Bye

Bye in tennis is the automatic of a seeded singles player or doubles team from one round to the next without having to compete against an opponent.

A bye in tennis is typically the result of specific draw sizes where the number of players does not allow for every player to participate in a first-round match. Here’s a look at how many players receive a bye per draw size in singles:

• Draw of 28: the top 4 seeds awarded a bye
• Draw of 48: the top 16 seeds awarded a bye
• Draw of 56: the top 8 seeds awarded a bye
• Draw of 96: the top 32 seeds awarded a bye

For doubles, a draw of 24 would result in a bye for the top 8 seeds.

As you can see, tournaments award byes to seeded players who have the highest rankings. The exception to this rule are cases where a bye is a result of insufficient direct acceptances.

Examples of Bye in a sentence:

1. Roger Federer received a bye because he’s a top-seeded player.
2. I’ve been playing tournaments for years and never received a bye.