You have separate singles and doubles numbers, each between 40 and 1 to one decimal place (for example 30.5). Juniors start at 40.9, and the number comes down as you improve.
• Adults get a starting number by completing a player standard questionnaire in the members' area of the LTA website.
• It's recalculated regularly by an ITF algorithm. The outcome can't be appealed.

What counts: singles and doubles results from grade 1 to 7 competitions, provided the results and players' LTA Membership numbers are submitted to the LTA. The LTA can disallow results, for example matches against your coach or a relative.

When it's used: for acceptance and seeding in Open events (World Tennis Number first, then Ranking), and you need a current number to enter LTA sanctioned competitions. The number used for an entry is the one live on the LTA website at the closing deadline.

Your LTA Ranking shows where you stand in your age group, nationally and in your county (Regulation 34).

Combined Rankings (11U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U and Open):

• Based on your six best singles results plus 25% of your six best doubles results over a rolling 12 months.
• Ties are split by the number of events used, then your highest single-event singles points, and so on.
• Juniors and adults appear on one combined ranking list. 11U, 12U and 14U players are subject to the LTA's "play up" rules.

Senior Rankings (age groups from 30+): your three best singles results over a rolling 12 months.

Earning points:

• You must win a match in a draw (qualifying, main or consolation) to get the points for the round you reach. No win = 1 point.
• A walkover doesn't count as a win: get a walkover then lose your next match and you get 1 point. An opponent retiring does count as a win.
• More points for going further, and higher grades are worth more.
• Only one set of points per event (your best, if you played qualifying and main draw).
• County Cups and National League also earn points. ITF Junior and Tennis Europe points count event by event.

Which grades count: grades 1 to 5 count for Ranking. Grades 6 and 7 count for your World Tennis Number only. Events with fewer than 5 entries (3 in doubles) give no Ranking points.

Rankings update weekly, using results processed at least five days before the run.

To enter any LTA sanctioned competition you must:

• hold LTA Membership, and
• have a current ITF World Tennis Number (except at events carrying world, ITF or Tennis Europe ranking points).

Entries go through the LTA Competition Management System. The fact sheet sets out the grade, events, format, ball, entry fee, closing date and the withdrawal deadline.

If an event is oversubscribed (LTA Acceptance & Seeding Criteria):

Remaining ties are drawn by lot. Seeding follows the same measure (Ranking for juniors, World Tennis Number then Ranking for Open events).

Doubles at grades 1-4 give priority to pairs where both players are in a singles main draw, then by combined ranking or rating. At grade 5 it's first come, first served, using the time the second partner entered.

Wild cards: up to one per eight draw places.

Age group restriction: 8U, 9U and 10U players can only enter their own age group and the one above.

The format depends on age group and grade (Appendix Seven, LTA Competition Regulations 2026). The competition fact sheet must state it before entries open.

Recommended formats:

Grade 6 and 7 events must use one of the approved formats for the age group.

Definitions:

• Tie-break set: first to 6 games, tie-break at 6-6.
• Match tie-break: replaces the final set; first to 10 points, 2 clear. There's a 2-minute break before it, and the balls aren't changed.
• FAST4 set: first to 4 games, tie-break (first to 7, 2 clear) at 3-3. FAST4 matches use no-ad scoring.
• No-ad: at deuce, one deciding point. The receiver chooses which side to receive from; in doubles the receiving pair can't switch positions, and in mixed doubles the player of the same sex as the server receives.
• No-let may also be used: a serve that clips the net and lands in is in play.

You do, for your side of the net (Regulation 29, LTA Competition Regulations 2026):

• Each player or pair calls all balls on their own side, honestly and to the best of their ability.
• Call "out" and "fault" promptly after the ball bounces, loudly enough for your opponent to hear.
• If in doubt, the ball is good. Give your opponent the benefit of the doubt.
• The server calls the score before each first serve, loudly enough for the opponent to hear.

If you call a ball out and then realise it was good: the point is replayed, unless it was a clear winner (you couldn't have returned it), in which case you lose the point. If you've already made one wrong call earlier in the match, every further wrong call loses the point.

Other calls:

• Lets: both players are equally responsible.
• Not-ups and foul shots: called by the player on whose side it happened.
• Foot faults: can only be called by an on-court official, not by your opponent.

Clay courts (and artificial clay if the Referee approves): you can ask to see the ball mark on a point-ending shot, and may cross the net to look. If you rub out the mark, you concede the point. On clay, a wrong "out" call always loses the point.

Disputes: call the Referee or court supervisor. Spectators, parents and coaches must not get involved in resolving the issue.

Play should be continuous from the first serve. Maximum breaks (Regulation 23.4), timed from the end of one point to the first serve of the next:

• After the first game of each set and during a tie-break, change ends without a break.
• The receiver must play at the server's reasonable pace.
• Time violations: first a warning, then a fault if you're serving or a point penalty if you're receiving.

