My partner broke a string on a shot, sending his dampener flying all the way to the court next to us. One opponent returned the shot long, then asked for a let due to hindrance. We said it was our point because the dampener is not like a tennis ball that falls out of your pocket. Plus, he waited until he saw his shot go out before he called the let. We allowed the let. Should we have?
— Greg Vrablik, Barrington, IL
You certainly were polite to have granted the let, but you needn’t have been. The dampener is part of the racquet. If your partner’s dampener had struck the opponents’ court while the ball was in play you would have lost the point (Rule 24.g). However, since it simply flew out of your court and onto an adjacent one, that rule doesn’t come into play. And USTA Comment 22.1 notes that a racquet simply coming out of a player’s hand (or in this case, a part of a racquet) is not the basis for a let.
Except where noted, answers are based on the ITF Rules of Tennis and USTA's The Code.
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