Tennis Rules

Although some of the terminology used in the rules of tennis may seem marginally esoteric in their origin, the concept behind tennis rules is relatively simple. The basic idea of play within a single point of a tennis game is to hit the ball to the court on the other side of the net in such a way that one's opponent is unable to return it.

Tennis Rules

Every point is begun by a serving shot, and the privilege of serving is commonly rotated between the players from game to game. When a serve is successfully returned, a rally begins. Serving shots must clear the tennis net and land in the serving area diagonally across from the server. Any serve that hits the top of the net but manages to make it over to the other site is called a "let," and is usually done over by the server. A serve that is so effective that the receiver didn't even manage to hit it before it bounced twice is often referred to as an "ace."

Rules Of Tennis

The scoring systems used in tennis are certainly not the most intuitive for people who aren't very familiar with tennis. A tennis match is scored with units called sets, which in turn are scored by games, and a game is scored on a point system that conventionally names the points love (zero), 15, 30, 40, and game (at which point a victor is declared for the given game). Most matches will consist of 3-5 sets. Each set is conventionally won when someone has won six games and is at least two games ahead of his or her opponent. If there is only a one-game difference, the set is continued until one player or the other is two games ahead.

Rules Of Playing Tennis

In a given game, a player's goal is essentially to win four points before his or her opponent does. When a player has a score of 40 and the opponent has something less, the player with 40 is said to be at "game point," because that person only needs one more point to win the game in question. If both players have 40 points, the score is said to be "deuce." At "deuce," a player must win two consecutive points to win the game. When the server wins one point after deuce, the score is said to be "advantage in," and when the receiver is ahead by one point after deuce, the score is called "advantage out."