Tennis news has been dominating the sports channels in the recent days because of Wimbledon 2018 that just culminated. So, we thought about creating a short guide to the rules of Tennis for the novice. The game itself began in England in the 19th Century but is now played all over the world. There are four significant competitions in tennis, namely:
- US Open
- French Open
- Australian tournament
The goal of the game is to make it the opponent unable to return a ball within the court. There are two players in a rectangular court that has a net in the centre. A player has to hit the ball over the net and land it within the court margins but make it hard for the other player to volley it back. Each court is divided into:
- Service area- the section of the court right next to the net where the served ball must land
- Base line – right at the back of the court
- Tram lines – two on each side running vertically
In a singles match, i.e. when there are only two players, the inner side tram line is used. In a doubles match, i.e. when there are four players, the outer side tram line is used. The actual surface of the court can be made of:
- Hard surface
The rule is to pick one type of surface and then stick to it throughout the tournament.
The scoring rules of the game are simple. To win a single set, you have to score four points:
- 1 point is called 15
- 2 point is called 30
- 3 point is called 40
- 4 point is called the winning point
The player who reaches the winning point wins that set. In case both players reach 40-40, it is called as deuce. The winner then has to achieve two clear points to prevail that set. The complete game is one when you succeed in a specific number of sets. For women, it has to be the best of three sets, and for men’s, it is best of five. The first player who reaches six games is considered the champion. Also, to win you have to be clear by at least two games, i.e. the score has to be 6-4 to be claimed as a winner. If the game comes to 6-5, then the game has to be played till one of you reaches the score of 7-5. In case the score comes out to 6-6, then a tiebreaker is used and the first one to reach 7 points wins.
The only equipment needed for tennis is a ball and a racket, though it is to be noted that the new balls are used after every six games. Touching the net, distracting the player or impeding them somehow is not allowed. A player will lose points if any of the above three occur. We hope this short and simple guide helped you understand tennis better.