How to play tennis

Tennis serve and rules

A tennis match begins with the umpire doing a coin toss. The player who wins the toss can choose to serve, receive or pick the side from which they want to start the match.

The serving player has to stand behind the baseline of his side of the tennis court and within the bounds of the centre mark and the sideline.

For a successful serve, the server has to toss the ball up with his non-playing hand and hit it with the racket before it bounces. The ball needs to cross the net and land within the serving area which is marked on the diagonally opposite side of the court for it to be deemed a legal serve.

Each player is allowed two serves per point. If a player hits the net, or the ball’s first bounce occurs outside the serving area, it's called a service fault and the server has a second serve to initiate the point.

If the server’s foot touches the baseline or goes out of bounds of the sideline, it is known as a foot fault and the server will have a second serve.

If a player commits a fault on his second serve also, it is called a double fault and the receiving player gets that point.

However, if a player’s serve hits the net and lands within the serving area, then the server will still have two serves to initiate the point. This situation is known as let.

The server has to alternate between the vertical halves of the tennis court for each point.

If the server manages to land a legal serve and the receiver is unable to return the ball, it is known as an ace and the server gets the point.

How points are scored in tennis

Any point is initiated by the server and it is the job of the receiver to return it successfully.

Once the serve is returned, the two players engage in a rally, i.e trading shots back-and-forth over the net and within the sidelines and baseline.

To win a point, a player must hit a shot either before the ball has bounced or after the first bounce. If the ball bounces twice, then the player with the last shot wins the point.

A player must also wait for the ball to pass the net and come over to his side of the court and cannot step over the net to hit the ball.

The server becomes the receiver and the receiver becomes the server once a game is completed.

In a doubles match, the receiving team gets to choose the first receiver and then the two players in the team alternate to receive every subsequent point.

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