Tennis is a sport that people usually play individually
against a single opponent (singles)
or between two teams of two players each (doubles).
Each player uses a
racquet that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber
ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's
court. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that
the opponent is not able to play a good return.[1]
Tennis is an
Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all
ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racquet,
including
wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in
Birmingham,
England,
in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis".[2]
It had close connections both to various field ("lawn") games such as
croquet
and bowls
as well as to the older raquet sport of
real tennis. During most of the 19th-century in fact, the term
"tennis" referred to real tennis, not lawn tennis: for example, in
Disraeli's novel
Sybil (1845), Lord Eugene De Vere announces that he will "go
down to
Hampton Court and play tennis.".[3]
The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two
exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on
the ground at all times, and the adoption of the
tie-break in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has
been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point
challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a
point.
Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is also a
popular worldwide spectator sport. The four
Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the "Majors") are
especially popular: the
Australian Open played on
hard courts, the
French Open played on red
clay courts,
Wimbledon played on
grass courts, and the
US Open played also on hard courts.
History
Predecessors
Historians believe that the game's ancient origin lay in 12th century
northern
France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand.[4]
Louis X of France was a keen player of
jeu de paume (“game of the palm”), which evolved into
real tennis, and became notable as the first person to construct
indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis was unhappy with playing
tennis out of doors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in
Paris "around the end of the 13th century".[5]
In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe.[5]
Unfortunately, in June 1316 at
Vincennes, Val-de-Marne and following a particularly exhausting
game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine and subsequently died
of either
pneumonia or
pleurisy, although there was also suspicion of poisoning.[6]
Because of the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis X is history's
first tennis player known by name.[6]
Another of the early enthusiasts of the game was King
Charles V of France, who had a court set up at the
Louvre Palace.[7]
It wasn't until the 16th century that
racquets came into use, and the game began to be called "tennis",
from the
Old
French term tenez, which can be translated as "hold!",
"receive!" or "take!", an
interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent.[8]
It was popular in England and France, although the game was only played
indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall.
Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, which is now known
as
real tennis.[9]
During the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined,
new racquet sports emerged in England.[10]
Further, the patenting of the first
lawn mower in 1830, in Britain, is strongly believed to have been
the catalyst, world-wide, for the preparation of modern-style grass
courts, sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, greens, etc. This in
turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including
lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls and others.[11]
Origins of
the modern game
Between 1859 and 1865
Harry
Gem and his friend
Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of
racquets and the Basque ball game
pelota, which they played on Perera's
croquet
lawn in
Birmingham, United Kingdom.[12][13]
In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first
tennis club in
Leamington Spa.[14]
Lawn tennis in the U.S., 1887
In December 1873, Major
Walter Clopton Wingfield designed and patented a similar game –
which he called sphairistike (Greek:
σφάίρίστική, from ancient Greek meaning "skill at playing at
ball"), and was soon known simply as "sticky" — for the amusement of his
guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in
Llanelidan, Wales.[15]
According to R. D. C. Evans, turfgrass
agronomist, "Sports historians all agree that [Wingfield] deserves
much of the credit for the development of modern tennis."[10][16]
According to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield
"popularized this game enormously. He produced a boxed set which
included a net, poles, racquets, balls for playing the game -- and most
importantly you had his rules. He was absolutely terrific at marketing
and he sent his game all over the world. He had very good connections
with the clergy, the law profession, and the aristocracy and he sent
thousands of sets out in the first year or so, in 1874."[17]
The world's oldest tennis tournament, the
Wimbledon Championships, were first played in London in 1877.[17][18]
The first Championships culminated a significant debate on how to
standardize the rules.[17]
Lawn tennis in Canada, ca. 1900
In America in 1874
Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda
with a sphairistike set. She became fascinated by the game off tennis
after watching army officers, who were British, play.[19]
She laid out a tennis court at the
Staten Island Cricket Club at Camp Washington, Tompkinsville,Staten
Island, New York. The first American National championship was
played there in September 1880. An Englishman named O.E Woodhouse won
the singles title, and a silver cup worth $100, by defeating Canadian
I. F. Hellmuth.[20]
There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were
different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one
normally used in New York. On 21 May 1881, the United States National
Lawn Tennis Association (now the
United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the
rules and organize competitions.[21]
The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the
US Open, was first held in 1881 at the
Newport Casino,
Newport, Rhode Island.[22]
The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887
in
Philadelphia.[23]
Tennis was also popular in France, where the
French Championships dates to 1891 although until 1925 it was open
only to tennis players who were members of French clubs.[24]
Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the
Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most
prestigious events in tennis.[18][25]
Together these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term
borrowed from
bridge rather than
baseball).[26]
The comprehensive rules promulgated in 1924 by the International Lawn
Tennis Federation, now known as the
International Tennis Federation (ITF), have remained largely stable
in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of
the
tie-break system designed by
James Van Alen.[27]
That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games
but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in
1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts by the then ITF
President Philippe Chatrier, ITF General Secretary David Gray and ITF
Vice President Pablo Llorens, and support from IOC President Juan
Antonio Samaranch. The success of the event was overwhelming and the IOC
decided to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988.[28][29]
International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino
The
Davis
Cup, an annual competition between men's national teams, dates to
1900.[30]
The analogous competition for women's national teams, the
Fed Cup,
was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the founding of the ITF.[31]
In 1926, promoter
C.
