Rules for a Tennis Match

Tennis is a racket sport where players hit a ball back and forth across a net. Tennis is played as a recreational activity and as a competitive sport at the high school, college and professional level. The rules of tennis are relatively simple, but some aspects of the rules, such as the scoring system may be confusing to those unfamiliar with the sport.

  1. Playing a Point

    • A tennis court consists of a large rectangular playing area and a net in the middle of the court. To begin playing, one player is chosen as the server (often by coin flip) and the other is the receiver. The server stands behind the baseline at one end of the court, tosses the ball overhead and hits the ball with the racket to serve the ball to the other player. The serve must land inside the service box (a rectangular area marked on the court) on the opposite half of the court to be considered in play. If the ball hits the net or lands out of play, it is called a fault and the player must serve again. If the player serves two faults in a row he loses the point. If a serve lands in, the receiver must try to hit the ball back over the net into the playing area. The players continue hitting the ball back and forth until the ball hits the net, lands outside the playing area or bounces twice on one side of the court. A player that hits the ball out of bounds or into the net loses the point. If the ball bounces twice on one side of the court and the first bounce was in bounds, the player on that side loses the point.

    Game and Match Progression

    • After every point the sever stands on the other half of the baseline and severs to the other service box. After the game ends, the other player becomes the server for the next game and the players alternate serving each game for the remainder of the match. Players switch ends or "changeover" after each odd numbered game; for instance, after the first, third and fifth games are played. The player that served last in one set receives in the following set.

    Scoring

    • A match score consists of points, games and sets. The first player to win four points in a game wins the game. The scoring notation for tennis games is as follows: love is equal to zero points, 15 is one point, 30 is two points, and 40 is three points. So if the server has won three points and the receiver has won two, the score would be 40-30. If the server won the next point she would win the game. If both players get to a score of 40, the score is called deuce and the first player to score two points more than the other wins the game. The first player to win six games wins a set and the first player to win two sets wins the match.