The game of lawn tennis has been around since the mid-19th century. It is derived from real tennis, a sport that had been played on grass since the 16th century. Lawn tennis as you know it today came into existence after the development of vulcanized rubber, and thus the first modern tennis ball, in the 1850s by Charles Goodyear. Today, tennis is played on several surfaces, such as clay, asphalt, turf, concrete and grass, but the rules for all surfaces are the same.
General Rules
You can play singles against one opponent or doubles with a teammate against an opposing team. In either case, you and your opponent must strike the ball back and forth across the net to each other. When your opponent strikes the ball to you, you must hit it back before it bounces twice. If you hit it beyond the boundary lines of the court on the other side or into the net, the point is awarded to your opponent. Your opponent also receives a point if you let the ball bounce twice on your side. The boundaries of the court differ in singles versus doubles. Every tennis court has doubles alleys--two lengthwise rectangles positioned on either side of the court. You can hit the ball into these alleys only during a doubles match; in a singles match they are considered out-of-bounds. Lastly, any ball that bounces on a boundary line is called in.
Scoring
Tennis is scored in games, sets and matches. The smallest unit of scoring is the game. Each game starts with a score of love-love, or zero to zero. As you win points, you earn a score of 15, then 30, then 40. When you have 40 and score again, you win the game unless your opponent has 40 as well. If you both have 40, that is called deuce and a player must win two consecutive points to win the game. If you win six games and have a two-game margin over your opponent, you win the set, at which time you and your opponent begin a new set. If you win six games but do not have a two-game margin over your opponent--a score of six games to five, for example--play continues until one of you gains a two-game margin over the other. Players will often play a tie-break to seven points--which also must be won by a two-point margin--if the game score becomes tied at six to six. Each new set begins with a game score of zero to zero. Typically, a tennis match is decided when one player wins two out of three sets. In the major ATP tournaments, men's matches are played to the best of five sets.
Serving
Players usually decide who serves first with a coin flip or the spin of a racket. Your first serve must come from the right side of the court behind the base line. Your serve must travel diagonally across the net and land in the left service box on your opponent's side. A fault is called when your serve lands into the net or outside of the correct service box. Your opponent is awarded a point when you fault two times in a row--called a double-fault. A fault is not called if your ball skims the top of the net before landing in the correct box. In that case, you get another chance. You can also fault by letting your foot move onto or across the base line, center line, or sideline during your service motion. After the first point is played, you serve the second point from the left side of the court, and you continue to alternate sides with each point. When your service game ends, your opponent serves the next one. In a doubles match, you and your partner alternate serving entire games each time it is your team's turn to serve.
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