C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group
of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to
paying audiences.[25][32]
The most notable of these early professionals were the American
Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman
Suzanne Lenglen.[25][33]
Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major
(amateur) tournaments. This resulted in a schism between the amateur and
pro tennis ranks that would last until the advent of the Open Era.[25]
In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking
money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction,
inaugurating the
open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and
top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the
beginning of the open era, the establishment of an international
professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television
rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed
its upper/middle-class English-speaking image[34]
(although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).[34][35]
In 1954, Van Alen founded the
International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport,
Rhode Island.[36]
The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well
as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all
over the world. Each year, a
grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall
of Fame members are hosted on its grounds
Equipment
Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment
required for play. Beginners need only a
racquet and balls.
Racquets
Main article:
Racquet#Tennis
The components of a tennis racquet include a handle, known as the
grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly elliptical frame that
holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings. For the first 100 years of the
modern game, racquets were of wood and of standard size, and strings
were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more strength in
racquets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and
then composites of carbon graphite, ceramics, and lighter metals such as
titanium were introduced. These stronger materials enabled the
production of over-sized racquets that yielded yet more power. Meanwhile
technology led to the use of synthetic strings that match the feel of
gut yet with added durability.
Under modern rules of tennis, the racquets must adhere to the
following guidelines;[37]
- The hitting area, composed of the strings, must be flat and
generally uniform.
- The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches in
length and 12.5 inches in width.
- The entire racquet must be of a fixed shape, size, weight, and
weight distribution. There may not be any energy source built into
the racquets.
- The racquets must not provide any kind of communication,
instruction or advice to the player during the match.
The rules regarding racquets have changed over time, as material and
engineering advances have been made. For example, the maximum length of
the frame had been 32 inches until 1997, when it was shortened to
29 inches.[38]
A tennis racquet and balls.
Many companies manufacture and distribute tennis racquets. Wilson,
Head and Babolat are some of the more commonly used brands; however,
many more companies exist. The same companies sponsor players to use
these racquets in the hopes that the company name will become more well
known by the public.
Balls
Main article:
Tennis ball
Tennis balls came a long way from being made out of cloth strips,
which were stitched together with thread.[39]
Tennis balls are made of hollow rubber with a felt coating.
Traditionally white, the predominant color was gradually changed to
optic Yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for
improved visibility. Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for
size, weight, deformation, and bounce criteria to be approved for
regulation play. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the
official diameter as 65.41-68.58 mm (2.575-2.700 inches). Balls must
weigh between 56.0 g and 59.4 g (1.975-2.095 ounces).[40]
Miscellaneous
Advanced players improve their performance through a number of
accoutrements. Vibration dampers may be interlaced in the proximal part
of the string array for improved feel. Racquet handles may be customized
with absorbent or rubber-like materials to improve the players' grip.
Players often use sweat bands on their wrists to keep their hands dry as
well. Finally, although the game can be played in a variety of shoes,
specialized tennis shoes have wide, flat soles for stability and a
built-up front structure to avoid excess wear.
Manner of play
Two players before a
serve
- For individual terms see:
Glossary of tennis
Court
Main article:
Tennis court
Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually
grass,
clay, a
hardcourt of concrete, and asphalt and occasionally carpet (indoor).
The court is 78
feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles matches
and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches.[41]
Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players
to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the
court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. It
is held up by either a metal cable or cord that can be no more than 0.8
cm (1/3 inch).[42]
The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet
(0.914 m) high in the center.[41]
The net posts are 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the doubles court on each
side or, for a singles net, 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the singles court
on each side.
The modern tennis court owes its design to Major
Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, patented a court much the
same as the current one for his
stické
tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the
court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield's
version, but with the
hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.[43]
Lines
The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the
baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The
short mark in the center of each baseline is referred to as either the
hash mark or the center mark. The outermost lines that make up the
length are called the doubles sidelines. These are the boundaries used
when doubles is being played. The lines to the inside of the doubles
sidelines are the singles sidelines and are used as boundaries in
singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest
singles sideline is called the doubles alley, which is considered
playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the center of a
player's side of the court is called the service line because the serve
must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on
the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally
stands when making a serve.[44]
The line dividing the service line in two is called the center line
or center service line. The boxes this center line creates are called
the service boxes; depending on a player's position, he or she will have
to hit the ball into one of these when serving.[45]
A ball is out only if none of it has hit the line or the area inside the
lines upon its first bounce. All the lines are required to be between 1
and 2 inches (51 mm) in width. The baseline can be up to 4 inches
(100 mm) wide.[44]
Play of a
single point
Main article:
Point (tennis)
The players (or teams) start on opposite sides of the net. One player
is designated the server, and the opposing player is the
receiver. The choice to be server or receiver in the first game and
the choice of ends is decided by a toss before the warm-up starts.
