An Introduction to Tennis
http://www.wassonline.com/online-gambling-news/articles/138/1/An-Introduction-to-Tennis/Page1.html
Phillip Brown
Hi, my name is Phil and I’m from
I’m currently studying politics and social studies at college. I am a huge poker fan and I play in organised (friend no betting ;) ) tournaments with other students as well as playing online. I have always loved card games and poker is one of the most fun ones out there, it has been repeatedly described as the “all American past time” and I think this is defiantly true from the people I know.
I am hoping to eventually get far enough into politics to try and help peoples understanding of the game and hopefully disband some of the over the top gambling/sin related stigma that a percentage of American political groups associate with the game.
By Phillip Brown
Published on 06/9/2008
This article is an introduction to the sport of tennis. It discusses how the game is played and runs through some of the key terminology. It is designed to help fill in the gaps in your knowledge and aid you in placing bets on future matches.
Tennis is a four-point game played on a court and divided in the middle by a net. A tennis match consists of games and sets. To win a game, a player must simply win four points before their opponent. To win a set, a player must be the first to win six games and must be ahead of the other player by at least two games. To win a match, a player must win the predetermined number of sets, usually two or three.
There is no time allotted for these games; play continues until a competitor wins four points. If, however, players tie at six games each, they continue playing games until one is ahead of the other by two, or they may engage in a tiebreak game.
Play always begins with a serve. Players alternate turns serving, and each in their turn is given two tries to hit a serve into the opponent’s service area. One failed serve is called a fault; two is called double fault, and a point is scored for the opponent. When a serve lands successfully in the area of play, the other player attempts to return in with their racket into the area of play on the other person’s side of the net.
The ball may never bounce more than once before a player hits it. If this happens, the opponent scores a point. After the serve, the players continue to rally the ball back and forth under these guidelines until one of them scores a point.
A point is scored whenever a player is unable to return the ball to their opponents’ side of the court and in bounds. That is, when 1) the ball bounces more than once, 2) the ball hits the net, or 3) the ball is hit out of bounds. When any of these things happen, the player who last hit a valid shot in bounds is scored a point. There is a particular vocabulary used to mark the score in tennis. Love means zero in tennis scoring.
The first point scored earns the player 15 points, the second brings their score to 30, the third to 40, and the final point is the game-winning point. When the score ties at 40, it is called deuce. A player must win two points in a row to win the game after deuce. The server always announces the score before serving, stating their score first.
There are two types of tennis matches: singles and doubles. Singles simply refers to one competitor against one competitor, while doubles is two competitors playing together against two other competitors. The rules and regulations are largely the same except for a few small differences. The court is wider in doubles tennis because the alleys are used. The alleys are long rectangular boxes that run along the length of the court. During a singles game, they are considered out of bounds. During a doubles game, however, they are in bounds. It is important to note that a ball that hits the line is considered to be in bounds. Players usually call this on their own, but in the case of a contested shot, a referee may be consulted for the final word.
There are three statistics that generally indicate a skilled tennis player. These key things to look for are unforced errors, winners, and aces. An ace is when the player scores on the serve, and their opponent does not hit the ball at all. A winner is a shot that cannot be touched or returned by the opponent. Both of these rely on the skill of the player, as opposed to mistakes make by their opponent, and thus are good indicators of a skillful tennis player. An unforced error is when a player attempts to return the ball but fails to hit it in bounds on their opponent’s side of the court. Therefore, a low number of unforced errors is a good indicator of a player’s skill.
On the collegiate, amateur, and high school level, it is common for competition to take place in a team setting. When two teams are competing against one another, they usually rank their players according to their skill, and match the best six against each other correspondingly. For example, the first best singles player on either team would play one another, and the second best players would play one another, etc. In addition to these six singles matches, the teams enter three doubles teams. Each match won wins the team a point; the team with the most points at the end of all the matches is the winner.
