Brian Dimsho is a USTA certified official and the resident official of the Orange County Grand Prix.

by Anonymous

Q: In a non-officiated USTA doubles match, when my partner's serve landed, the receiver called a "double foot fault" and stopped play. He said my partner (who was serving from close to the center service mark because we were in the "I" formation) had served from the wrong side and stepped over the baseline. He claimed that serving from the wrong side alone entitled them to the point. I replied that if that actually occurred, it was a foot fault and a warning had to be issued or an official had to be called before claiming the point. Question 1: Is serving from the wrong side something other than a foot fault? Question 2: If it is, what procedure should be followed? 3 - Is there some other procedure in such situations?

A: I wish I was there for this one! First the answer to question 1 is yes, it's called serving from the wrong side not a Foot Fault, and for question 2 in this case to resolve it the server would serve from the correct side immediately upon this mistake being discovered and if it has been discovered just after a first serve fault, the fault will stand and the server will serve the second serve from the correct side of the court based on the score. All points played stand, no matter who won them even if the serve was from the wrong side. For the Foot Fault issue another team or player can only call a Foot Fault on the opponent in an unofficiated match only after the following steps have been taken. You have warned the opponent that they are Foot Faulting, if it still continues, you have tried to located an Official to call them. Only after these steps and only than can you call a Foot Fault(s) on the opponent. So in your match your opponent should not have taken the point. Sorry we can't be at all matches. Brian