The rules of tennis consist of many details and the official rulebook is many pages long. In general, tennis rules are also written in a very detailed way, which can make reading and understanding the rules slower.
The purpose of this article is to explain the rules of tennis in a simplified and player-friendly way.
If you are interested to learn how the scoring system works in tennis you can read more from here.
The Court
The tennis court must be shaped like a rectangle and 23.7 meters in length. The width of the tennis court must be 8.23 meters for singles and 10.97 meters for doubles.
The court must be divided in half by a net and the net must fill the space between the net posts.
The net posts must be 1.07 metres high and the eye size of the net must be such that the ball cannot pass through it. The net itself shall be 0.914 metres high measured from the centre of the court.
Court Surfaces
There are 5 different speed categories on the tennis courts:
- Slow courts (e.g. clay courts)
- Medium-speed courts (e.g. sandy turf)
- Medium courts (e.g. acrylic and other hard courts)
- Medium-fast courts (e.g. some hard courts and velour courts)
- Fast courts (grass and artificial grass courts)
Boundaries
The outer boundaries of a tennis court consist of the back and sidelines. The backline is the same for singles and doubles.
The backline is marked with a small vertical line indicating the center of the court for serving purposes.
In addition to the back lines, there are two vertical lines running through the tennis court. The outer line marks the doubles sideline and the inner line the singles sideline.
There are two rectangular areas on either side of the court near the net. These areas are the service boxes where the ball is supposed to hit when it is served.
Standard Equipment
Tennis Court’s Standard Equipment
Standard equipment for the tennis court includes back and side walls and fencing. The seating area, grandstand, and public seating can be also considered as standard equipment of the court.
When playing a singles game on a doubles net, the net poles and the net area outside the net sticks are standard equipment and are not considered part of the net or as net poles.
The Ball
The balls used in a tennis match must be according to the rules of tennis:
- The outer surface of the ball must be flat and covered with fabric
- The color of the ball must be yellow or white
- If the ball has seams, they must not be sewn
- The ball must weigh between 56 and 59,4 grams
The Racket
The tennis racket used in the match must also comply with the rules of tennis:
- The International Tennis Federation decides on the approval of racquets
- The maximum racket length is 73.66 cm and the maximum width of the racket is 31.75 cm
- The hitting area of the racket may not be more than 39.37 cm long and 29.21 cm wide
- The racket may have only one string pattern (strings)
- A shock absorber may be used as long as it is located outside the string pattern
- No energy sources such as batteries are allowed in the racket
The Scoring System
If you are interested to learn how the tennis scoring system works you can read more from here.
The Serve
There are many aspects to tennis serve, but this section summarises the most important ones.
Serve Position
Before serving, the player must stand still between the sidelines and the center marker. The player’s both feet must be behind the back line.
If the player’s feet touch the back line or the inside of the court during the serve, it is ruled a foot fault. In the case of a foot fault, the player’s serve is nullified.
Serving Motion
In a serve, a player can release (toss) the ball in any direction and hit the ball with the racket before it touches the ground. The toss is considered to be completed at the moment the player’s racket hits the ball or at the moment the player tries to hit the ball.
The serve may also be made underhand as long as the player hits the ball directly from the air.
In addition, a player is allowed to jump into the court during a serve, as long as the player hits the ball before landing on the court. This allows the player to avoid a foot fault.
Executing the Serve
In tennis, the serve must go over the net and hit the opposite side’s service box diagonally before the opponent returns it.
A player has two serves per point, he/she may serve a second time if the first serve fails.
A serve is considered unsuccessful if it does not go over the net or does not fall into the correct service box. If both serves fail, the opponent receives a point.
If the ball hits the net on a serve, the player is awarded a new serve only if the ball has fallen off the net into the correct service box.
During a normal game, the serve is made alternating between the right and left sides of the center marker. Serving always starts from the right side at the beginning of each game.
An example of a tennis game serves. In tennis, the service boxes can be divided into A and B service boxes. The first point of each game always starts with a player serving in service box A, followed by a player serving in service box B.
Server and Receiver
In a tennis match, before the start of each point, players/pairs must stand on opposite sides of the net. The player who puts the ball into play on the first point is considered the server. The player who is preparing to return the serve is considered the receiver.
When serving, the receiver may stand anywhere on the court as long as he is on his side of the court. In other words, the receiver may leave the boundaries of the court when returning.
The choice of the courtside and the serving side in the first game will be decided by toss-up before the first point of the match.
The winning player/pair may decide:
- Whether to start the first game as server or receiver. In this situation, the opponent may choose their courtside for the first game
- The courtside on which to start the match. In this situation, the opponent may choose whether to start the match as the server or the receiver of the first game.
- The opponent to make one of the above choices
Serving Order
The serving order in tennis works in singles so that at the end of each normal game, the server becomes the receiver and the receiver becomes the server.
Serving and Receiving Orders in the Doubles Game
In doubles, the pair serving in the first game decides which player will serve first. Similarly, before the start of the second game, the opponent must decide which of their players will serve first.
The pair of the player serving in the first game must serve in the third game. In the second game, the pair of the player serving in the second game must serve again in the fourth game. This order continues until the end of the set.
The receiving order also follows the same logic. The pair that receives the first game of the set decides which of the players receives the first point. At the start of the second game, the opponents decide which of their players will receive the first serve of the current game.
Example game:
- Team 1, players A and B
- Team 2, players C and D
- Team 1 selects player A as its first server.
- Team 2 selects player C as the first server
- So, the serving order in the games is: A→C→B→D→A→C→B→D…
- The receiving order at the first game can be: D→C→D→C…
Changing Sides
Players change sides every first, third, and every odd-number game after that in each round.
Players also change sides after each set unless the total number of games in a set is even. In this case, players change sides after the first game of the next set.
In a tie-break, players change sides again at every sixth point.
FAQ
If the ball hits the line of the court is it in?
– Yes, if the ball touches the line it will be interpreted as touching the part of the court
Do singles and doubles have the same service boxes?
— Yes, the serving in doubles works with the same logic as in singles. The only difference is that in a doubles game, the serve is usually served closer to the sideline than in a singles game.