Spicy Articles: All about Tennis - Scoring, grand slam tournaments, shot types

Tennis General Information

Tennis is played on 3 types of courts - Hard court (AO and US Open), Clay courts (French Open), Grass Courts (Wimbledon)
Equipments required for playing tennis - Rackets, Court, Tennis balls, Min 2 players
Top seed men Players ranked by ATP (Association of tennis professionals) as of 2018 - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer
Top seed women players ranked by WTA (Women's Tennis Association) as of 2018 - Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki
Other well known players - Andy murray, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams
ITF (Internantional Tennis Federation) - Governing body for Tennis
Major tournaments - Grand slams (AO, French Open, Wimbledon, US open) , ATP, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Hopman, Laver
Tennis is also included in Olympics
Every country has different governing bodies. e.g. In Australia, governing body is https://www.tennis.com.au and you can access tournament calendar at https://www.tennis.com.au/tournaments/calendar

Tennis Rules and Scoring

Scoring - A match consists of sets. Usually best of 3 or best of 5 sets are played. Each set contains games. To win the set, you need to win at least 6 games with a margin of 2 games. For example 6-4. If the scores are like 6-5, you need one more game to win the set and so on. If the scores are 6-6, then set is tied and tie-breaker is played. Each game has min 4 points. Game points are counted like 0-0, 15-0, 30-0, 40-0 and game point. If game score is 40-40, it is called as Duece. To win the game in this situation, you need to lead by minimum 2 points.
Serve - Play starts with a serve. You must stay behind the baseline and between sideline and centre line until you hit the ball. Good served ball must land in the service box of the opponent without touching the net. Opponent must hit back the ball after it is bounced once.
When the game count is odd, players change the court sides.
Play area - It is the area where players can hit the ball without losing point. For singles, play area is within inner side lines. For doubles, play area is within outer side lines.
Let - When the served ball hits the net and lands in the service court, it is called a let. It is not a fault and server still has 2 serve attempts remaining.
Fault - When the served ball does not fall in the service box and it is not let, it is called as a fault.
Double Fault - Second consecutive fault is called as double fault. When double fault occurs, opponent gets the point.
Foot fault - When serving, you should stand behind the baseline and between sideline and center mark. If foot touches the baseline or sidelines before hitting the ball, it is a foot fault.
In/out - When ball is in play area, it is called as in. Otherwise it is called as out
Game point - The point that decides the outcome of the game
Break point - When opponent is serving and you are just one point away from winning the game, you will be at a break point.
Match point - The point that decides the outcome of the match
Tiebreaker- When the set is tied at 6-6, last game is played and it is called as tie-breaker. Different grand slams have different tie break rules.
Deuce - When the game is tied at 40-40, it is called as Duece.
Advantage - When game is in Deuce and if you win a point, then you are said to have an advantage.

Tennis Shots

Before I talk about tennis shots, let me tell you about grip types - the way players hold the rackets. There are mainly 3 types of grips in Tennis

Continental - When the base knuckle of your index fingure is at bevel 2 of racket.
Eastern - When the base knuckle of your index fingure is at bevel 3 of racket.
Semi-Western - When the base knuckle of your index fingure is at bevel 4 of racket.
Western - When the base knuckle of your index fingure is at bevel 5 of racket.

Now let us see the types of tennis shots. Tennis shots can be divided into 3 categories

When you hit the ball - Serve, Ground Stroke, Volley, Half Volley.
How you hit the ball - Forehand, Backhand, Overhead Smash (hitting ball so that it catches high speed), Flat, Sidespin, Block, Slice, Topspin, tweener, Backspin.
Where you hit the ball - cross court (Hitting diagonally over the center of the net), dropshot (tapping a ball so that it barely goes over the net), passing shot (hitting a ball so that it goes out of reach of an opponent), lob (hitting the ball high and near the baseline of the opponent's court) , down the line (Hitting the ball parallel to the sidelines).

Now let us see types of serves in Tennis

Flat - Hitting the ball without any spin.
Slice/reverse slice/Wide slice (Side spin) - Hitting the ball with side spin.
Kick/topspin/American (ball bounces very high) - Hitting the ball with top spin.
Twist/Reverse kick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxlngF-sKSQ
Underhand - Racket is swung from below the waist in upward direction.
Pat-a-cake serve - Beginner level serve. In this type of serve, ball is hit without swinging the racket behind the head.

Tips for maximum number of tennis matches

Play with confidence.
Find out the weak areas of the opponent and exploit it.
Hit the ball in such a way that ball will go out of reach and away from the opponent.
Predict the movement of opponent and hit the ball in different direction of prediction.
Try to stay in the centre of the baseline ready for next shot.
Follow through is very important after hitting the ball as it allows you to spin the ball and impart desired speed.

Don'ts in Tennis to avoid mistakes

Don't mishit the ball.
Do not hit the ball out of the center of the racket.
Don't play like a pussycat. Be fearless.

Footwork

Footwork is very important in Tennis. There are mainly 2 types of stances in Tennis.

Open stance - This is when your feet are parallel to the side lines. This is useful when the ball is high.
Closed stance - This is when your feet are parallel to baseline. This is useful when ball is short of you.

It is important that you position yourself properly before hitting the ball. If the ball is not in your reach, you should reach the ball as quickly as possible.

Split step is another important thing to do when recieving the serves. Split step helps you to get ready for the served ball.

Tennis Terminology

Ace serve - When opponent can not touch the served ball, it is called as Ace.
Dead net - When the ball hit with ground stroke or volley touches the net and falls in opponent's court, it is called dead net.
Ground strok - When the ball is hit after it is bounced, it is called as ground stroke.
Volley stroke - When the ball is hit before it is bounced, it is called as volley stroke.
Half Volley stroke - When the ball is hit just few milli seconds after it is bounced, it is called as half volley stroke.
Break serve - When opponent is serving and you are just one point away from winning the game, it is called as break serve.
Hold serve - When you are serving and you are just one point away from winning the game, it is called as hold serve.
Singles - 2 players are involved.
Doubles - 4 players are involved.
Mixed doubles - 4 players are involved but gender is different in each team.
Lob - hitting the ball high and deep into opponent's court.