- Scoring in Tennis
A “score” is a familiar word in every sport and tennis is one such sport. Today, let us learn about scoring in tennis. The scoring method is very much the same in singles as well as in doubles. When the game does not go into a tie, it is played up to four points, numbered as 15, 30, 40, and game.
The word zero is described as love (Might have come from the French word l’oeuf, which means egg). If there is a tie at 40 points, it is known as deuce. A game must be won by a margin of at least two points, the game continues until a player gets the two consecutive points from deuce.
The score of a server is always recorded first place in tennis. For example, if the score is written as “40-15” means, the server has scored three points (15, 30, and 40) and the opposition has only scored one point (15). To win a set, a player must need to win at least six games with a margin of two games.
So, if a running set becomes 5-5 (five games each), one player needs to win two consecutive games to win by the margin of 7-5. If the set goes to 6-6, a tiebreaker would be applied to the set.
During the tiebreaker, each point is considered as a single point and a player needs to score at least seven points with a margin of two. If a score happens to be 7-6 in a tiebreaker, a player with the difference of two points can only win the game after that.
- Service in Tennis
Service, also known as to serve, is a shot to start a point in tennis. The service is started by tossing up the ball and hitting it in the diagonal service box in the opposition’s court without touching the net. Generally, services are played overhead but that can also be played underarm.
The service is the only time when a player can have some time to set up instead of returning the ball against the shot from the opposite court. The service is a kind of shot that can be very tough for a new player to the game but once this art is mastered it can win many points for a player. The service can be used as an offensive weapon for professional players and they are expected to win many points through their services.
A professional player generally does master the art of a tennis service and try to learn more and more Ace services. An ace service is a shot that is played with such power and distance that despite being an official service, the opposition player cannot return the shot on the service.
This kind of service is considered to be the best service. To deliver a legal service a player can have two chances. If a player does a wrong service twice, it is considered to be a double-fault and a point is awarded to the opposition.
Players like Agassi, Federer, Sampras, Ivan Lendl, Edberg, etc were known for their superb serves. These players have won series of grand slams due to their excellent service.
- Volley
Tennis is a game of power, mental toughness, and sheer skill where a player needs to learn every shot of the game to become a champion player. It is mandatory to learn all the shots of a tennis game to avoid the weaknesses that can be explored by the opponent. Let us today learn about the art of volley, one of the easy winning shots of a game of tennis.
A volley is a shot that is played even before the ball bounces on the court. Generally, the volley is played from the net but there are many instances when the volley is played from the baseline or middle of the court. The general purpose of hitting a volley is to reduce the reaction time of the opposition player and there are fewer chances of getting a strong reply shot from the opponent.
Another purpose is to avoid the bad bounce from the surface. Several players are known as to serve and volleyers. They first serve the ball and play the return volley on the return of their serve. Tim Henman of Great Britain was one of the best serve and volley players.
If the shot is played on the rise of the ball (just after the bounce), it is known as a half-volley which is considered to be one of the very toughest shots in the game of tennis. John McEnroe was known to be the best half-volley player. In the present tennis players, Roger Federer excels at playing volley.
- Backhand
Tennis is an art of playing shots and services with sheer power, expert skill, and mental as well as physical toughness. One needs to master all the shots of this game to become a champion.
If only a particular shot is a weakness of a player, it is exploited to the full by the opposition. Here, let us learn about playing the backhand shot in the game of tennis. The backhand shot is played by swinging the racquet around the player’s body in the direction where a player wants the ball to go.
For a left-handed player, a backhand shot to start at the right-hand side of the body swings around while hitting the ball and finishes at the left-hand side of the body. It is exactly the opposite for the right-handed players, as it starts at the left-hand side of the body, swings across, and ends at the right-hand side of the body.
Because of the reason that player’s main hand is pulled into the shot, the backhand shot generally lacks consistency and power and it is considered to be one of the most difficult shots to master. Backhand shots can be played either with a single-hand or double-handed Double-hand backhand shots apply more power and accuracy in comparison to single-hand backhand shot.
In the current players, Roger Federer is renowned for his fantastic backhand. The confidence in his backhand has been his greatest strength and he still displays brilliant game by surprising his opponents.