Service alternates game by game between the two players (or teams.) For
each point, the server starts behind the baseline, between the center
mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of
the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will
serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server.
In a legal service, the ball travels over the net (without touching
it) and into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the
net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service,
which is void, and the server retakes that serve. The player can serve
any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as
voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that falls long or wide of
the service box, or does not clear the net. There is also a "foot
fault", which occurs when a player's foot touches the baseline or an
extension of the center mark before the ball is hit. If the second
service is also a fault, the server double faults, and the
receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a
legal service.
A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate
hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of the player
or team hitting the ball before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures
except the net, provided that it still falls in the server's court. A
player or team cannot hit the ball twice in a row. The ball must travel
past the net into the other players' court. A ball that hits the net
during a rally is still considered a legal return. The first player or
team to fail to make a legal return loses the point. The server then
moves to the other side of the service line at the start of a new point.[46]
Scoring
Main article:
Tennis score
Match
The outcome of a tennis
match is determined through a best of three or five sets
system. Recreational players may agree to play any number of sets,
depending upon time availability or stamina. On the professional
circuit, men play best-of-five-set matches at all four
Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the
Olympic Games and best-of-three-set matches at all other
tournaments, while women play best-of-three-set matches at all
tournaments. The first player to win two sets in a best-of-three, or
three sets in a best-of-five, wins the match.[47]
A set consists of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.
In tournament play, the chair
umpire
announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase "Game, set,
match" followed by the winning person's or team's name. The final
score in sets is always read with the winning player's score first, e.g.
"6–2, 4–6, 6–0, 7–5".
Set
A
set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating
between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain
criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games
and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six
games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the
leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the
trailing player wins the game, a
tie-break is played. A tie-break, played under a separate set of
rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give
a final set score of 7–6. Only in the final sets of matches at the
Australian Open, the
French Open,
Wimbledon, the Olympic Games,
Davis
Cup, and
Fed Cup
are tie-breaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely
until one player has a two-game lead. A "love" set means that the loser
of the set won zero games, colloquially termed a 'jam donut' in the USA.[48]
In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and
the overall score.
Game
A
game consists of a sequence of
points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the
first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two
points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is
described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three
points are described as "love", "fifteen", "thirty",
and "forty" respectively. If at least three points have been
scored by each player, making the player's scores equal at forty apiece,
the score is not called out as "forty-forty", but rather as "deuce".
If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has
one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is "advantage"
for the player in the lead. During informal games, "advantage"
can also be called "ad in" or "van in" when the serving
player is ahead, and "ad out" or "van out" when the
receiving player is ahead.
The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the
serving player's score first. In tournament play, the chair umpire calls
the point count (e.g., "fifteen-love") after each point. At the
end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game
and the overall score.
Game point
A
game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead
in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology
is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even
championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is
serving has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point
(triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to
win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of
official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament
play.
Break point
A break point occurs if the receiver, not the
server, has a chance to win the game with the next point. Break
points are of particular importance because
serving is generally considered advantageous, with the server being
expected to win games in which they are serving. A receiver who has one
(score of 30–40), two (score of 15–40) or three (score of love-40)
consecutive chances to win the game has break point, double
break point or triple break point, respectively. If the
receiver does, in fact, win their break point, the game is awarded to
the receiver, and the receiver is said to have converted their
break point. If the receiver fails to win their break point it is called
a failure to convert. Winning break points, and thus the game, is
also referred to as breaking serve, as the receiver has
disrupted, or broken the natural advantage of the server. If in
the following game the previous server also wins a break point it is
referred to as breaking back. At least one break of serve is
required to win a set.
Rule variations
- From 'No advantage'. Scoring method created by
Jimmy Van Alen. The first player or doubles team to win four
points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is
ahead by two points. When the game score reaches three points each,
the receiver chooses which side of the court (advantage court or
deuce court) the service is to be delivered on the seventh and
game-deciding point. Utilized by
World Team Tennis professional competition and ITF Junior
Doubles.[49][50]
- Instead of playing multiple sets, players may play one "pro
set". A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two
games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tie-break is usually
played when the score is 8–8 (or 10–10). These are often played with
no-ad scoring.
