Tennis

Tennis is a four-point game played on a court and divided in the middle by a net. A tennis match consists of games and sets. To win a game, a player must simply win four points before their opponent. To win a set, a player must be the first to win six games and must be ahead of the other player by at least two games. To win a match, a player must win the predetermined number of sets, usually two or three.

There is no time allotted for these games; play continues until a competitor wins four points. If, however, players tie at six games each, they continue playing games until one is ahead of the other by two, or they may engage in a tiebreak game.

Play always begins with a serve. Players alternate turns serving, and each in their turn is given two tries to hit a serve into the opponent’s service area. One failed serve is called a fault; two is called double fault, and a point is scored for the opponent. When a serve lands successfully in the area of play, the other player attempts to return in with their racket into the area of play on the other person’s side of the net.

The ball may never bounce more than once before a player hits it. If this happens, the opponent scores a point. After the serve, the players continue to rally the ball back and forth under these guidelines until one of them scores a point.

A point is scored whenever a player is unable to return the ball to their opponents’ side of the court and in bounds. That is, when 1) the ball bounces more than once, 2) the ball hits the net, or 3) the ball is hit out of bounds. When any of these things happen, the player who last hit a valid shot in bounds is scored a point. There is a particular vocabulary used to mark the score in tennis. Love means zero in tennis scoring.

The first point scored earns the player 15 points, the second brings their score to 30, the third to 40, and the final point is the game-winning point. When the score ties at 40, it is called deuce. A player must win two points in a row to win the game after deuce. The server always announces the score before serving, stating their score first.