Special Olympics Tennis Rules

The Special Olympics rules for tennis are based upon the International Tennis Federation (ITF) official rules for the sport. The ITF rules are followed except where modified by the Official Special Olympics Sports Rules for Tennis, as noted below. In these cases, the Special Olympic rules take precedence.

  1. Events

    • The Special Olympics offers tennis matches in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, unified sports doubles and unified sports mixed doubles, as well as an individual skills competition.

    Game Scoring

    • Players may keep score using either the traditional tennis terms (love, 15, 30, 40, deuce) or simple numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4). In either case, "no-ad" scoring is used in all Special Olympic tennis matches. This means that the first player/team to win four points wins the game. If the game becomes tied at 40-40 (also known as "deuce") or at 3-3, then the winner of the next point wins the game. There is no "ad-in" or "ad-out.”

    Match Play

    • A match consists of one six-game set, or two out of three short sets. The six-game set must be won by a two-game margin. If the set score becomes tied at 6-6, then a tiebreaker game will be played to determine the winner.

      In a "short set" match, the players/teams must win four games per set, by a margin of two games, and then win two sets to win the match. If a set score becomes tied at 4-4, a tiebreaker game will be played to determine the set winner. If the match score becomes tied at one set all, then a tiebreaker game will also be played to determine the winner of the match. The tiebreaker will replace the third set.

    Unified Sports

    • In Unified Sports Doubles and Mixed Doubles matches, the teams are comprised of one Special Olympian athlete and one partner. All other match and game rules are the same.

    Coaching

    • Players and teams may receive coaching during a match, but only from a designated Special Olympics coach and only when changing sides at the end of a game. Coaching is not allowed at any time during tiebreaker games.

    Individual Skills Competition

    • In the Individual Skills Competition, players are evaluated and scored on their performance in seven skills categories. These include forehand volley, backhand volley, forehand groundstroke, backhand groundstroke, serve from the deuce court, serve from the ad court and alternating groundstroke with movement. Players are evaluated and rated according to their proficiency in each category, with the player's final score being the total of all seven categories.