In badminton and tennis, players stand on opposite sides of a net and try to win points by hitting serves or shots that their opponents cannot return. In badminton, players win points by hitting the shuttle to the surface of the opponent's court within bounds. In tennis, players win points by hitting shots that the opponent cannot return before the ball bounces twice. Tennis and badminton rules differ in several important ways.
Court
Tennis requires a longer and wider court than badminton. Tennis courts must measure 78 feet long and 36 feet wide, according to the International Tennis Federation. The singles court measures 27 feet wide. The standard badminton court measures 44 feet long and 20 feet wide, and the singles court measures 17 feet wide, according to the Badminton World Federation.
Scoring
In tennis, players must win four points to win a game. These points are expressed as 15, 30, 40 and game. If two players reach 40-all, the score becomes "deuce" and one player must win two points in a row to win the game. A player must win six games to win a set, and the best of three or five sets to win the match. In badminton, players must win 21 points to win a game, and the best of three games to win a set. If the score reaches 20-all in a game, one player must gain a two-point lead to win the game. If the score reaches 29-all, however, the next player to win a point wins the game.
Serving
In tennis, players take turns serving one game at a time. The server must serve from behind the baseline on alternate sides of the center mark. He must serve crosscourt so that the ball lands in the service court diagonally opposite him. The server gets two chances to make a good serve. In badminton, the server must serve from within the right service court when he has zero points or an even number of points, and from the left service court when he has an odd number of points. As in tennis, he must serve crosscourt to the service court diagonally opposite. Badminton rules require the server to serve the shuttle underhanded. The server gets only one chance to make a good serve. If the server loses a point, the opponent gains the right to serve. If the server wins a point, he gets to serve again. In badminton and tennis, a coin toss determines which player will serve first.
Change of Ends
In tennis, players change ends after every odd game and after every set, unless the number of games played in that set was even. In badminton, players change ends after the first game and after the second game if a third game will be played. In the third game, players change sides when one player has scored 11 points.
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