The qualifying rounds are almost complete at the USTA $50,000 Challenger of Troy presented by Ken Cox Ford and the City of Troy, and the true competition begins today.

The final rounds of the singles qualifying draw – after which four athletes will be put into the main draw – will take place at 10 a.m. on courts 1-through-3 and 11. Before the novice tennis fan ventures out to the complex, there are a few pointers TSU tennis coach Eric Hayes wants everyone to know.

The first rule of tennis viewing is the etiquette expected of the tennis fan.

"If you want to cheer, that's fine, but you need to cheer after the point has been won," Hayes said. "It's not a football game."

Since these are professional players, they expect the court to be as quiet as possible when the matches are going on.

Admittedly, tennis can be a bit confusing if a person is watching it for the first time. Points are not given in increments of one, but they go from 15 to 30 to 40, and "zero" is called "love." A game has to be won by two points, so the game is not over if both players have 40 and one wins a point. Someone has to win two in a row.

If all this sounds confusing, Hayes suggests using the opportunity to watch professional chair umpire to learn the scoring system.

"The chair umps will be calling the score after each point, and there will be score cards," Hayes said. "The best thing to do is watch the match and pay attention to the umpires. Then you can figure it out."

The tennis matches begin at 10 a.m., and the first rounds of the main draw begin immediately following. Courts 1, 2, 3 and 11 will be used, and there will be seating available to watch action on all four courts.

Two opening-round doubles matches will take place later in the afternoon.

Complete brackets can be found on page 8 of The Messenger.