Lawn Tennis Rules

Lawn tennis rules are pretty straight forward and simple to learn. Learning the rules of lawn tennis can give an outlet and stress reliever that might not have otherwise been available. To play lawn tennis you will need a tennis racquet, a tennis ball, a tennis court with appropriate markings, and one or three other players.

1. Any tennis game begins with a "service." When the ball travels past the net without touching it and into the service box on the opponents side that is diagonally opposite, the service is legal.
2. A "rally" comes after a legal serve. A rally is the main portion of a lawn tennis game. It is where the players hit the ball to each other over the net. For the ball to be legally returned to the other side, it must be hit exactly once before it has bounced twice or hit anything other than the net.
3. A lawn tennis match generally consists of three to five sets, but in most games if a player wins the first two sets they have won.
4. The first player to have won at least four points and has at least two more points than their opponent wins the game. In lawn tennis points are called a little differently than in other sports. One point is "fifteen," two points is called out as "thirty," three points is "forty." Zero points is one of the more peculiar names being called "love."
5. A game point is when the player who is in the lead only needs one more point to win the game. it is not part of the official scoring and not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.
6. If the receiver and not the server has a chance to win the game in the next rally, it is called a "break point." If the receiver wins their break point, it is called converting the break point, if not it is a failure to convert.
7. A set is a sequence of games ending when the count of won games meets a certain criteria. The players alternate service between the games within a set. A set is generally won by winning at least six games and two games more than their opponent.