- This is sometimes played instead of a third set. A match
tie-break is played like a regular tie-break, but the winner must
win ten points instead of seven. Match tie-breaks are used in the
Hopman Cup and the
2012 Olympic Games for mixed doubles, on the
ATP and
WTA tours for doubles and as a player's choice in USTA league
play.
Another, however informal, tennis format is called
Canadian doubles. This involves three players, with one person
playing a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys
normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team
does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same
as a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body.
"Australian doubles", another informal and unsanctioned form of
tennis, is played with similar rules to the
Canadian doubles style, only in this version, players rotate court
position after each game. As such, each player plays doubles and singles
over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving.
Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2
points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she
holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve.
Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as
people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is
permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and
able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a
wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as "one-up,
one-down"), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied
player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair
users only.
Surface
There are five types of court surface used in professional play. Each
surface is different in the speed and height of the bounce of the ball.
The same surface plays faster indoors than outdoors.
- Examples are red clay, used at the
French Open, and green clay (an example of which is
Har-Tru and used mainly in the U.S.). Almost all red
clay courts are made not of natural clay but of crushed brick
that is packed to make the court. The crushed brick is then covered
with a topping of other crushed particles. This type of surface does
not absorb water easily and is the most common in Europe and Latin
America.[citation
needed] Clay courts normally have a slower
paced ball and a fairly true bounce with more spin.
- Examples of
hardcourts are acrylic (e.g.
Plexicushion used at the
Australian Open,
DecoTurf used at the
US Open,
GreenSet used at the
ATP World Tour Finals), asphalt, and concrete. Hardcourts
typically have a faster-paced ball with a very true bounce and it is
the predominant surface type used on the professional tour.
-
Grass courts usually have a faster-paced ball, and a more
erratic bounce. Grass is used at
Wimbledon and until 1974 three of the four Grand Slams
(Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open) were played on grass. In 2001
Wimbledon changed the type of grass to make the courts more durable
and thus better able to withstand the wear of the modern game. The
new grass causes the ball to bounce higher and slows it down
compared to the previous grass type.[51][52]
- Any form of removable court covering, including carpeting and
artificial turf. The bounce can be higher or lower than a hard
court. Carpet surface has not been used on the ATP and WTA tour
since 2009.
- Popular from the 1880s through the first half of the 20th
century, wooden surface provides a very low bounce and plays very
fast. There are no longer any professional tournaments held on a
wooden surface although some tournaments (e.g.
Rotterdam Open and
Open Sud de France), are played on a wood-based court with an
acrylic layer on top.
Officials
An
umpire informing two players of the rules
In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an
officiating head judge or chair
umpire
(usually referred to as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one
side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual
determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine
whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and
who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines
whether the ball has touched the net during service. The umpire has the
right to overrule a line judge or a net judge if the umpire is sure that
a clear mistake has been made.[53]
In some tournaments, line judges who would be calling the serve, were
assisted by
electronic sensors that beeped to indicate the serve was out. This
system was called "Cyclops".[54]
Cyclops has since largely been replaced by the Hawk-Eye system.[55][56]
In professional tournaments using this system, players are allowed three
unsuccessful appeals per set, plus one additional appeal in the
tie-break to challenge close line calls by means of an
electronic review. The
US Open,
Miami Masters,
US Open Series, and
World Team Tennis started using this challenge system in 2006 and
the
Australian Open and
Wimbledon introduced the system in 2007.[57]
In clay-court matches, such as at the
French Open, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left
by the ball's impact on the court surface.
The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final
authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or
team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision if the
tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the
umpire's decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on
the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision
(This would only happen in Davis Cup or Fed Cup matches, not at the
World Group level, when a chair umpire from a non-neutral country is in
the chair).[53]
Ball
boys and girls may be employed to retrieve balls, pass them to the
players, and hand players their towels. They have no
adjudicative role. In rare events (e.g., if they are hurt or if they
have caused a hindrance), the umpire may ask them for a statement of
what actually happened. The umpire may consider their statements when
making a decision. In some leagues, especially junior leagues, players
make their own calls, trusting each other to be honest. This is the case
for many school and university level matches. The referee or referee's
assistant, however, can be called on court at a player's request, and
the referee or assistant may change a player's call. In unofficiated
matches, a ball is out only if the player entitled to make the call is
sure that the ball is out.
Junior tennis
Main article:
Junior tennis
In tennis, a junior is a player 18 and under who is still legally
protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who
are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These
players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments.
The
International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that
allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or
Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the
international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite,
Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The
latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors,
however, such as Australian
Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman
Gaël Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the
ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of
opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments.
In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage
greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and
doubles) into one combined tally.[58]
Junior tournaments do not offer
prize money except for the
Grand Slam tournaments, which are the most prestigious junior
events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the
Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into
different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points,
culminating with Grade A.
Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the
Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions. To succeed in tennis
often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and
nurture a junior's growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations
have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play
through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all
different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive
sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions.
