Sport
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"Tennis." Culture, Sport, Q-files Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2022.
https://www.q-files.com/culture/sport/tennis.
Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.
Tennis 2022. Culture, Sport. Retrieved 19 March 2024, from
https://www.q-files.com/culture/sport/tennis
Culture, Sport, s.v. "Tennis," accessed March 19, 2024.
https://www.q-files.com/culture/sport/tennis
Tennis
Tennis is played between individuals (singles) or pairs (doubles)—which can include mixed pairs of men and women. The first tennis tournament was at Wimbledon, England, in 1877. Championships began in the USA in 1881, in France in 1891 and Australia in 1905. These four events are today’s top tournaments, known as the Grand Slams or majors. Tennis is also an Olympic sport.
History
A form of tennis existed in France as long ago as the 13th century. Players struck a ball with their hands in a game called jeu de paume (game of the palm). Racquets were introduced in the 16th century in an indoors game in which the ball bounced off walls. Known as real tennis, it is still played today.
The modern game, more properly known as lawn tennis, dates from 1873 with a game called Sphairistike (from the ancient Greek, meaning "skill at playing the game"), soon abbreviated to "sticky". The court was hourglass-shaped and players used wooden racquets to hit a rubber ball over a high badminton net. The rules and scoring were similar to those of real tennis. Soon the court became a rectangle, and the balls were covered with white felt.
Court
There are four main types of surface. Rubber-based asphalt and cement are called hard courts, on which the ball bounces higher than on a grass surface, which is fast with a low bounce. Red clay or synthetic clay make a soft court that slows the ball down and allows more spin, so games often have longer rallies. The US and Australian Open tournaments have hard courts, the French Open has clay courts, while Wimbledon has grass.
Service
A point can start and finish with the serve as this can be a very powerful shot—the fastest recorded blasted at 264 km/h (164 mph) from the racket of Sam Roth in 2012. The server hits the ball into the service box diagonally opposite. If the ball strikes the top of the net but lands in the service box, the server takes this serve again. If it lands outside the service box or in the net, he or she takes a second serve, but if that fails, the point is lost.
Rallies
The returner hits the ball back before it bounces twice. If this return is within the court, play goes on (a rally) until a ball lands in the net or outside the boundary. The player who hit that ball loses the point, and play restarts with a new serve. The advantage usually lies with the server. Top players hope to win their opponent’s service game to achieve a "break of serve".
Shots
There are eight types of shot: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, drop shot, lob and smash. Forehands are hit by swinging the racket across the body, while backhands swing away from the body. Players often alter the angle at which the racket face strikes the ball to apply spin.
Hitting the ball before it bounces is called volleying and is usually done close to the net. A half-volley is hit just as the ball comes off the ground. A drop shot is hit with back spin to bounce low just beyond the net, forcing the opponent to rush to reach the ball. A lob is a ball struck high in the air over an opponent to try to force them to the back of the court. A lob that is not hit high or long enough is likely to be smashed—hit hard on the volley from above the head for a winner.
Scoring
A tennis match is divided into sets, which are played as a series of games. A game is won when one player gains four points—so long as they are at least two ahead. The score is called love for zero, 15 for one, 30 for two and 40 for three. If both players reach 40, it is called deuce and a player must score two points in a row to win the game. Winning the first point earns an advantage but if they lose the next point, the score goes back to deuce. Once a game is over, the other player serves. Players change ends after an odd number of games. The aim is to win the set by winning six games and being at least two games ahead. If the score reaches 5–5, play continues until one player is ahead by two. In Grand Slam and other major events, a match is the best of three sets for women and best of five for men.
Tie breaks
Since 1974, a tie break is played if the score reaches 6–6 in all sets except the final one, which continues to be played out in games. Tie break points are called one, two, and so on. A player wins when he or she wins seven or more points and is ahead by two.
Consultant: Sean Callery