Professional Tennis Rules

Modern-day tennis, invented by Englishman, Major Walter C. Wingfield, is inspired by similar games of court tennis and squash, to a great extent. The fabulous history of tennis spans back to the late 19th century, when the game was played on an hourglass shaped court. Over the period, tennis saw a major turn around with several aspects of the game being modified to suit the taste of avid fans. The rules of the game though, were only subjected to minor changes in these 120 years.

Professional Tennis Rules and Regulations

The game went professional in the first half of the 20th century, and this development added to its already mammoth fan base. Tournaments such as Wimbledon and Davis Cup played a prominent role in the development of the game. Another aspect of tennis which helped the game to gain wide popularity among the masses was the fact that its rules were very simple. Given below are some snippets pertaining to tennis rules and regulations, which form the basics of this popular sport.

Court Dimensions
A tennis court is a rectangular, flat surface made from clay, concrete or grass. Though the length of a tennis court is 78 feet, its width varies for singles and doubles matches. According to tennis rules for singles, the width of the court is 27 feet, whereas tennis doubles rules stipulate the court width to be 36 feet. The net stretched across the court, dividing the court into two halves, 3 feet 6 inches high at the posts, and 3 feet high at the center. On either side of the net there are two service courts, each measuring 21 feet x 13.5 feet, located side by side.

Tennis Equipment
According to tennis racket rules, the frame of the racket, including the handle, should not exceed 29 inches in length and 12.5 inches in width. Even the hitting surface should not exceed 15.5 inches in length and 11.5 inches in width. If pressurized, The internal pressure, of the pressurized balls used in tennis, should not be greater than 7 kPa (1 psi).

Rules for Serving
In tennis, the serve is executed by tossing the ball and hitting it in mid air, into the service box located diagonally opposite to the side from which the player is serving. If the ball doesn't land in the diagonally opposite service box, it is considered to be a fault. If the player tosses the ball in the air, swings the racket and misses the ball it is considered as a fault. The player shouldn't touch the baseline or center line until the ball is hit, as it is considered to be a foot fault. While serving, if the ball hits the net and falls into the players own court it's considered as a fault. However, if the serve touches, the net and yet crosses over the net, the player gets to serve again. Two consecutive faults, are referred to as double fault, earn a point for the opposition.

Scoring Rules
The tennis scoring system is similar in singles and doubles matches. Each game is played for four points - 15, 30, 40 and Game. If the score is tied at 40 each, it is referred to as Deuce. In such a situation, a player need to take a lead of 2 points to win the game. In deuce circumstances, when any player scores one point, he is one point away from winning, this is referred to as an Advantage. And if he loses the advantage, the scores are again referred to as deuce. The player who wins six games by a margin of 2 games first, wins the set. The match can be played as best of 5 or best of 3 sets. In case of best of 5, the player who wins 3 sets first wins the match, whereas in case of best of 3, the player who wins 2 sets wins the match.

Tie Breakers
As the players have to win by a margin of 2, when the scores level at 5-5 at least 7 game wins are required to win the set. Further if the scores level at 6-6, the match goes through a 'tie breaker', which is played for seven points. However, the tie breaker can be extended as it needs to be won by a margin of 2 points. Even if the tie breaker scores reach double figures or beyond, the winning score is recorded as 7-5. In Wimbledon, there is no tie breaker in the 5th set with a difference of 2 games being required for a player to win the set.

Understanding the basic rules of playing tennis, makes the game a lot easier and exciting. Some may feel that these rules are a bit stringent, but even professional players will agree to the fact that these rules are basically constituted to ensure that the game is played in true spirit.