Match play
Convention dictates that two players
shake hands at the end of a match
Continuity
A tennis match is intended to be continuous.[59]
Because stamina is a relevant factor, arbitrary delays are not
permitted. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20
seconds after the end of the previous point.[59]
This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (after
every odd-numbered game), and a 2-minute break is permitted between
sets.[59]
Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond
the players' control, such as rain, damaged footwear, damaged racquet,
or the need to retrieve an errant ball. Should a player be determined to
be stalling repeatedly, the chair umpire may initially give a warning
followed by subsequent penalties of "point", "game", and default of the
match for the player who is consistently taking longer than the allowed
time limit.[60]
In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions
halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score
as at the time of the delay, and the players at the same end of the
court when rain halted play, or at the same position (north or south) if
play is resumed on a different court.
Ball Changes
Balls wear out quickly in serious play and, therefore, in
ATP and
WTA tournaments, they are changed after every nine games with the
first change occurring after only seven games, because the first set of
balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up.[40]
As a courtesy to the receiver, the server will often signal to the
receiver before the first serve of the game in which new balls are used
as a reminder that they are using new balls. However, in
ITF tournaments like
Fed Cup,
the balls are changed in a 9–11 style. Continuity of the balls'
condition is considered part of the game, so if a re-warm-up is required
after an extended break in play (usually due to rain), then the
re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match
balls is resumed only when play resumes.
On-Court Coaching
A recent rule change is to allow coaching on court on a limited basis
during a match.[61][62][63][64]
This has been introduced in women's tennis for
WTA Tour events in 2009 and allows the player to request her coach
once per set.[65]
Shots
Main article:
Tennis shots
A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her
repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead
smash, drop shot, and lob.
Grip
Main article:
Grip (Tennis)
A grip is a way of holding the racquet in order to hit shots during a
match. The grip affects the angle of the racquet face when it hits the
ball and influences the pace, spin, and placement of the shot. Players
use various grips during play, including the Continental (The "Handshake
Grip"), Eastern (Can be either semi-eastern or full eastern. Usually
used for backhands.), and Western (semi-western or full western, usually
for forehand grips) grips. Most players change grips during a match
depending on what shot they are hitting; for example, slice shots and
serves call for a Continental grip.[66]
Serve
Main article:
Serve (tennis)
A serve (or, more formally, a "service") in tennis is a shot to start
a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and
hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally
opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit
under- or overhand although underhand serving remains a rarity.[67]
If the ball hits the net on the first serve and bounces over into the
correct diagonal box then it is called a "let" and the server gets two
more additional serves to get it in. There can also be a let if the
server serves the ball and the receiver isn’t prepared.[68]
If the server misses his or her first serve and gets a let on the second
serve, then they get one more try to get the serve in the box.
Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve
to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different
types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve, and
kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a
manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the
spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is
spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter's point
of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.[69]
Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the
point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with
their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is
called an "ace".
Forehand
For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on
the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made
with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various
grips for executing the forehand, and their popularity has
fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the
continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the
western. For a number of years, the small, frail 1920s player
Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand
of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western
grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but
in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and
equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong
comeback and is now used by many modern players. No matter which grip is
used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the
racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In
the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player
Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to achieve a devastating
effect against larger, more powerful players. Players such as
Monica Seles or France's
Fabrice Santoro and
Marion Bartoli are also notable players known for their two-handed
forehands.[70]
Backhand
For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the
left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made
with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be
executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered
more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th
century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an
eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to
use two hands were the 1930s Australians
Vivian McGrath and
John Bromwich, but they were lonely exceptions. The two-handed grip
gained popularity in the 1970s as
Björn Borg,
Chris Evert,
Jimmy Connors, and later
Mats Wilander and
Marat Safin used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large
number of the world's best players, including
Rafael Nadal and
Serena Williams.[71]
Two hands give the player more control, while one hand can generate a
slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory
bounce. Reach is also limited with the two-handed shot. The player long
considered to have had the best backhand of all time,
Don
Budge, had a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that
imparted topspin onto the ball.
Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used
a very accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small
number of players, notably
Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.
Other shots
A
volley is a shot returned to the opponent in mid-air before the
ball bounces, generally performed near the net, and is usually made with
a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the
opponent's court. The
half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after
it has bounced, also generally in the vicinity of the net, and played
with the racquet close to the ground.[72]
The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player
approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation
time away from the opponent, as it returns the ball into the opponent's
court much faster than a standard volley.
From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the
lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon,
hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court to either
enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the
point outright by hitting it over the opponent's head. If the lob is not
hit deeply enough into the other court, however, an opponent near the
net may then hit an
overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the
point.
