Doubles tennis can be more social and less pressure than singles, since the one-on-one competition is eliminated and teamwork moves to the fore. With the added number of people on the court comes more opportunity for confusion and disagreement. Knowing how to handle rules questions by yourself and with a partner will help you become a more complete tennis player.
Making Calls
In a singles match, each player makes his own calls. You may question your opponent once, but you must play the call after it. If you can't make the call, you can ask your opponent for assistance. If he saw the ball, he must make the correct call--if not, you must give him the point.
In doubles, either player on a team may make a call. If you are not sure about an opponent's call, you can ask either player or both for verification. If teammates disagree, they must give the point to their opponents. Just as in singles, a doubles team may change a call under the following conditions: You may only change a call if you are changing it from bad to good, and if you put the ball back in play. If you hit a weak ball that your opponent would have likely hit for a winner, you should give the point to your opponent.
Receiving Side
After players have flipped a coin or spun a racket, the winner may choose to serve, receive, start on a particular side or defer to the opponent. In singles, deferring allows you to serve your first game on the side you desire, such as out of the sun. In doubles, deferring allows you to make both players on a lefty/righty team serve in the sun, or start their weaker player first in order to stay out of the sun. In doubles, once players have played the first point of a receiving game, they must play from same side of the court--deuce or ad--for the rest of the set.
Tie-Break
During a regular tie-break, the first player serves one point to the deuce court. Players then alternate, serving two points beginning from the ad court each time until someone has won. Players switch sides every six points. In doubles, players keep the same serving order regardless of whether or not they must serve on the opposite end of the court from which they served during the set. To prevent this, players may use a Coman tie-break, which has players changing ends of the court after one point, then switching every four points.
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