Thirty30 Tennis
- Dec 22, 2017
- 5 min read

An Invitation to Trial Thirty30 Tennis

Updated: Nov 26, 2019

We are looking for tennis players, coaches, parents, etc. to help with trialing Thirty30 tennis.

Thirty30 tennis is the innovational and complementary scoring method that creates shorter, more exciting matches, and brings tennis into the 21st century.

Thirty30 (T30) can be described as the tennis equivalent of cricket's Twenty20 (T20).

Rules of Thirty30 Tennis

Everything is identical to traditional scoring except:

(1) EVERY game played starts at "30-30" and the score of "Thirty30" is called out at the start of every game.

(2) If a set reaches 6 games all, a '9 point tie-break' (i.e. first to 5 points, sudden-death at 4-all) is played to decide the winner of the set by 7-6.

(3) During a set, players serve alternative games and change ends initially after 2 games, then after every 4 games and at the end of each set.

(4) For a 1 set match, a '9 point tie-break' is played at 6 games all.

(5) For a best-of-3 set match, Player A serves first in set 1, Player B serves first in set 2 and Player A serves first in set 3.

There is no 'deciding game' played at 6 games all in the final set; the final set is won by leading by 2 clear games.

(6) The "No Ad" rule is NOT used, i.e. 'normal deuce' is played as per traditional tennis.

(7) The "No Let" rule is NOT used, i.e. as per traditional tennis.

We have estimated that one set takes no longer than a 'bite-size' 20 minutes and a best-of-three sets match can be completed within an hour.

Options - Trialing Thirty30 Tennis

Thirty30 can be trialed by playing either singles or doubles.

(1) Play a 1-set match (to 7-6) - singles or doubles. This can be completed in 20 minutes.

(2) Play a best-of-3 sets 'match' - singles or doubles. This can be completed in 1 hour. (If a player wins the match 2 sets to 0, also play the 3rd set (as a 'friendly') if time allows).

(3) Play a round-robin group of 4 players each playing 1 set (to 7-6) against each other. This can be completed using two courts in 1 hour. (i.e. 6 matches at 20 minutes each).

(4) Play a round-robin with two groups (A & B) of 4 players (i.e. 8 players total) as per (3) above followed by either:

Play 2 semi-finals, a 3rd/4th place, & final (i.e. winner of group A v R/Up of Group B & Winner of group B v R/Up of Group A, etc). This can be completed in under 3 hours using two courts. (i.e. 16 matches of 20 minutes).

Play 1st/2nd, 3rd/4th, 5th/6th, 7th/8th place play-off matches (i.e. 1st in Group A v 1st in Group B, 2nd (A) v 2nd (B), etc.). This can be completed in 2.5 hours using two courts. (i.e. 16 matches of 20 minutes).

(5) Play a 4-player knock out tournament playing best of 3 sets matches. 2 x semi-finals, a 3rd/4th play-off and final. This can be completed in 2 hours using two courts. (i.e. 4 matches of 60 minutes).

(6) Play a round-robin group of 5 players each playing 1 set (to 7-6) against each other. This can be completed using two courts in 2 hours. (i.e. 10 matches of 20 minutes).

(7) Play a round-robin group of 6 players each playing 1 set (to 7-6) against each other. This can be completed using three courts in 2 hours. (i.e. 15 matches of 20 minutes).

(8) Play a 6 players doubles (or 3 players singles) team match with 3 rounds of 2 sets (or 3 sets). This can be completed using three courts in 2 hours (or 3 hours). (i.e. 9 matches of 40 minutes or 9 matches of 60 minutes).

Please feel free to choose which option is most suitable for you, even organise a Thirty30 Grand Slam Event where you play best-of-5 set matches (90 minutes) or try something different.

Feedback

We will be looking for feedback on how the trial has gone, good or bad.

The feedback may include the venue, date, surface, players’ names & ages, photos, the score, the rough time taken to complete each set and any general comments on the format,

e.g. how well did it work, was it fun, improvements, time taken per set, did the best player win, was it fair, comparisons with traditional, FAST4 and Match Tie-Break (10 points) formats, players, coaches & parents views on it, etc.

We will use the feedback to learn more about the Thirty30 scoring format.

We may use some of the feedback received on the website but we will check before posting anything that this is acceptable with you.

Going forward, if this is successful, we may want to gather more detailed information on the matches played, i.e. keeping a chart of the scores in every game played, for us to understand how many points are played in each game / set / match - this is for the future.

For now, we would like as many Thirty30 sets of tennis being played by as many players as possible.

We are great believers that playing as many sets of tennis as possible is essential to the learning, development and enjoyment of tennis and by playing more sets in a shorter time frame, this can only help.

Have Fun

Also, we stress that this is for "fun" and can be used as part of the learning process - winning & losing is not critical here - having fun is very important in the development of the player & person.

Remember, there are no ranking points on offer, no pressure, etc. with this, just "having fun" !

Time-Frame

There is no real time-frame for this - It has taken us a year and a half to develop Thirty30 to get it to the "trialing" stage, but hopefully you will get something organised in the near future.

If there are any questions please let us know.

contact@thirty30tennis.com

Also, please spread the word - if there is anyone else you think that might be interested in conducting trials for us or just using it, please let them know or pass on our details to them.

Thirty30 tennis is suitable for all ages (juniors, adults, seniors, ...) and levels of tennis.

Thirty30 tennis is very simple, and the transition from playing traditional tennis to Thirty30 tennis and back again is seamless.

Everything about Thirty30 tennis FEELS, LOOKS and SOUNDS like traditional tennis.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards and thanks,

Mark J Milne

Creator of Thirty30 Tennis

Thirty30 tennis - EVERY Point REALLY Counts!

Downloads (pdf files)

Thirty30 Tennis - Knock Out - 2 to 8 players

Thirty30 Tennis - Round Robin - 4 players

Thirty30 Tennis - Round Robin - 5 players