ITA Changes Doubles Format, Medical Timeout Rules; Siegel and Bayliss Leaving College Coaching Ranks; Australian Open Qualifying Underway; Todd Martin on BlogTalkRadio UR10S Thursday

The ITA has released the Division I rule changes I mentioned last week, and in addition the changes in doubles, there has also been a change to the medical timeouts for men (which was mentioned in a comment) and the bathroom breaks for the women.  Here is the complete announcement of the rule change:

"Effective immediately, once the doubles point has been clinched the remaining doubles match shall not be completed (unless both coaches agree otherwise before the start of the team match).

The following changes for doubles only must be followed (unless both coaches agree otherwise) in all dual-meet, non-conference matches, including the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, from January 1 through the completion of the ITA National Intercollegiate Team Indoor Championships (end date February 11 for women; February 18 for men):

• No-ad scoring in doubles only. 
• Tie-breaker at seven-all in doubles only.

In Men’s Division I only: Medical Time-out: there is only one medical time out permitted, and the time allowed (both evaluation and treatment) has been reduced from five minutes to three minutes, with a point penalty assessed for this time out.

In Women’s Division I only: Bathroom Break: Players may only have one three-minute Bathroom Break on the changeover (4 1/2 minutes) or the setbreak (5 minutes). Returning late from this break will result in Time Violations (Warning, Point, Point, etc.)."

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Assessing a point penalty for a medical timeout is, as far as I know, new to tennis rules on any level. There have been complaints that players take medical time outs for dubious reasons, including to avoid a personal loss in a dual match setting, and this is one solution toward stemming unnecessary or unsportsmanlike MTOs.  Apparently men are more prone to this behavior than women, which means, as with the no-let on serves rule, another instance when the rules for women and men differ. 

As I mentioned last week, and is noted above, these changes have a short and specific experimentation period, and will not be in force during in conference matches or during NCAA competition.

Other college news that I tweeted about last month, but did not have a chance to put up on this website, is the retirement announcement of Notre Dame head men's coach Bobby Bayliss, and the retirement announcement of Tim Siegel, head coach of the Texas Tech men's program, both at the end of this season.  Bayliss will be replaced by longtime associate head coach Ryan Sachire, who played at Notre Dame.  No successor to Siegel has yet been named.

Australian Open qualifying began last night (Wednesday in Australia), with nine US men advancing to Thursday (and Friday's) second round. They are: James Blake(9), Tim Smyczek(11), Rajeev Ram(15), Ryan Sweeting(21), Donald Young, Tennys Sandgren, Michael Yani, Bradley Klahn and Steve Johnson.  If you had an opportunity to watch the live stream of Johnson's match with 16-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, you certainly got your money's worth. First, it was free, and second, Johnson ended up winning 7-5, 6-7(5), 17-15 in three hours and 46 minutes.  For more on Kokkinakis and another Aussie teen, Jordan Thompson, see this article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The women's qualifying begins Thursday, with 13 American women in the draw.  See the tournament website for draws and live streaming.

Todd Martin at 2012 Easter Bowl

There are plenty of opportunities to talk tennis these days on the internet. Lisa Stone of Parenting Aces has a show every Monday at noon eastern, so be sure to follow her on twitter or facebook for the names of her weekly guests.  Another host on the UR10s network is Bruce Lipka, and his guest Thursday will be Todd Martin.  Martin, who is now on the USTA Board of Directors and has recently opened his own junior academy in the Jacksonville, Florida area, is a thoughtful former top professional who has seen tennis from many sides, so he can speak with experience about practically any question you can think of.

The Bruce Lipka show, with Todd Martin as guest, is Thursday, January 10th at noon eastern, and can be found at this link.