If an opponent is deep in his court, a player may suddenly employ an
unexpected
drop
shot, by softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the
opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it. Advanced
players will often apply back spin to a drop shot, causing the ball to
"skid" upon landing and bounce sideways, with less forward momentum
toward their opponent, or even backwards towards the net, thus making it
even more difficult to return.
Tournaments
Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players.
Common tournament configurations include men's singles, women's singles,
and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net. Tournaments
may be organized for specific age groups, with upper age limits for
youth and lower age limits for senior players. Example of this include
the
Orange Bowl and
Les Petits As junior tournaments. There are also tournaments for
players with disabilities, such as
wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis.[73]
In the four
Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 players
for each gender.
Most large tournaments
seed players, but players may also be matched by their skill level.
According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is
given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive
matches. For example, the
United States Tennis Association administers the National Tennis
Rating Program (NTRP),
which rates players between 1.0 and 7.0 in 1/2 point increments. Average
club players under this system would rate 3.0–4.5 while world class
players would be 7.0 on this scale.
Grand Slam
tournaments
The four
Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious
tennis events in the world. They are held annually and comprise, in
chronological order, the
Australian Open, the
French Open,
Wimbledon, and the
US Open. Apart from the
Olympic Games,
Davis
Cup,
Fed Cup, and
Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the
International Tennis Federation (ITF).[74]
The ITF's national associations,
Tennis Australia (Australian Open), the
Fédération Française de Tennis (French Open), the
Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon) and the
United States Tennis Association (US Open) are delegated the
responsibility to organize these events.[74]
Aside from the historical significance of these events, they also
carry larger prize funds than any other tour event and are worth double
the number of ranking points to the champion than in the next echelon of
tournaments, the
Masters 1000 (men) and
Premier events (women).[75][76]
Another distinguishing feature is the number of players in the singles
draw. There are 128, more than any other professional tennis tournament.
This draw is composed of 32 seeded players, other players ranked in the
world's top 100, qualifiers, and players who receive invitations through
wild cards. Grand Slam men's tournaments have best-of-five set
matches while the women play best-of-three. Grand Slam tournaments are
among the small number of events that last two weeks, the others being
the
Indian Wells Masters and the
Miami Masters.
Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that
have
mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam tournaments are held in
conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments and
junior tennis competitions. These tournaments also contain their own
idiosyncrasies. For example, players at Wimbledon are required to wear
predominantly white.
Andre Agassi chose to skip Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 citing
the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress
code.[77]
Wimbledon has its own particular methods for disseminating tickets,
often leading tennis fans to follow complex procedures to obtain
tickets.[78]
* non-international tournament began in 1891
Men's
tournament structure
Masters 1000
The
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a group of nine tournaments that form
the second-highest echelon in men's tennis. Each event is held annually,
and a win at one of these events is worth 1000 ranking points. When the
ATP, led by
Hamilton Jordan, began running the men's tour in 1990, the directors
designated the top nine tournaments, outside of the
Grand Slam events, as "Super 9" events.[79]
In 2000 this became the Tennis Masters Series and in 2004 the
ATP Masters Series. In November at the end of the tennis year, the
world's top eight players compete in the
ATP World Tour Finals, a tournament with a rotating locale. It is
currently held in
London, England.[80]
In August 2007 the ATP announced major changes to the tour that were
introduced in 2009. The Masters Series was renamed to the “Masters
1000”, the addition of the number 1000 referring to the number of
ranking points earned by the winner of each tournament. Contrary to
earlier plans, the number of tournaments was not reduced from nine to
eight and the
Monte Carlo Masters remains part of the series although, unlike the
other events, it does not have a mandatory player commitment. The
Hamburg Masters has been downgraded to a 500 point event. The
Madrid Masters moved to May and onto clay courts, and a new
tournament in
Shanghai took over Madrid's former indoor October slot. As of 2011
six of the nine “1000” level tournaments are combined ATP and
WTA events.[81]
250 and 500 Series
ATP World Tour 500 and 250 logos
The third and fourth tier of men's tennis tournaments are formed by
the
ATP World Tour 500 series, consisting of 11 tournaments, and the
ATP World Tour 250 series with 40 tournaments.[82]
Like the
ATP World Tour Masters 1000, these events offer various amounts of
prize money and the numbers refer to the amount of ranking points earned
by the winner of a tournament.[75]
The
Dubai Tennis Championships offer the largest financial incentive to
players, with total prize money of
US$2,313,975 (2012).[83]
These series have various draws of 28, 32, 48 and 56 for singles and 16
and 24 for doubles. It is mandatory for leading players to enter at
least four 500 events, including at least one after the US Open.
Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments
The
Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament
administered by the
ATP. It is composed of about 150 events and, as a result, features a
more diverse range of countries hosting events.[84]
The majority of players use the Challenger Series at the beginning of
their career to work their way up the rankings.
