Mixed Doubles Tennis Rules

On the professional level, mixed doubles games are rare, because the men's tournaments and women's tournaments are organized by two different organizations: the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women's Tennis Association. However, the rules are the same for doubles play. The only difference is that each team consists of a man and a woman, rather than a team of the same sex.

  1. Rules

    • Before play, the opponents toss a coin. The winner chooses whether to serve or receive.

      Play begins with a service, in which the ball is tossed into the air and hit with a racket. The first serve of a game is always made right of the center mark and is hit into the opponent's right service court. The person serving serves until the end of the game. Alternate service courts with each point. The order of servers also alternates: before play, a team decides who serves first, and the server alternates from then on.

      Receiving, like serving, is alternated. The team receiving in the first game decides who will receive. From then on, the order switches between the two until the last game. Unlike in the serving order, if the players are receiving out of turn, he continues in that role until the game is finished, and then switches.

      The serving team calls out the score before the serve. The scoring goes like this: 15 for the first point, 30 at the second, 40 at the third, and "game" for the last. A team must win by two point. For example, if the serving team has 40 points and the other 30, the serving team can win if they score in the next serve. If they do not, the opposing team will have 40 points also, which is called "deuce." At this point, the serving team must score twice in a row to win the game.

      Just as a team must win a game by two or more points, so they must also win a set by two or more games. A set consists of six games, and a match consists of two or three sets.

    Court Size

    • The court is larger for doubles match, and thus mixed doubles match, than it is for singles play. In singles play, the tennis court is 78 feet long by 27 feet wide. In doubles play, the court is just as long, but is an extra nine feet wide. Also, the net is supported by posts on either side of the court, three feet beyond the boundary.

    Make-up of Team

    • The total women playing must be two for mixed doubles. There cannot be less. Either one team has two women and the other none or both teams are mixed.