Tennis is an Olympic sport played by either two players or by two teams of two players. Tennis is a game that can be played at all ages and at different skill levels. A net crossing the center divides the court in half. Each player uses a strung racket to hit the tennis ball over the net into the opposing court in order to score. Learn the basic rules needed to play so you can hit the court.
Court
Tennis is typically played on either a hard, grass or clay court. Many professional tournaments including the four major ones vary in playing surfaces. According to the International Tennis Federation, tennis is played on a rectangle shaped court that is 78 feet long and 27 feet long for singles play and 36 feet long for doubles play. The dividing three foot high net across the middle of the court is suspended by a metal cable or cord and is attached by two 3 1/2 feet net posts. The lines at the end of the court are the baselines and the lines on the side are sidelines. The service line runs parallel with the net and is 21 feet from the center. The center line runs parallel with the sidelines and divides the service line in half. This forms two service boxes.
Serving
The player or team who starts the game of tennis serves the ball. According to the Tennis Rules website, the server should stand behind the baseline between the center mark and the sideline. Servers send the ball to the receiver generally by tossing the ball in the air and hitting it with his racket. According to Basic Tennis website, the ball must travel over the net without touching it and into the diagonally opposite service court. If the ball does not reach that service box on the first attempt or hits the net during the serve, servers are given a second attempt. After two failed attempts, a double fault is called and the receiver earns a point.
Receiving
Players who receive the serve can stand anywhere he wants to on his/her side of the court. If the serve is good, you must hit the ball back to the server. Players must let the ball bounce once before returning the serve. If the receiving player hits the ball before it bounces, the server is awarded the point.
Rally
After the ball is served and returned, a rally ensues in which the players alternate hitting the ball back and forth. According to Basic Tennis, players must hit the ball back before it bounces on the ground twice. Players must hit the ball so that it goes over the net on the opponent's side in between the lines. In most cases players or teams lose the rally and point: when the returned ball goes outside the lines; if the player or his racket touches the net or ground on the opponent's side; if the player gets hit by the ball; if the player hits the ball before it goes over the net; or if the player hits the ball more than once.
Scoring
Tennis matches are generally won in the best-of-three or best-of-five sets. Each set usually comprises of six games. One game is won by reaching the fourth point. Tennis points are counted in an unorthodox fashion. A typical game is scored with the server's score being called first. "Love" represents zero points, 15 represents the first point, 30 the second, 40 the third, and "game" being the fourth point. If each player or team has scored three points, the score is "deuce." The player or team who wins the next point has "advantage." If that same player or team also wins the next point, that player or team wins the "game." If the opposing player or team wins, the score goes back to "deuce." A player or team must score two consecutive points after "deuce" to win the game.
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