More Commonly Asked Tennis Questions

There are so many rules in tennis that it can be tougha permanent fixture of the court, such as the singles
to accurately determine who is at fault when certainstick or the posts of the net before bouncing, a
situations come up. The more that you know aboutservice fault is commited. Finally, when the ball touches
the sport, the better the chance you have at beingthe server or the server's partner, or any part of their
able to avoid any controversy should one of theclothing, before or after a serve, a service fault is said
less-common situations in tennis come up.to have occurred. After the first service fault occurs,
Q: When can I call a foot foul on my opponent?the server is expected to take their second serve
A: In a match that is not being judged by a referee, itwithout delay as to ensure that they are not simply
can be difficult to determine whether or not you shouldbuying time to rest.
call out a foot foul. Since tennis rules stipulate that theService should be performed by the serving party
opponent should be given the benefit of the doubt inwithin 20 seconds, or they will incur a time violation.
any controversial calls, foot fouls should only be calledQ: What determines a let?
when every effort of informing the opponent aboutA: A let occurs most often when, during service, the
the practice has failed and the foot fouling continues toball touches the net and lands on the opponent's side
a flagrant degree.of the court. There are a few other situations that
Q: What mistakes result in a service fault?merit a let, including the unlikely situation in which the ball
A: Service faults can be caused by a number ofhits one of the receivers or an article of their clothing
factors. When a player makes a foot foul, doesn'tbefore bouncing. Also, if the ball is served before the
serve from the proper area, or doesn't follow thereceiver is ready, a let occurs. The service is
proper form for preparing the serve, they are said toconsidered to have never occurred, and it does not
have a service fault. In addition, players that miss thechange the results of any prior faults on the part of
ball whilst trying to serve are also said to havethe server.
committed a service fault. If, after serving, the ball hits