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Q: Wasn't the rule changed this past year to be up to the umpire whether the point should be played over in the event of a wet ball during play?

-submitted by Paul Olivier on Sept 16, 1996

A: I know nothing of such change, or a written rule governing such situation. The Rule book specifies situations when the rally shall be a let, and a wet ball is not one of them. To my knowledge, the situation you describe has always been a judgment call by the umpire. A player is supposed to keep his/her equipment in good shape, including seeing to it that both the ball and his/her racket are dry, before he/she serves. I believe most umpires, including Your Friendly Umpire, would handle the "wet' situation by these rules of thumb: When a player serves and fails to make a good serve because either his racket or the ball was wet, the receiver makes a point. If the receiver fails to make a good return, and the umpire feels that it was the wet ball that affected the outcome of the rally, the rally should be declared a let. If, on the other hand, the receiver of a good serve fails to make a good return only because his/her racket was wet, there is no reason why the server should be penalized for it by being denied a point. If during the rally the ball or either player's racket becomes wet and, again, the umpire is convinced that this affected the outcome of the rally, the rally should be declared a let. The same applies to the rally during which the ball breaks or any other disturbance which may affect the outcome of the rally. In many such situations an observant umpire would interrupt the rally, and call it a let, before its outcome.

- Answered by Paul Kovac - your friendly on-line USATT umpire