Tennis is a game that has fairly simple rules, but demands a complex strategy. Tennis can be played with two or four players, though the rules are the same for both forms of the game. The basic goal of tennis is to hit the ball legally back over the net every time the ball is on your side of the court.
Points
The basic goal of tennis is to hit the ball over the net to the opponent's side of the court, Westlake High School Physical Education explains. A player will lose a point if he hits the ball into the net and it bounces back onto his side; bounces the ball over the net; hits the ball out of bounds; or fails to hit the ball before it has bounced twice on his side. A player also loses the point if she makes contact with the ball with a part of her body or touches the net or drops the racket while hitting the ball. A ball that hits the net and goes over to the other side is still in play. A ball that hits the line is in bounds.
Serving
Each game begins with one player, known as the server, standing behind the baseline, which is the rear-most line on the server's side of the court. The server should have his feet behind the baseline and to the right of the center line when serving. A player must serve the ball to cross-court to her opponent's service square, which is the box closest to the net on the other side of the center line. If the server hits the ball into the service box, play goes on. If the server fails to hit the ball into the ball into the proper service box, the server is given a fault and is allowed to serve again. If the server misses the service box again, he loses the point. If the serve hits the net and lands in the correct service box, it is referred to as a "let" and the serve is repeated with no penalty. After each point the server switches which side of the center line he is standing on. The server continues serving until the game is over, at which point the server and the receiver switch roles. Players will also switch sides after the first game and after every other game thereafter.
Scoring
Tennis is divided into games, sets and matches. A game is won by the player who scores four points the quickest, although a game must be won by a minimum of two points. The scoring for a game progresses at love, 15, 30, 40 and game, with love designating zero points and game designating the final point. In the event that the score becomes tied at 40-40, both players must continue until one player is ahead by two points. The first player to win six games wins the set, though again the player must win the set by at least two games. Each match consists of a number of sets, which is predetermined beforehand. The player that wins the most sets wins the match.
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