Andre Agassi, between winning Grand Slam tournaments, plummeted to
World No. 141 and used Challenger Series events for match experience and
to progress back up the rankings.[85]
The Challenger Series offers prize funds of between
US$25,000 and US$150,000.
Below the Challenger Tour are the Futures tournaments, events on the
ITF Men's Circuit. These tournaments also contribute towards a
player's
ATP rankings points. Futures Tournaments offer prize funds of
between US$10,000 and US$15,000.[86]
Approximately 530 Futures Tournaments are played each year.
Women's
tournament stucture
Premier events
Premier events for women form the most prestigious level of events
on the
Women's Tennis Association Tour after the
Grand Slam tournaments. These events offer the largest rewards in
terms of points and prize money. Within the Premier category are Premier
Mandatory, Premier 5, and Premier tournaments. The Premier events were
introduced in 2009 replacing the previous Tier I and II tournament
categories. Currently four tournaments are Premier Mandatory, five
tournaments are Premier 5, and twelve tournaments are Premier. The first
tiering system in women's tennis was introduced in 1988. At the time of
its creation, only two tournaments, the
Lipton International Players Championships in
Florida
and the
German Open in Berlin, comprised the
Tier I category.
International
events
International tournaments are the second main tier of the WTA tour
and consist of 31 tournaments, with a prize money for every event at
U.S.$220,000, except for the year-ending
Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in
Bali, which
has prize money of U.S.$600,000.
Players
Professional
players
Professional tennis players enjoy the same relative perks as most top
sports personalities: clothing, equipment and endorsements. Like players
of other individual sports such as golf, they are not salaried, but must
play and finish highly in tournaments to obtain money. As of 2012 the
"Big Four" men's tennis players includes
Roger Federer,
Rafael Nadal,
Novak Djokovic, and
Andy Murray.[87]
These four players being able to dominate most of the grand slams.
In recent years, some controversy has surrounded the involuntary or
deliberate noise caused by players'
grunting.
Grand
Slam tournament winners
Roger Federer (1981-). Many commentators and players
regard the
Swiss sportsman as the greatest tennis player of all
time.
The following players have won at least five singles titles at
Grand Slam tournaments:
Greatest male
players
A frequent topic of discussion among tennis fans and commentators is
who was the greatest male singles player of all time. By a large margin,
an
Associated Press poll in 1950 named
Bill Tilden as the greatest player of the first half of the 20th
century.[88]
From 1920 to 1930, Tilden won singles titles at
Wimbledon three times and the
U.S. Championships seven times. In 1938, however,
Donald Budge became the first person to win all four major singles
titles during the same calendar year, the
Grand Slam, and won six consecutive major titles in 1937 and 1938.
Tilden called Budge "the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived."[89]
And in his 1979 autobiography,
Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the
greatest player ever.[90]
Some observers, however, also felt that Kramer deserved consideration
for the title. Kramer was among the few who dominated amateur and
professional tennis during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Tony Trabert has said that of the players he saw before the start of
the
open era, Kramer was the best male champion.[91]
By the latter half of the 1950s and 1960s, Budge and others had added
Pancho Gonzales and
Lew
Hoad to the list of contenders. Budge reportedly believed that
Gonzales was the greatest player ever.[92]
Gonzales said about Hoad, "When Lew's game was at its peak nobody could
touch him. ... I think his game was the best game ever. Better than
mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys
were great. His overhead was enormous. He had the most natural tennis
mind with the most natural tennis physique."[93]
During the open era, first
Rod
Laver and then more recently
Björn Borg and
Pete Sampras were regarded by many of their contemporaries as among
the greatest ever.
Andre Agassi, the first of two male players in history to have
achieved a
Career Golden Slam in singles tennis (followed by
Rafael Nadal), has been called the best service returner in the
history of the game.[94][95][96][97]
He is the first man to win slams on all modern surfaces (previous
holders of all slams played in an era of grass and clay only), and is
regarded by a number of critics and fellow players to be among the
greatest players of all time.[94][98][99]
Roger Federer is now considered by many observers to have the most
"complete" game in modern tennis. He has won 17 grand slam titles, the
most for any male player. Many experts of tennis, former tennis players
and his own tennis peers believe Federer is the greatest player in the
history of the game.[100][101][102][103][104][105][106]
Federer's biggest rival
Rafael Nadal is regarded as the greatest competitor in tennis
history by some former players and is regarded to have the potential to
be the greatest of all time.[107][108]
He's already regarded as the greatest clay court player of all time.[109]
Greatest
female players
As with the men there are frequent discussions about who is the
greatest female singles player of all time with
Steffi Graf and
Martina Navratilova being the two players most often nominated.
In March 2012 the TennisChannel published a combined list of the 100
greatest men and women tennis players of all time.[110]
It ranked Steffi Graf as the greatest female player (in 3rd place
overall), followed by
Martina Navratilova (4th place) and
Margaret Court (8th place). The rankings were determined by an
international panel.
