Rules of the Doubles Rotation Tournament

The schedule of Rotation Tournaments can be found on a separate page.

Doubles Rotation Tournament is an alternative form of a doubles tournament, where players play each match with a different partner and in different positions (alternating left and right sides).

This type of tournament stands out for its dynamism and social component, and thus can serve as a suitable environment for all doubles tournaments where different groups of players meet on the court. The ratio of games won to games lost is calculated for each participant. The winner of the tournament is the player with this highest ratio. Such a player can best adapt to new circumstances and thus becomes an ideal teammate for doubles.

Content:

1. Objective of Doubles Rotation Tournament

  • opening up participation to players of various skill levels (especially suitable for tournaments where it might be challenging to gather players of similar skill levels)
  • creating a pleasant atmosphere for social events
  • making new friends

In DoRoTo fully adheres to the official tennis rules except for the exceptions described below.

Explanation of abbreviation: DoRoTo (DOuble ROtation TOurnament)

2. Principle of the game

Participants of the tournament randomly change partners several times during the tournament and play against different pairs. For each participant, the ratio of games won to games lost is calculated.

The winner of the tournament is the player with the highest ratio. Such a player can adapt best to new circumstances and becomes the ideal teammate for doubles matches.

Optionally, a final match can be organized, from which 2 players will be announced as winners in the category of the most ideal pair.

3. Game Preparation

Agreement on the Game Format

Before the tournament begins, the game format is agreed upon. The following parameters play a decisive role:

  • the number of courts allocated for play
  • estimated duration of the tournament
  • the total agreed sum of games in each match
  • number of players
  • amount of players in special group

The outcome of this agreement should be the determination of how many matches each player can play in different pairs and how many total gems each match will have.

Example

The tournament organizer has 2 courts available. They plan to organize a doubles tournament for 20 players within a time frame from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. It is estimated that 15 games can be played on 1 court within 1 hour. Altogether, it is possible to play approximately 6 hours x 15 games x 2 courts = 180 games.

Now, assuming a game with a total of 5 games, which allows for 36 matches to be played (180 / 5). Each player will participate in an average of 36 / (20 / 4) = 7 games.

If the organizer wanted to ensure quicker rotation of pairs, they could opt for a total of 3 games per match. Then, it would be possible to play 180 / 3 = 60 matches, and each player would participate in an average of 60 / (20 / 4) = 12 games.

With the aim of allowing players to play with more tennis partners during the tournament, we will try to choose more matches with a smaller number of played games.

The table determining who will play with whom and on which side of the court will be provided by dedicated software through random selection. With an increasing number of players, the number of match combinations grows significantly, making it difficult to manage the tournament successfully without computational techniques.

Special group

Players of various skill levels will participate in the tournament. In order not to create a pair that is too weak or too strong due to random selection, less skilled or too strong players are placed in a special group. This special group, in addition to respectful treatment from players, ensures that pairs consisting of 2 players from this group or 2 players outside of this group are optionally not drawn. It is also possible to ensure that a player in this special group is not declared the winner.

Example

Parents of playing children can be placed in a special group. When it is set that neither 2 players in the group nor 2 players outside the group will be drawn into a pair, a parent-child pair is always ensured. When choosing that a player in a special group cannot win, it is ensured that the winner is not the parent, but only the highest placed child.

Using a special group is optional. If men of approximately the same level will play, the use of a special group loses its meaning.

4. Start of the game

The course of the game is determined by randomly drawn matches. The following can be read from the description of the drawn matches:

  • who will play against whom (L1 & R1)
  • against which pair they will play (against L2 & R2)
  • on which side the player will be standing while receiving (L – left or R – right side)
  • who starts with the serve in the first game (player with the index R1)
Pair selection mechanism

The drawing of pairs takes place according to the following procedure:

  1. The active player with the fewest matches will be selected
  2. For this player, the player with the least number of matches played together at the level of a teammate is preferentially sought
  3. If the system finds more players with the same number of matches in common, then the next criterion, the smallest number of matches in total, decides

5. Tournament Progress

During the tournament, results are continuously recorded, allowing players to observe their overall ranking during the course of the event.

At the beginning of the tournament, it can be agreed that matches that cannot be won anymore may be prematurely ended based on a request from the losing pair.

It can also be agreed that only a result with a difference of 2 games will be accepted. A combination of a 2-game difference and an early exit option can also be set.

Example

For example, if the total sum of games played is 5, the match can be concluded with scores like 0:3 or 1:3. If the total sum of gems played is 7, the match can be ended at scores like 0:4, 1:4, 2:4, or 1:5.

If a result with a difference of 2 games is required when playing up to a total of 5 games, then the match cannot be ended at 3:2, but it is at 4:2. If the game is tied, the match concludes with a tiebreak, with a score of 4:3.

6. Evaluation of the tournament

The winner of the tournament is announced as the player with the highest ratio of games won to games lost. This player may be proclaimed as Best Doubles Partner If multiple players have the same score, multiple players may be declared winners of the tournament.

If, optionally, a final match between the 4 selected participants with the highest score is arranged at the end, then 2 players will emerge from this final as the winners in the category of the Most Ideal Pair.

7. Comparison with the classic tournament

  • There is a rotation of teammates (DoRoTo tries, depending on the setup and the number of games, to play with everyone as much as possible, alternating the left and right sides of the court equally).
  • An individual can enter the tournament without a teammate (thanks to rotation, you do not have a permanent partner anyway).
  • The tournament can be organized even with an odd number of players and even with a minimum lineup of 4 players (this DoRoTo feature saves the tournament organizer a lot of trouble).
  • DoRoTo allows you to define a special group of players for which special conditions can be set (if women are included in the special group, it can be set that only male+female pairs are drawn. Alternatively, male+male can be allowed but female+female prohibited. And vice versa (Similar combinations can be created in the relationship of parent + child or strong + weaker player).
  • DoRoTo does not take place in the form of eliminations, so players are still in the game for the duration of the tournament and will play the same number of matches according to the settings.
  • Usually shorter matches are played and thus more will be played during the tournament (or, on the contrary, shorter matches allow more players to participate).
  • The tournament can be interrupted or extended in time at any time and it will not disrupt its progress in any way.
  • Players can temporarily or permanently interrupt their game or enter the tournament in the middle, for example.
  • It is not necessary for each player to play the same number of matches (the final ranking is determined only by the ratio of games won to games lost).
  • DoRoTo perfectly provides an overview of the quality of individual players, where the quality of a teammate does not affect the rating due to the frequent change of partners.
  • There is no downtime during the tournament waiting for a match to be played to move the tournament forward.
  • At the end of DoRoTo, 2 categories of winners will be announced: the Best player of the tournament and the Most ideal pair of the tournament (theoretically, this pair could play together for the first time during the final match).
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