Toilet and change-of-attire breaks (Regulation 23.6):

• Two per singles player per match; in doubles, two per pair (leaving together counts as one).
• You need permission from the Chair Umpire, or, without one, the Referee or their designee.
• Toilet breaks should be taken at the end of a set; change-of-attire breaks only at the end of a set.
• They can't be used just to refill drinks. Any break taken once the warm-up has started counts.

Medical treatment (Regulation 24): on-court treatment is only allowed at changeovers and set breaks, with permission, and generally not on more than two consecutive breaks for the same condition.

Under Regulation 22.1, when you're scheduled for more than one singles match in a day, the minimum rest between them is:

• If the previous match was interrupted for a single period of more than 30 minutes, only the games played after the restart count.
• The Referee can cut these rest periods in exceptional circumstances, for example when you're in more than one final, or because of bad weather or bad light.
• These minimums don't apply to 8U, 9U and 10U events.
• In the FAST4 format, players can be scheduled for up to four FAST4 singles matches in a day.

Warm-up: before each match you get a warm-up of up to 5 minutes.

Signing in and being on time (Regulation 21):

• Sign the attendance sheet, or tell the Referee you've arrived, on each day of the competition. Until you do, you're treated as absent.
• It's your job to find out when you're due on. If you're not ready within 15 minutes of your match being called, the Referee can treat you as having failed to appear, which means Withdrawal Points.
• If you're going to be late, phone the Referee, explain why and give an arrival time. The Referee may delay your match, but doesn't have to.
• Once signed in, you can only leave the site if you have no more matches that day or the Referee gives permission.

Weather, light and other conditions (Regulation 25):

• The Chair Umpire or Referee can suspend play if the court isn't fit. The score at suspension stands when play resumes, on the same court where practical.
• For bad light, suspensions and court moves should happen, where practical, at the end of a set or after an even number of games.
• The Referee decides whether to postpone to another day, and can shorten the scoring format for a whole round (never for a match already under way).
• If an event has to be abandoned, players still in it get the losing ranking points for the round they'd reached.

Warm-up after an interruption (Regulation 23.2):

The Competition Code of Conduct (Appendix Four, LTA Competition Regulations 2026) applies at the venue, in tournament transport and accommodation, and in your messages to the Referee or organiser. Code violations include:

• Ball abuse: hitting, kicking or throwing a ball violently, dangerously or in anger (for example, out of the court enclosure), other than while genuinely playing a point
• Racket or equipment abuse: throwing or smashing a racket, or hitting the net, court or umpire's chair in anger
• Audible or visible obscenity: swearing loud enough to be heard, or obscene gestures
• Verbal or physical abuse of anyone: officials, opponents, spectators or others
• Delay of game: not being ready to play within the time allowed
• Receiving coaching during a match or warm-up: any communication, audible or visible, with someone off court may count
• Unsportsmanlike conduct, including any breach of the LTA Code of Conduct
• Not giving best efforts, or failing to complete a match or event without good reason
• Leaving the court without permission
• Punctuality: not being ready within 15 minutes of your match being called normally means a default, unless the Referee decides otherwise.

Your supporters count too. Coaches, parents, relatives and other supporters are "Player Support Personnel". You are responsible for their behaviour, and their misconduct can lead to code violations against you.

On-court penalty sequence (Appendix Five, LTA Competition Regulations 2026):

A game penalty given mid-game (say at 30-40) costs you that game; one given once a game has finished costs you the next game. Minor incidents can be handled with a quiet word instead.

Immediate default: the Referee can default you straight away for a serious violation, such as physical abuse, threatening behaviour, discriminatory abuse, spitting, ball or racket abuse that hits or targets someone, accusing an official of bias or cheating, or walking off without valid grounds. A default removes you from all events at that competition (singles and doubles), and you forfeit any prizes.

Code Violation Points (not given in red ball tennis):

10 or more points in a rolling 12 months means an automatic suspension from all LTA sanctioned competition: 3 weeks the first time, then 4, 5 and 6 weeks for further sets of 10. During a suspension you also can't play ITF, Tennis Europe, ATP or WTA events.

On-court decisions are final. Only points from an immediate default can be appealed.

You get automatic Withdrawal Points for pulling out after the competition's withdrawal deadline (Appendix Six of the LTA Competition Regulations 2026):

The same applies if you refuse to play, or don't turn up for, a compulsory consolation event (or one you opted into).

No points when:

• you withdraw before the withdrawal deadline
• it's an 8U event
• you retire during a match through sickness or injury (as long as you didn't arrive sick or injured), or the Referee rules you unfit to play
• you're on the reserve list and withdraw before being told you're in the draw.

If you entered several events at one competition, you only get one set of points.

Suspensions: 10 Withdrawal Points in a rolling 12 months means an automatic suspension from all LTA sanctioned competition: 2 weeks the first time, then 3, 4 and 5 weeks for further sets of 10 in the same period.

Appeals: only on the grounds of exceptional circumstances (unexpected, unavoidable and outside your control, arising after the deadline), lodged within 14 days of the LTA's email. Withdrawing because you got into another competition, or because of an illness or injury you already had before the deadline, can't be appealed.