So, you have returned, Café Champs.
I am once again diving into a sport I am not extremely familiar with: Tennis. One of my best friends played in college and is a tennis coach, and I've been begging her to teach me how to play (*cough, cough* yes, I'm looking at you, Alex). When I'm on vacation, I see friends or couples playing tennis in the lovely weather, and I'm envious--I want to be like them. Anyone else feel this way?
If I am to be like those tennis vacationers, I must first understand the basics of the sport; however, I have learned tennis is FAR more confusing than I anticipated. Nevertheless, this post will discuss those basics so we are mentally equipped for our tennis journeys.
Have I met my match?
Before I begin, sources for this post can be found at this link and this link (as well as my human tennis source, Alex).
Allow me to take you to court...
A standard tennis court is 78 feet long with a 3 feet high net placed down the center (dividing the court into 39 feet per side). The maximum width of the court is 36 feet wide. However, the max of 36 feet is only used during doubles (or when teams of two are playing each other). During singles matches (when people are playing one-on-one), the width is 27 feet.
The court is divided by the following lines:
Baseline: These are the rearmost boundaries on the court. A server (the person hitting the ball first to put it in play) must start with his/her feet behind the baseline before and during the serve/hitting the ball. If a ball lands behind the baseline, it is considered "out" of play. However, if it lands on the baseline, it is still playable and "in."
Sideline: These are the side boundaries of the court that measure the width. Once again, if the ball lands beyond these lines, it is considered "out" of play; meanwhile, a ball that lands on the lines is considered "in" and playable. During one-on-one play, the singles sideline is used, making the court width 27 feet wide. During two-on-two play, the doubles sideline is used in which the court is 36 feet wide.
Center Mark: This dictates where the center of the court is, which allows a player to know which side of the court they are playing on in order to serve or return a serve.
Service Lines: These are the lines that run in the middle of the court that dictate the service boxes' boundaries.
A quick breakdown of the court zones:
Center Court (No Man's Land): This is the largest portion of the court behind the service line extending to the baseline. This is the part of the court that one wants to hit the ball into (except during as serve), and therefore a terrible place to be standing during game play. If one is standing in "no man's land" then he/she would have a bad angle to return the ball (likely due to the ball landing at your feet instead of ahead of you). For this purpose, the ideal position for hitting the ball back to your opponent is behind the baseline. *See blue in diagram.
Left Service Box (Ad Court): When on the baseline and looking down the court, this would be the service box to your left. It is also where the ball needs to land after a serve coming from the opponent's left side of the court (causing the ball to take a diagonal path over the net). *See pink in diagram.
Right Service Box (Deuce Court): When on the baseline and looking down the court, this would be the service box to your right. It is also where the ball needs to land after a serve coming from the opponent's right side of the court. *See purple in diagram.
Doubles Alley: The space between the singles and doubles sidelines. *See hot pink in diagram.
The basics of how to play tennis:
Before the game begins, a coin toss occurs to determine who will serve first. The player that guesses the toss correctly gets to choose to serve or receive first, OR which side of the court they want to start at. So, if the coin toss winner picks to serve first, then the coin toss loser gets to pick on which side of the court they wish to begin.
The player who serves the ball, the "server," has to stand behind the baseline in one corner then hit the ball to the opposite player on the alternating side. So, if the server begins on the right corner behind the baseline, he/she must hit the ball into the opponent's right service box. The server gets two chances to hit the serve, get the ball over the net and into the correct service box. If the server fails one of these things on the first serve, a "fault" is called, but the server gets one more chance. If the server fails a second time, a "double fault" is called which results in a point to the opponent. (Although I would commit double faults every serve, they rarely happen in professional tennis.)
Once the ball is served into the correct service box, it must take one bounce and one bounce only before the opponent can/must hit it. In fact, all hits in tennis must only take one bounce in the opponent's court before being returned. If the ball is soared over the court without a bounce, the person who was to receive the ball gets the point. If the ball bounces more than once in the receiver's court without the receiver hitting it, the player who hit the ball is rewarded the point. Players continue to hit the ball back and forth to each other until one player misses the ball--which leads to a point for the player who hit the ball. Whenever a person scores a point, they also get to serve the next ball into play.
Balls in tennis that are hit "out" or outside of the court lines result in points for the player who was receiving the ball. However, if the ball lands on the lines, it must be played back or the player who hit the ball receives points. The officials or "umpires" determine if a ball is in or out.
Not only does a player have to score four points to win the game, but also win by two points. Therefore, if a player scores his/her fourth point, but the opponent has three points then the person who just scored must also score one more point to win the game.
A tennis match consists of three sets (exception: professional men's tennis has five sets). A player must win two out of three sets in order to win the match. Within each set, a player must win six games to win the set. Therefore, the bare minimum number of games played will be 12 (should one player win every game to take the first two sets). I don't know about you, but that's a lot of cardio.
Tennis is a sport that requires agility, precision, and endurance. Although the professionals make it look easy, it definitely takes skill and years of practice. Regardless, I still really want to learn how to play! (I'm still looking at you, Alex)
Although this may seem like the end for tennis, next week I want to go into more details regarding the officials, scoring system and code of conduct. But for now, I bid you farewell.
Tennis can be complicated, but remember to KISS (Keep It Simple, Sister).
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."-Ephesians 4:14-15
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