| Thinking of starting to play tennis? Tennis is a great | | | | strings. No devices that incorporate batteries to help |
| sport that requires mental preparation and physical | | | | your play are allowed. |
| agility. The first part of being able to play the game | | | | THE SCORING – Tennis is a unique game in |
| properly is understanding the rules, and in this article, | | | | that it has special names given to the various points |
| we'll be discussing what are commonly agreed upon | | | | awarded. When calling out the score, the person |
| as the official rules of tennis. The rules that we will | | | | serving the ball should always say their score first. A |
| discuss are based on the provided courtesy of the | | | | score of zero is called out by saying 'Love', and from |
| International Tennis Federation. | | | | there, the points go to 15, 30, 40, and game. If both |
| THE COURT – Tennis should be played on a | | | | players get a score of 40, the game must become a |
| court that is built to certain specifications. The court | | | | tie-breaker, and a 40-40 score is announced by saying |
| should be 78 feet long. For a singles match, the court | | | | 'Deuce'. In a 'Deuce' situation, if a player gets a point, |
| should be 27 feet in width, and for doubles matches, | | | | they are said to have 'Advantage'. If a player with an |
| the court's width should be 36 feet. The net should be | | | | 'Advantage' gets another point, the game is over. If a |
| composed of a net with a cord of metal cable | | | | player gets a point while the other has 'Advantage', the |
| supporting it at a height of 3 and a half feet. Service | | | | score is reset to 'Deuce'. When a game is won, |
| lines should be placed 21 feet from each side of the | | | | another game is begun until someone gets the best of |
| net, designating the area in which serving should be | | | | 7 games. One catch is that they must win by two. If, at |
| performed. | | | | the end of 7 games, a player is up 4 to 3, another |
| THE RACKET – The rackets used in tennis | | | | match must be held as winning by two is necessary. If |
| should only have one pair of crisscrossing strings. | | | | a player takes the best of 7 games, winning by 2, they |
| Vibration dampening devices are allowed on the | | | | are said to have won the match. |
| rackets, but they can only be placed outside of the | | | | |