Other terms that a new appreciator of the sport may hear in the commentary of a tennis match usually refer to different strokes – that is, different methods of hitting the ball. Most basically, strokes are usually either forehand or backhand. This refers to the positioning of the arms and racquet. Forehand is a shot hit on the dominant side of the body (right for a right-handed player, left for a left-handed player), while backhand is hit on the other side.
A volley refers to a shot that is hit before the ball touches the ground. A series of these shots back and forth between players is also referred to as a volley. A half-volley is a shot that is hit very quickly after the ball hits the ground. Any stroke that is made after the ball has bounced on the court is referred to as a groundstroke. A lob refers to a high arched shot that is intended to go over the head of the opponent, usually when the opponent is playing close to the net.
There is no time allotted for these games; play continues until a competitor wins four points. If, however, players tie at six games each, they continue playing games until one is ahead of the other by two, or they may engage in a tiebreak game.
Play always begins with a serve. Players alternate turns serving, and each in their turn is given two tries to hit a serve into the opponent’s service area. One failed serve is called a fault; two is called double fault, and a point is scored for the opponent. When a serve lands successfully in the area of play, the other player attempts to return in with their racket into the area of play on the other person’s side of the net.
The ball may never bounce more than once before a player hits it. If this happens, the opponent scores a point. After the serve, the players continue to rally the ball back and forth under these guidelines until one of them scores a point.
A point is scored whenever a player is unable to return the ball to their opponents’ side of the court and in bounds. That is, when 1) the ball bounces more than once, 2) the ball hits the net, or 3) the ball is hit out of bounds. When any of these things happen, the player who last hit a valid shot in bounds is scored a point. There is a particular vocabulary used to mark the score in tennis. Love means zero in tennis scoring.
The first point scored earns the player 15 points, the second brings their score to 30, the third to 40, and the final point is the game-winning point. When the score ties at 40, it is called deuce. A player must win two points in a row to win the game after deuce. The server always announces the score before serving, stating their score first.
There are two types of tennis matches: singles and doubles. Singles simply refers to one competitor against one competitor, while doubles is two competitors playing together against two other competitors. The rules and regulations are largely the same except for a few small differences. The court is wider in doubles tennis because the alleys are used. The alleys are long rectangular boxes that run along the length of the court. During a singles game, they are considered out of bounds. During a doubles game, however, they are in bounds. It is important to note that a ball that hits the line is considered to be in bounds. Players usually call this on their own, but in the case of a contested shot, a referee may be consulted for the final word.
There are three statistics that generally indicate a skilled tennis player. These key things to look for are unforced errors, winners, and aces. An ace is when the player scores on the serve, and their opponent does not hit the ball at all. A winner is a shot that cannot be touched or returned by the opponent. Both of these rely on the skill of the player, as opposed to mistakes make by their opponent, and thus are good indicators of a skillful tennis player. An unforced error is when a player attempts to return the ball but fails to hit it in bounds on their opponent’s side of the court. Therefore, a low number of unforced errors is a good indicator of a player’s skill.
On the collegiate, amateur, and high school level, it is common for competition to take place in a team setting. When two teams are competing against one another, they usually rank their players according to their skill, and match the best six against each other correspondingly. For example, the first best singles player on either team would play one another, and the second best players would play one another, etc. In addition to these six singles matches, the teams enter three doubles teams. Each match won wins the team a point; the team with the most points at the end of all the matches is the winner.
Other terms that a new appreciator of the sport may hear in the commentary of a tennis match usually refer to different strokes – that is, different methods of hitting the ball. Most basically, strokes are usually either forehand or backhand. This refers to the positioning of the arms and racquet. Forehand is a shot hit on the dominant side of the body (right for a right-handed player, left for a left-handed player), while backhand is hit on the other side.
A volley refers to a shot that is hit before the ball touches the ground. A series of these shots back and forth between players is also referred to as a volley. A half-volley is a shot that is hit very quickly after the ball hits the ground. Any stroke that is made after the ball has bounced on the court is referred to as a groundstroke. A lob refers to a high arched shot that is intended to go over the head of the opponent, usually when the opponent is playing close to the net.