Tennis/Printable version

Tennis

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The court

Diagram of dimensions of a tennis court.

The tennis court is a flat rectangle surface with a low net stretched across the center. It is generally covered in grass, clay, concrete, or a synthetic compound. The courts dimensions are 78 feet by 27 feet for singles courts, and 78 feet by 36 feet for doubles courts.

The equipment

Racquets History

• Wooden
• Plastic
• Carbon fiber
• Hybrid technologies
• Nano technologies

• 
  Wooden tennis racquet.
• 
  Carbon fiber reinforced polymer tennis racquet.

Basic rules

Tennis Rules

1. When serving the ball must land in the opposite service box diagonally towards your opponent.

2. You get two attempts to get the ball in play when serving. If the ball goes directly out or hits the net and lands out, the first serve is lost and you have a second serve attempt. If the 2nd serve does not land in play, the receiver gets the point. If either the 1st or 2nd serve hits the net but goes over and lands in the correct service box, it is a "let" and the serve is taken over again.

3. When rallying, in order to get a "point," the ball can either bounce at least twice in the court, once in the court and once anywhere else (including stationary objects not on the court), or the hitter can may hit the ball directly out or into the net and lose the point.

4. No double hitting; one player cannot hit the ball more than once or two doubles partners cannot each hit the ball. It would result in the opposing player gaining a point.

5. If a player's racket or other equipment hits the net or net posts, the opposing player gains a point.

Scoring System

All scores are announced with the server's score first. Thus, a 0-40 score means the server has 0 points, the receiver has 40 and could win on the next point. If both players have equal point amounts, the score is announced with the amount of points each player has followed by "all", with the exception of 40-40. For example, instead of saying "15-15", one would say "15 all". Under normal circumstances, the point after 40 wins the game, unless both players have 40 ("deuce"), in which case advantage scoring starts.

0 (announced as "love")
15
30
40 - "Deuce" if both players have 40
Ad - Short for "advantage." If the server scores a point from deuce, the score is Ad-In or Advantage-In. If the receiver scores the point, the score is Ad-Out. The first player who scores from their advantage wins the point. If the opposite player scores, the score goes back to deuce. Some people play with no-ad scoring where the next point after deuce wins.

A doubles game

Singles and Doubles

doubles-played with 4 people, 2 on each side

• uses full boundaries (tramlines are in)

Professional competition

Professional Tennis Leagues

There are three different professional Tennis leagues. They are the Association of Tennis Players (ATP), the Womens' Tennis Association (WTA), and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Current top players of the games (2008)

Men

Roger Federer (SUI), Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Women

Justine Henin (BEL), Maria Sharapova (RUS)

Terminology

Basic Tennis Terms

Volley

usually deflecting the ball at the net.

Serve

usually an overhand hit used to get the ball in play.

Forehand

a hit with the inside of the hitting hand facing the court, almost always a one-handed shot.

Backhand

a hit the back of the hitting hand facing the court. Can be a one or two-handed shot. The two-handed backhand, though difficult for some, if mastered, offers good power, direction, and spin. The one-handed backhand offers power, speed, and flexibility.

Racquet

the stringed bat used to hit the tennis ball.

Backspin

when the ball is literally spinning backwards while traveling forwards. Produces a low bounce and/or less forward motion after the bounce.

Topspin

when the ball is spinning forward while traveling forward. Usually produces a high bounce.

Slice

hitting the ball with left or right side spin, produces a low or sideways bounce.

Rally

hitting the ball back and forth.