Brief Rules of Tennis

The rules of the game of tennis are simple to learn.tennis court image by Maria Bell from Fotolia.com

Playing the game of tennis requires a few things for success. Hand, eye and foot coordination are necessary to hit the ball while running, and precision is necessary if you ever want to win a point. However, once you learn the brief rules of tennis, you can focus on the rest.

The Players

tennis player image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com

There can be two or four players on the court, depending on the game. Singles tennis involves one player on each side of the net, while doubles tennis requires two players on each side of the net. The player serving the ball is called the server, while the receiver is the player returning the ball.

The closest player is waiting to receive a serve.tennis players image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com

Before the serve, each player should begin on the right side of the court on opposite sides of the net. A successful serve is one that goes over the net and into the service court diagonally across from the server. A ball that goes past the service line is out of bounds, and a second serve will take place. The vertical lines next to the net are out of bounds for singles games, while the second outer line is out of bounds for doubles tennis. A first serve that goes out of bounds is a service fault and a second serve will take place. Two consecutive faults, called a double fault, will result in one point for the opposing player or team.

A good tennis racquet can help you win more points.Man holding a tennis racket image by Elzbieta Sekowska from Fotolia.com

Learning the scoring system is essential in tennis, if for no other reason than to name a winner. When stating the score of a tennis game, always give the score of the serving player first. When a player has no point in tennis, he or she has "love." The first point in tennis is 15, the second point is 30, the third point is 40 and the final point is "game." However, because the receiving player also can win points, a score of 40-40 is referred to as "deuce." After a deuce point, the "game" point is referred to as "advantage," which means the player with the advantage will win the game if they win the "advantage" point.

A tie break occurs when both players have reached the end of a set without winning by two games. Tie breaks in tennis are scored using single points starting with zero and continuing until one player has won the tie break and the set by a two-point margin. Serving is also different during a tie break. The player on serve will serve the first point of the tie break, and then the opponent serves the two subsequent points. After this, the players alternate, serving two points each until the tie break has ended.

Winning a tennis match happens when you win enough sets. A tennis set is over when one player has won six games by two games. Tennis matches are generally played in a best out of three format. However, during Grand Slam tennis tournaments, male players compete in a best of five set match.