Tennis Rules Explained - The Basics of Tennis - Tennis Creative (2024)

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What are the rules of tennis for beginners? ›

Basic Tennis Rules

To win a point during a tennis match you must hit the ball inside the white lines. If a ball goes out of bounds the point is over and whomever hit the ball out loses that point. If the ball lands on the lines, it is considered in and playable. You may notice that there are two sets of sidelines.

Tennis is a game played with two opposing players (singles) or pairs of players (doubles) using tautly strung rackets to hit a ball of specified size, weight, and bounce over a net on a rectangular court.

Each child takes it in turn to say a word based on a theme; then, according to the particular rules of the game, the other must respond with a suitable word of their own: if they cannot their partner scores a point. The aim of the game is to score three points.

There are 5 five ways of winning points: winners, double-bounces, errors by the opponent at the net, errors from the opponent where they hit the ball outside the court markings, and double-faults. Each of these ways gives the player one point.

On average, best-of-3 tennis matches last about 90 minutes, while best-of-5 matches last 2 hours and 45 minutes. The fastest professional tennis matches ever lasted about 20 minutes, while the longest match ever extended for a historic 11 hours and 5 minutes.

Tennis is a four-point game that must be won by a two-point lead. The name of these four points is love (zero), 15, 30, 40, and game. If the game is tied at 40, it extends until one player wins by a two-point lead. There are six games in a set and two or three games in a match.

The serve starts a point in tennis; the good news is that you get two chances to put the ball in play.

Love – A term used in tennis instead of the word 'nil' or 'zero'. It is used to describe a lack of score in either points, games or sets. i.e. a game score of 30-0 is given as '30 love' and a set score of 6-0 is given as 'six love'. Straight Sets – The name given to a win in a tennis match without losing a set.

Players can be tied at 15 and at 30, but not beyond; 40-all is deemed “deuce” because it is a “deux du jeu” -- two points away from winning the game.

For the unfamiliar, tennis starts with both players at zero, called love: “Love-all.” One person scores: 15 to love. The server's score is said first, the receiver's second. The other now scores, and they're tied at “15-all.” The next point is 30, then 40, and the following point wins that game.

What is tennis simple? ›

Tennis is a game or sport that is played on a court with a net that divides it in half. Two (2) players (singles) or two (2) teams of two (2) players each (doubles) compete by hitting a ball back and forth over a net. People on court with you. There are a number of people that are located on the court with you.

Tennis is a fast-paced sport for two or four players. It can be played either outdoors or indoors. Tennis players use a stringed racket to hit a ball over a net. They score points by hitting the ball out of the opponent's reach.

Historians believe that tennis grew out of a 12th century French game called la paulme, "the palm," in which players hit a ball with their hands. The word tennis comes from the Anglo-French tenetz, "Hold! Take! Receive!" which players called out before serving.

In tennis, love is a word that represents a score of zero, and has been used as such since the late 1800s. It's not perfectly clear how this usage of love came to be, but the most accepted theory is that those with zero points were still playing for the "love of the game" despite their losing score.

◊ The server should always say the score of the game before serving. Say your own score first. ◊ If a game gets to 40-40, this is a special score called 'Deuce.” In ND High School tennis, the receiver gets to choose which side this point is played on and whoever wins this point wins the game.

In tennis, “love” means zero. Scoring in tennis isn't like most other sports that follow a linear one, two, three type of progression.

The first point won by a side is called "15," the second point is "30," and the third point is "40." If both sides have won three points in a game (i.e., 40-40), the score is called "deuce." From deuce, whichever side wins the following point is said to have "advantage" and can win the game by winning the next point ( ...

You lose the point if you or anything you wear or carry (at the beginning of the point) touches the net or the court on your opponent's side. You lose the point if the ball hits you or your partner or anything you wear or carry (other than your racquet).

ACE – A ball that is served so well the opponent cannot touch it with their racquet. AD – Short for Advantage. It is the point scored after Deuce. If the serving side scores, it is Ad-in.

At the end of each set, there shall be a set break of a maximum of two minutes, except as provided below. A player is governed by the rest period in the division in which the player plays. In Junior divisions, no player shall practice during any rest period between sets.

How many points do you need to win a set in tennis? ›

Points, games, sets and matches

Tennis is played in points: Four points win a game, six games win a set, and two or three sets win a match. You can decide how long you want your game to be but most matches are played as best-of-three or five set contests.

Once at deuce, you will begin to use "Advantage" or "Ad." If the server wins the deuce point, the next point is called "Ad In." If the server wins the Ad point, the game is over, and the server "held" serve.

Tennis scores were shown in the middle ages on two clock faces which went from 0 to 60. On each score the pointer moved round a quarter from 0 to 15, 30, 45 and a win on 60. Somehow the forty five got truncated to forty when the clock faces dropped out of use.

The origins of 'love' as a score lie in the figure zero's resemblance to an egg. In sport, it's common to refer to a nil or nought score as a duck or goose egg, and the French word for egg is l'oeuf - the pronunciation of which isn't too far removed from the English 'love'.

