| The Court | | | | If the other player wins the next point, it is back to |
| The tennis court is divided into sections. On the very | | | | "deuce". A game could conceivably have many |
| outside are the sidelines and the baselines. The | | | | "deuces" and be very long before one player wins. On |
| sidelines are on the side and are wider for doubles | | | | the scoreboard pictured here the player on top has |
| play (36 feet). The inner sideline is used for singles play | | | | the advantage over his opponent. |
| (25 feet). The baseline is the same for both (78 feet | | | | Winning The Match |
| from one baseline to the other). The goal of the game | | | | We talked about winning a game, but what about |
| is to land your shot on or inside the baseline and | | | | winning the match? Matches are divided into sets. |
| sidelines without it being returned by your opponent into | | | | Usually the match is the best 2 out of 3 sets, although |
| your court. Simple enough, right? | | | | some men's tournaments can be best 3 out of 5. Sets |
| | | | are divided into games. In general, the player who wins |
| Scoring | | | | 6 games wins the set. But, as usual, there are |
| Scoring in tennis is antiquated but easy to learn. The | | | | exceptions. If the score is 6 games to 5, the player is |
| points in a game are LOVE(0) - 15 - 30 - and 40. So in | | | | required to win 7 games instead. If the set is tied at 6 |
| each game each players starts with LOVE, or zero. | | | | games, there is usually a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, |
| When the first player scores, they then have 15. On | | | | the first person to 7 points, when leading by two, wins |
| their next point they have 30, and so on. The score of | | | | the tiebreaker, and the set. The set is scored 7-6 for |
| the server is announced first. For example, if the | | | | the winning player. Some tournaments do not use |
| serving player has scored one point in a game and his | | | | tiebreakers and may require the winning player to win |
| opponent has two, the score of that game would be | | | | the set by two games. This can lead to long sets, as |
| "15-30". The goal is to get the winning point, the one | | | | you can imagine. |
| beyond forty. But there's a catch. What if each player | | | | For more information on tennis rules and tips on how |
| has 40? Then it's a situation called "deuce". The next | | | | to improve your game, go here. You'll also find some |
| player to score has the "advantage", i.e. "Advantage | | | | great diagrams that may make things clearer. |
| Federer". If they win the next point, they win the game. | | | | |