GLTA - Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance

Zurich Rainbow Open is a GLTA-sanctioned tournament.

The Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance is the international organization that manages and sanctions the gay tennis circuit around the world. The GLTA is comprised of gay and lesbian tennis clubs around the world. Our tournament will be played according to the guidelines of GLTA and of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The draws with the names of the players will be published on the GLTA website.

Rules and regulations

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) tennis rules apply. GLTA rules as described below are added to the ITF rules. By participating in the Zurich Rainbow Open tournament, players agree with the tournament rules.
The GLTA rules can be retrieved on the GLTA website.

Entries

Players can enter in 1 or 2 events. The rules and rankings from the GLTA and the National Associations will be used to determine players' divisions.
Players have to register in the appropriate division. The highest ranking determines the placement. If a participant still plays in an inappropriate division (too low) he will be defaulted.
For doubles, the strongest partner's division determines the placement.

Levels, Ranking and Seeding

All players have to play in the appropriate GLTA division. You can find your GLTA ranking on the GLTA website: glta.tournamentsoftware.com/rankings.aspx. For the seeding we will use the GLTA ranking list as of 21 days before our tournament and all other relevant information.
Players have always to play according their level of their National Associations, also when their GLTA level may be lower then their national level - see the conversion table.

Events

Men

Singles / Doubles maximum 120 players

Open	max. 12
A	max. 32
B	max. 32
C	max. 32
D	max. 12

If there are not enough entries in one level, there will be either a Round Robin match format or we combine two levels.

Women

Singles / Doubles: maximum 32 players

Open / A / B / C / D

If there are not enough entries in one level, there will be either a Round Robin match format or we combine two levels.

Match format

Main draw

Singles:
All matches will be played best of 3 sets with a tie-break in every set.

Doubles:
All matches will be played best of 3 sets, with a tiebreak at 6-6 in the first two sets. The third set will be played as a Champions Tiebreak (10 points instead of 7 points).

Consolation round

Consolation rounds are open to all players who lost in the first match in the singles events. There are no consolation rounds in round robin events. If you want to participate in the consolation rounds, please sign up at the tournament desk immediately after the match. Note: players who don't sign up, cannot play in the consolation rounds.
Matches in the consolation rounds will be played as a pro-set. This is a set until 8 games with a difference of at least 2 games and a tie-break at 8-8.

Match times

Please report to the tournament desk 30 minutes prior to each match!
Between matches a 30-minute break is allowed after a singles match and a 15-minute break after a doubles match.

Balls

All matches will be played with Head ATP tennisballs.
The balls will be used for a maximum of 3 matches.
New balls will be provided for each final.
After each match, the balls have to be returned to the tournament desk!

Trophies

Winners and finalists in all levels will be awarded.
Winners of the consolation rounds will also get a price.

Unforseen delays

In case of unforeseen delays (rain, etc.), the tournament committee can change the match format.