The Volley:

To volley a ball means to hit it in the air without first letting it bounce. All volleying must be done with the player's feet behind the non-volley zone line.

Although unconventional, the rules allow for underhand serving in tennis. As long as the ball is hit with the racquet prior to hitting the ground, it doesn't matter if it was released in an upward or downward motion.

Even seasoned watchers of the U.S. Open, which starts on Monday, may be surprised to know that there is no limit on how many times a tennis player may toss the ball when initiating their serve.

Thus tennis shots can be categorized according to when they are hit (serve, groundstroke, volley, half volley), how they are hit (smash, forehand, backhand, flat, side spin, block, slice, topspin shot), or where they are hit (lob, passing shot, dropshot, cross-court shot, down-the-line shot).

You should be watching the ball only from the time it leaves your opponent's racquet until it hits your strings. As soon as the ball leaves your strings your eyes should start watching your opponent's racquet.

In tennis, 15 does not represent 15 points. Instead, 15 denotes the score of a single point. The origins of this score value remain relatively obscure, with references dating back to the 1400s.

What do line judges shout in tennis? ›

The line umpire signals a ball out by making a verbal "out" call ("fault" for a serve) followed by the extension of the arm shoulder high in the direction the ball was out. A ball is signalled "safe" or "good" by holding both hands together knee-high in front of the body.

For example, if you and your opponent have both won two points in the game, the score would be 30-all.

The fourth point is game. That is, if the opponent has not made more than 2 points, or 30. The score is called deuce is each player or team has 3 points, or 40. After deuce, a player/team must win two consecutive points to win the game.

A smash in tennis is a shot that is hit above the hitter's head with a serve-like motion. It is also referred to as an overhead. A smash can usually be hit with a high amount of force and is often a shot that ends the point.

In tennis, deuce refers to a tie score of 40 where either player needs to win by two points for the game to conclude.

However, in order to ensure that the game could not be won by a one-point difference in players' scores, the idea of "deuce" was introduced. To make the score stay within the "60" ticks on the clock face, the 45 was changed to 40.

It has the came [sic] court and the same scoring as table tennis, but you "snap the Wink" instead of hitting the ball. The Wink-on-a-String never gets lost, so WINK TENNIS can be played anywhere, even on trips or when sick-a-bed, etc.

Why is it called that? A: Okay, well an “ace” is when a serve is in but not hit at all by the receiving player. “Ace” was already a word when tennis came along – from Middle English (and Old French and Latin before that) marking one unit, especially the “one” on dice (and eventually the highest-ranked playing card).

How many sets does it take to win a match? Matches on the ATP Tour (and Hologic WTA Tour) are best of three sets. If a player wins the first two sets, the third is not played. At Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open), men play best of five sets, while women play best of three.

In most tennis matches, players can win a set by reaching six games before their opponent, can break a tie if the score reaches 6-6, or can win by two games, such as a score of 7-5.

How many games is 1 set in tennis? ›

Scoring Games, Sets and Matches

There are six games in a set and two or three games in a match. Players must win a set by two games, and match by two sets.

On average, best-of-3 tennis matches last about 90 minutes, while best-of-5 matches last 2 hours and 45 minutes. The fastest professional tennis matches ever lasted about 20 minutes, while the longest match ever extended for a historic 11 hours and 5 minutes.

Each player must then win six games to win a set, but a player has to win by two clear games to win a set. If a player is not two games clear once he has reached six then one more game can be played and if he is two clear the player has won the set. If the set is drawn 6-6 then the set must go to a tiebreaker.

In tennis, “love” is the term used for a score of zero or nil. For example, if the score is 40-0, you would call it “forty-love.” The term love can also be used to count games in a set, such as 6-0 (“six-love”).

DEUCE – A score of 40-all, or 40-40. (This means the score is tied and each side has won at least three points.) DEUCE COURT – The right side of the court, so called because on a deuce score, the ball is served there.

The serve is a fault if the server swings and misses the ball. The server may stop the serve by catching the ball and starting over. The server may serve underhand, but he or she may not bounce the ball before hitting it. The server may not serve before the receiver is ready.

Most tennis matches are played in a best-of-three format, which means that players need to win 2 sets to win the match. In Grand Slams, men play best-of-five sets while women play best-of-three sets. Doubles matches are best-of-3 with a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of the third set.

A 7-point set tiebreak is played when the game count is tied during a set and a 10-point match tiebreak is played when each team has taken a set. Points: Tiebreaker points are scored numerically, “0”, “1”, “2”, “3” and so on, instead of “love”, “15”, “30”, and.

Tennis is a series of single-point battles that end when one player – or a pair in doubles – fail to play a legal return, meaning the opponent's score. A legal shot must cross to your opponent's side without bouncing on your side and it must bounce – or hit or be hit by your opponent – in their side of the court.

Tennis score after a deuce

If both players reach 40, this is known as deuce (not 40-all). A player has to score two consecutive points to win the game following deuce. The first point scored after deuce is known as "advantage." Once a player scores advantage, their next point wins.