Tennis rules for beginners

You can play a full game of tennis knowing about ten rules. Everything else is detail you will absorb by playing. Here are the ten.

The court

A tennis court is 23.77 metres long. In singles you use the narrow court, marked by the inner tramlines. In doubles the outer tramlines are in play, making the court wider — but the service boxes stay the same size in both.

Serving

• You serve from behind the baseline, diagonally, into the opposite service box.
• You get two attempts. Missing both is a double fault and you lose the point.
• Both feet must stay behind the baseline until you strike the ball. Stepping on it is a foot fault.
• If the serve clips the net and still lands in, it is a let and you replay it.
• You serve from the right of the centre mark on even points and the left on odd ones.

During the point

1. The ball may bounce once on your side before you return it. Twice and you lose the point.
2. You may volley the ball out of the air, except on a serve return.
3. A ball landing on the line is in.
4. You lose the point if you touch the net, reach over it, or hit the ball twice.
5. You may run around the net posts and play the ball from outside the court, if you can get there.

Doubles: the extra rules

In doubles, either partner may hit the ball during a rally, but the return of serve must be taken by the correct receiver — the players alternate receiving sides for a whole set. Get that wrong and you lose the point.

Winning

Four points win a game, six games win a set, and two or three sets win the match. It gets its own article: how tennis scoring works. At 6-6 in a set, a tiebreak settles it.

Court etiquette

• You call the lines on your own side. If you are unsure, the ball was in.
• Announce the score before every serve.
• Do not walk behind a court while a point is being played.
• Return balls to the other court between points, not during them.