The serve may be hit under- or overhand although underhand serving remains a rarity.[93] If the ball hits the net on the first serve and bounces over into the correct diagonal box then it is called a “let” and the server gets two more additional serves to get it in. There can also be a let if the server serves the ball and the receiver isn’t prepared.[66] If the server misses his or her first serve and gets a let on the second serve, then they get one more try to get the serve in the box. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase “Game, set, match” followed by the winning person’s or team’s name. For a service to be legal, the ball must travel over the net without touching it into the diagonally opposite service box.

• Except where tiebreaks apply, at least one break of serve is required to win a set (otherwise a two-game lead would never occur).
• The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point).
• A serve (or, more formally, a “service”) in tennis is a shot to start a point.
• A tiebreak game can be won by scoring at least seven points and at least two points more than the opponent.

It is mandatory for leading players to enter at least four 500 events, including at least one after the US Open. A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40–love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game.

The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.2 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (11 m) for doubles matches.[67] Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. A volley is a shot returned to the opponent in mid-air before the ball bounces, generally performed near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent’s court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, also generally in the vicinity of the net, and played with the racket close to the ground.[97] The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net.

John McEnroe is one of the very few professional male players to be top ranked in both singles and doubles at the same time,[116][117][118] and Yevgeny Kafelnikov is the most recent male player to win multiple Grand Slams in both singles and doubles during the same period of his career. The outcome is determined through a best of three or five sets system. On the professional circuit, men play best-of-five-set matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the Olympic Games and best-of-three-set matches at all other tournaments, while women play best-of-three-set matches at all tournaments. The first player to win two sets in a best-of-three, or three sets in a best-of-five, wins the match.[76] Only in the final sets of matches at the Olympic Games and Fed Cup are tiebreaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead, occasionally leading to some remarkably long matches.

According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches. For example, the United States Tennis Association administers the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP), which rates players between 1.0 and 7.0 in 1/2 point increments. Average club players under this system would rate 3.0–4.5 while world class players would be 7.0 on this scale.

The final score in sets is always read with the winning player’s score first, e.g. “6–2, 4–6, 6–0, 7–5”. “Australian doubles”, another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the Canadian doubles style, only in this version, players rotate court position after each game, each player taking a turn at playing alone against the other two. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve. An important milestone in the history of tennis was the decision of the All England Croquet Club to set aside one of its lawns at Wimbledon for tennis, which soon proved so popular that the club changed its name to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.

She played in Montreal and Cincinnati before making a run to the fourth round of the US Open, where she lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff. According to the International http://footballnows.com/ Federation, the tennis ball must be yellow or white, between 2.5 and 2.8 inches in diameter and between 1.975 and 2.095 ounces in weight. Wilson, Head and Babolat are three of the most commonly used brands; however, many more companies exist.[57] The same companies sponsor players to use these rackets in the hopes that the company name will become better known by the public.

In 1877 the club decided to hold a tennis championship, and a championship subcommittee of three was appointed. It decided on a rectangular court 78 feet (23.8 metres) long by 27 feet (8.2 metres) wide. They adapted the real tennis method of scoring—15, 30, 40, game—and allowed the server one fault (i.e., two chances to deliver a proper service on each point). Twenty-two entries were received, and the first winner of the Wimbledon Championships was Spencer Gore. In 1878 the Scottish Championships were held, followed in 1879 by the Irish Championships.

In the United States in 1874, Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda with a sphairistikè set. She became fascinated by the game of tennis after watching British army officers play.[30] She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club at Camp Washington, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York. The first American National championship was played there in September 1880. Woodhouse won the singles title, and a silver cup worth $100, by defeating Canadian I. F. Hellmuth.[31] There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. While tennis can be enjoyed by players of practically any level of skill, top competition is a demanding test of both shot making and stamina, rich in stylistic and strategic variety.

Tennis, game in which two opposing players (singles) or pairs of players (doubles) use tautly strung rackets to hit a ball of specified size, weight, and bounce over a net on a rectangular court. Points are awarded to a player or team whenever the opponent fails to correctly return the ball within the prescribed dimensions of the court. Organized tennis is played according to rules sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the world governing body of the sport. The modern game of tennis is played by millions in clubs and on public courts. A number of major innovations in fashion and equipment fueled and fed the boom. The addition of colour and style to tennis wear (once restricted to white) created an entirely new subdivision of leisure clothing.