Hello, Café Champs, and welcome back to another edition of Tierani's Sports Café. Is the title confusing you? Well, this week we are going to get into some tennis specifics, and I hope by the end it will all make sense to you.
I will be covering the tennis officials, code of conduct and scoring.
So, what's love got to do with it?
Tennis Officials:
Before the age of technology, professional tennis had several types of officials. Now they just have a chair umpire and use computerized technology in place of the others. So, I'm just going to talk about the chair umpires and line umpires.
Chair Umpire: If you've ever watched tennis at all, even for a second, you might notice there is a person sitting in a high chair mid-court and above the net...this is the chair umpire. The chair umpire must have a clear-eye and major focus. They are in charge of making sure the games run smoothly and appropriately based on timing, ball inspection, seeing the players change ends, and more. They keep track of and call out points, games and sets. They also answer player questions. Additionally, they also announce code violations (which we will discuss later). The chair umpire may also determine a ball in/out should a line umpire be absent. Additionally, the chair umpire holds the power to overrule a line umpire.
Line Umpire: In some high school matches, line umpires are still present. These officials are assigned to watch the baseline, sideline, or center line. They are in charge of determining if a ball is in or out. Further, they are in charge of ensuring a server does not touch/cross the baseline when serving. The line umpires also report code violations to chair umpires. Unfortunately, in professional tennis, these umpires have been replaced with computerized technology that calls "out."
Code of Conduct:
In order to promote an atmosphere of morality, sportsmanship and class; tennis players agree to follow a code of conduct. The code of conduct has several expectations including but not limited to:
Not using profanity
Being respectful of opponents, officials and spectators
Not arguing with or verbally/physically threatening opponents, officials or spectators
Arriving on time and ensuring to play at an appropriate pace
Not damaging or mistreating the court or equipment
Code violations are given if a player chooses not to abide by the code of conduct. A chair umpire must determine if any one of four criteria is met regarding the behavior that warrants a code violation.
Are the player's actions:
unnecessarily delaying the match?
causing dangers to those on or off the court?
abusive to a person on or off the court?
unsportsmanlike?
As mentioned, if any one of these is met by the chair umpire's rule, a punishment must follow. For the first offense, a warning will be given. Upon a second offense, the player's opponent receives a point known as a "penalty point." If a third offense occurs, the player's opponent is awarded a game.
Are you still wondering what love has to do with anything? Well, you're about to find out.
Tennis Scoring:
In a tennis game, a player must get four points to win. However, getting four points is not enough, you must also win by two points. So, if you and your opponent both have three points, and you score your fourth point--the game is not over. You must score another point to make the score 5-3 in order to win that game.
As mentioned in the prior post, a player must win six games in a set to win that set. The player who wins the best two out of three sets, wins the match. That means the bare minimum number of games a person must play is 12 (if a player won 12 in a row), and the bare minimum number of points a person must score is 48 (if the player scored every single point in a row...like if my friend Alex ever played me).
In tennis, however, points are not "scored" 1-2-3-4...oh no, that would be too easy. They are scored like this:
1 point=15
2 points=30
3 points=40
So, if you've ever seen a tennis scoreboard and it says 40-15, it really means 3-1. Tennis even has a fun name for when a player has zero points. Can you guess what that fun little nickname for zero points is? The fun nickname is: LOVE.
That's right, before the game starts, both players are in love (Cute, huh?). Or, translated, with zero points. Why do they call it "love?" One theory is whenever someone has zero points, the number "0" looks like an egg (ever heard someone call zero a "goose egg?"). In French, the word for "egg" is "l’oeuf," and this word is similarly pronounced like the English word "love."
SO THAT'S WHAT LOVE HAS GOT TO DO WITH IT! But, we still aren't done talking about scoring.
If the score is tied 40-40 (3-3), it is said the score is in "deuce." The next player to score a point when the players are in deuce is then said to be in the advantage. They are in "advantage" because should they score one more point, they win.
The last terms I want to discuss are ad-in and ad-out. So, stated above, if the game is in "deuce," the next player to score is in "advantage." To specify, if the server scores the next point out of deuce, the server is in "ad-in" or advantage-in. If the receiver scores the next point, the receiver is in "ad-out" or advantage-out. Remember, you must win by two points.
In summary:
0 points=Love
1 point=15
2 points=30
4 points=40
40-40=Deuce
Ad-in=server scored first out of deuce
Ad-out=receiver scored first out of deuce
Sing with me, Champs: WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO, GOT TO DO WITH IT?! (You know it's been in your head this whole time, don't lie.)
As you can see, tennis is more complex than it appears from the outside. Trust me, I had so many questions for Alex. I had so many questions that my questions had questions, and those questions needed confirmations. Although tennis is a bit crazier than I anticipated, I still want to learn, anyone else want to join now?
Tennis can be complicated, but remember to KISS (Keep It Simple, Sister).
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7
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