Tennis terminology explained

Each point begins with a serve, the person serving stands behind the baseline on the right-hand side of the court. The aim of the serve is to put the ball into the service box diagonally opposite. The server swaps sides after each point. You get two chances to get your serve in, typically you can go for it more with the first serve, knowing you have a second bite of the cherry if needed. Be careful with the second service though, if it goes out, your opponent wins the point.

An ace is the name given to a serve that is a winning shot without the receiving tennis player being able to return the ball. Aces are powerful shots, according to Guiness World Records the fastest ever recorded was dispatched at a whopping 163mph! The Croatian player, Goran Ivanišević holds the record for most aces recorded in a single tournament – that’s 213 aces smashed out when winning the 2001 Wimbledon title.

There are a whole host of tennis shots out there, mastering a few of these and you will soon see improvements to your game.

Forehand: This is an essential shot in tennis and is usually the first one you learn. For keen tennis fans, watching the professionals unleash powerful forehand shots is inspiring and gives you something to aim for. The forehand shot is made from the same side of the body as the hand which is holding the racket. Most players use a single hand to grip the racquet, but you can use a two handed grip.

Backhand: As the name implies this is the opposite of the forehand, it is made by swinging the racket away from the body with the back of you hands facing the ball. The backhand stoke can be single handed (holding the racket with one hand) or double handed (holding the racket with both hands).

Lob: An effective shot, that is not seen so much these days. The lob essentially means hitting the ball high and deep into your opponent’s side of the court. With the lob you are aiming to find the back of the court with your ball when your opponent is coming to the net, catching them wrong-footed.

Drop Shot: The Drop Shop is used when the opponent is at the rear of the court or out of position. The tennis ball is hit softly and just over the net with some backspin to create a low bounce, making it difficult for your opponent to reach the ball before it has bounced twice.

Volley: With the volley, the ball is hit before it bounces. The aim is to return the ball before your opponent has time to adjust their position. One of the classic shots in grass court tennis is the serve and volley, where a player will race to the net and then volley the ball quickly back at their opponent. Another type of volley is the half volley where the ball is hit on the rise after the ball bounces.

Baseline: The line that marks the end of the court, a ball hit past this line is called long. The base line is also where you serve the ball from and runs parallel to the net. Modern tennis is played mostly from the baseline, staying at the back of the court and hitting hard groundstrokes rather than coming to the net.

Sideline: This is the outer edge of the court and runs perpendicular to the net, defining the side boundaries. There are two sets of markings, one for singles matches and the other which is further out for doubles.

Service box: When serving, you must place the ball in the opponent's service box on the opposite side from where you stand. The first serve of each game should finish in the service box to your left. On your second serve, move to the left-hand side of the court and play into the right-hand service box and so on until the game has been won.

Service line: The service line runs parallel to the net and is the halfway point between the net and the baseline.

Centre service line: This line divides the court in half lengthways, it divides the two service boxes on each side. 

A tennis match is made up of two or three sets (unless it’s a Gram Slam event, in which case it’s best of five). To win a set you need to win at least six games and to win a match two sets (three if it’s a Grand Slam tournament).

The scoring system is unique to tennis and the servers score is always called first. All games start at ‘love’ (zero to you and me), then go up to 15, then 30, and then 40 game points. So, the first point in a game is 15 and the last point is 40. The winner of a tennis game must have a two-point advantage e.g. 40-15 or 40-30.

You’ll also hear the phrase ‘break point’, this is the part of a game when you only need one more point to win the game and ‘break’ your opponents serve.

Deuce: When the score gets to 40-40, it’s known as ‘deuce’. Once at deuce, a player must win two consecutive points to win the game. The word ‘deuce’ comes from the French phrase “à deux” – meaning ‘at two’, as in needing two more points.

This then brings us to the scoring term ‘advantage’. Depending on who wins the next point after ‘deuce’ their score is termed ‘advantage’. If the player at advantage wins the point, they win the game. If they lose the point, the score goes back to ‘deuce’. You’ll see many long battles when the score returns to deuce again and again, before one player finally gets the two consecutive points they need.

The Grand Slam tournaments are the four most important annual tennis events. You’ll no doubt have heard of these events as the strawberry and Pimm’s fuelled Wimbledon is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. The Slams start with the Australian Open in mid January, then the French in May and June, Wimbledon follows close behind in June and July and the final event, the US Open happens in August and September. Each of the Grand Slams takes place over two weeks and consist of the best of five sets for men and three for women.