Sportwriter John Wertheim of
Sports Illustrated stated in an article in July 2010 that
Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever with the
argument that "Head-to-head, on a neutral surface (i.e. hard courts),
everyone at their best, I can't help feeling that she crushes the other
legends.".[111]
In a reaction to this article Yahoo sports blog Busted Racket published
a list of the top-10 women's tennis players of all time placing Martina
Navratilova in first spot.[112]
This top-10 list was similar to the one published in June 2008 by the
Bleacher Report who also ranked Martina Navratilova as the top female
player of all time.[113]
Steffi Graf is considered by some to be the greatest female player.
Billie Jean King said in 1999, "Steffi is definitely the greatest
women's tennis player of all time."[114]
Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players.[114]
In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of
the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the
Associated Press.[115]
Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of
the Twentieth Century, named her as the best female player of the
20th century, directly followed by Martina Navratilova.[116]
Tennis magazine selected Martina Navratilova as the greatest
female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005.[117][118]
Tennis historian and journalist
Bud Collins has called Navratilova "arguably, the greatest player of
all time."[119]
Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, "She's the greatest
singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived."[120]
In popular culture
-
David Foster Wallace, an amateur tennis player himself at Urbana
High School in
Illinois,[121]
included tennis in many of his works of nonfiction and fiction
including
"Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm
of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy,
Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness," the autobiographical
piece
"Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley," and
Infinite Jest, which is partially set at the fictional
"Enfield Tennis Academy" in
Massachusetts.
-
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) features Richie Tenenbaum (Luke
Wilson), a tennis pro who suffers from depression and has a
breakdown on court in front of thousands of fans.[122]
-
Wimbledon (2004) is a film about a discouraged pro tennis
player (Paul
Bettany) who meets a young woman on the women's tennis circuit (Kirsten
Dunst) who helps him find his drive to go and win
Wimbledon.[123]
- In
The Squid and the Whale (2005), Joan (Laura
Linney) has an affair with her kids' tennis coach, Ivan (William
Baldwin). In a symbolic scene, Joan's ex-husband, Bernard (Jeff
Daniels), loses a tennis match against Ivan in front of the
kids.[124]
-
Woody Allen's
Match Point (2005) features a love affair between a former
tennis pro (Jonathan
Rhys Meyers) and his best friend's fiance (Scarlett
Johansson).[125]
-
Confetti (2006) is a
mockumentary which sees three couples competing to win the title
of "Most Original Wedding of the Year". One competing couple (Meredith
MacNeill and
Stephen Mangan) are a pair of hyper-competitive professional
tennis players holding a tennis-themed wedding.[126]
- There are several tennis video games including
Mario Tennis, the
TopSpin series,
Wii Sports, and
Grand Slam Tennis.[127][128]
- In the Japanese
anime
and
manga series known as
Prince of Tennis, the main character is
Ryoma Echizen, a tennis prodigy who recently moves to Japan and
attends Seishun Academy. He joins the tennis club and has defeated
many of his upperclassmen, gaining a spot in the team's regulars.
The team's ultimate goal is to compete in the National Middle School
Tennis Championship but they must play against other teams along the
way to reach their goal.[citation
needed]
See also
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William J. Baker (1988). "Sports in
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Gillmeister, Heiner (1998). Tennis : A Cultural History.
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Further reading
- Barrett, John Wimbledon: The Official History of the
Championships (HarperCollins, 2001)
ISBN 978-0-00-711707-9
- Collins, Bud History of Tennis — An Authoritative
Encyclopedia and Record Book (New Chapter Press, 2010)
ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0
- Danzig, Allison and Peter Schwed (ed.) The Fireside Book of
Tennis (Simon and Schuster, 1972)
ISBN 978-0-671-21128-8
- Doherty, Reginald Frank R.F. and H.L. Doherty — On Lawn
Tennis (Kessinger Publishing, 2010)
ISBN 978-1-167-08589-5
- Dwight, Eleanor Tie Breaker — Jimmy Van Alen and Tennis in
the 20th century (Scala Books, 2010)
ISBN 978-1-905377-40-4
- Gillmeister, Heiner Tennis: A Cultural History
(Continuum, 1998)
ISBN 978-0-7185-0195-2
- Grimsley, Will Tennis — Its History, People and Events
(Prentice-Hall, 1971)
ISBN 0-13-903377-7
- King, Billie Jean and Starr, Cynthia We Have Come a Long Way
(McGraw-Hill,
1998)
ISBN 0-07-034625-9
- Whitehead, Dave The Tennis Junkie's Guide (To Serious Humor).
(iUniverse, 2002)
ISBN 0-595-65364-2
- Whitman, Malcolm D. Tennis — Origins and Mysteries (Dover
Publications, 2004)
ISBN 0-486-43357-9
External links
- International organizations
- Team competitions
- Other