Types of courts

There are three main types of court surfaces. Depending on the materials used, each surface provides a difference in the speed and bounce of the ball, which in turn can affect the level of play of individual players. The three most common surfaces are:

The dimensions of a tennis court, in metric units.

Indoor courts are also used so play can continue year-round. Common indoor surfaces are hard, carpet, and clay. Some players are more successful on certain surfaces and are known as "specialists" for that particular court.

Clay courts are considered "slow" because the loose surface causes the ball to lose speed rapidly and bounce higher. This makes it more difficult for a player to hit an unreturnable shot (a "winner") because the opponent has more time to reach and return the ball. Line calls are easily reviewable on this type of court because the ball generally leaves a visible mark. Courts are swept between sets, and at the end of every match, to erase any marks from the previous set or match.

Hardcourts are generally considered to be faster than clay courts. There are many different types of hardcourts, and, dependent on the construction of the court, can be relatively slow or fast. A fast hardcourt is characterised by low bounces, where fast-serving and hard-hitting players hold an advantage.

Grass is a fast surface and was the surface used at three of the Grand Slam tournaments until the Australian Open and the U.S. Open changed to hardcourts. Grass courts cause low ball bounces, which keep rallies short and gives hard-serving and hard-hitting players an advantage. This type of court also features unpredictable ball bounces, depending on the health of the grass, how "beat-up" the grass may be from lots of matches played on a court, and how recently it has been mown. For that reason, a volley from close to the net is a particularly appropriate shot on a grass court.

Professional players wear very different shoes for the three surfaces. Grass-court shoes are designed to grip the surface and prevent sliding. On a clay court, by contrast, sliding is an accepted and beneficial part of footwork skill. There is also a less common surface that is called "carpet". These are mainly indoor courts and are rubbery and hard, like hardcourts.

Scoring

A tennis match comprises a number of sets, typically three for both men's and women's matches, the exception being at the major events (Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens) where the men play best of five sets. A set consists of a number of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.

A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving, and is won by the first player to have won at least four points and at least two points more than his opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner particular to tennis: scores of zero to three points are described as "love" (or zero), "fifteen," "thirty," and "forty" respectively. When at least three points have been scored by each side and the players have the same number of points, the score is "deuce." When at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is "advantage" for the player in the lead. During informal games, "advantage" can also be called "ad in" or "ad out", depending on whether the serving player or receiving player is ahead, respectively. In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., "fifteen-love") after each point. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.

A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, he has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.). Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.

A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a game point. It is of importance in professional tennis, since service breaks are rare enough to create a substantial advantage for the receiver in the men's game. The advantage to the server is much less in the women's game, but match analysts like to keep track of service breaks anyway. It may happen that the player who is in the lead in the game has more than one chance to score the winning point, even if his opponent should take the next point(s). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 15-40, the receiver has a double break point. If the player in the lead wins any of the next two points, that player wins the game. Break points are not announced either.

A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set when he wins at least six games and at least two games more than his opponent. When each player has won six games a tiebreaker is played. A tiebreaker, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7-6. Only in the final sets of matches at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, Davis Cup, and Fed Cup are tie-breaks not played. A "love" set means that the loser of the set won zero games. For example if the score was 6 to 0, it would be 6 love. (See "tennis terminology" below for names given to unusual endings like the example here.) In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score.

Matches consist of an odd number of sets, the match winner being the player who wins more than half of the sets. The match ends as soon as this winning condition is met. Some matches may consist of five sets (the winner being the first to win three sets), while most matches are three sets (the winner being the first to win two sets). In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase "Game, set, match" followed by the winning team's name.

Officials

In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service. In some tournaments, certain line judges, usually those who would be calling the serve, are replaced by electronic sensors that beep when an out call would have been made. In some open-tournament matches, players are allowed to challenge a limited number of close calls by means of instant replay. The U.S. Open, the Miami Masters, U.S. Open Series, and World Team Tennis started using a "challenge" system in 2006 and the Australian OpenWimbledon introduced the system in 2007. This used the Hawk-Eye system and the rules were similar to those used in the NFL, where a player gets a limited number of instant-replay challenges per match/set. In clay-court matches, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left by the ball's impact on the court surface.

The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision if the tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the umpire's decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision.

Ball boys or girls may be employed to retrieve balls, pass them to the players, and hand players their towels. They have no adjudicative role. In rare events (e.g., if they are hurt or if they have caused a hindrance), the umpire may ask them for a statement of what actually happened. The umpire may consider their statements when making a decision. In some leagues, especially junior leagues, players make their own calls, trusting each other to be honest. This is the case for many school and university level matches. However, the referee or referee's assistant can be called on court at a player's request, and the referee or assistant may change a player's call. In unofficiated matches, a ball is out only if the player entitled to make the call is sure that the ball is out.

Shots

A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob.

Serve

Tim Henman serving.

A serve (or, more formally, a "service") in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit under- or overhand.

Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve and kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter's point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.

Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an "ace." If the receiver manages to touch it but fails to successfully return it, it is called a "service winner."

Grips

Players may use the continental, eastern, semi-western, or western grips during play. Different grips generally are used for different types of spin and shots.

Forehand

Roger Federer preparing to hit a forehand. Much can be learned from this photograph. Note how he is "loading" his body weight on his back (right) foot and coiling his shoulders with the help of his left hand. From this position, he will "uncoil" his body beginning with his legs, progressing to his hips and then on to his arms. This is how the "modern" forehand utilizing the open stance is executed.

For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various grips for executing the forehand and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the western. For a number of years the small, apparently frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to devastating effect against larger, more powerful players, and many females such as Monica Seles also use a two-handed forehand.

Backhand

Maria Kirilenko hits a backhand.

For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich, but they were lonely exceptions. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, and later Mats WilanderAndre Agassi and Venus Williams. Andy Roddick uses the extreme western grip to create massive amounts of top spin. It is difficult to do this and could possibly cause injury if done incorrectly. Two hands give the player more power, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a deadly accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.

Other shots

Justine Henin volleying.

A volley is made in the air before the ball bounces, generally near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent's court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net. The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation time away from the opponent. From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court to either enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent's head. If the lob is not hit deeply enough into the other court, however, the opponent may then hit an overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the point. Finally, if an opponent is deep in his court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot, softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it. No matter what shot it is, a forehand, backhand, serve or volley, putting spin on the ball, knowing how to use spin to its best advantage, is what separates the top players from the rest.

Grand Slam winners

Male players who have played at least part of their careers during the open era and who have won at least two Grand Slam singles titles are as follows: Pete Sampras (14), Roger Federer (12), Roy Emerson (12), Rod Laver (11), Björn Borg (11), Ken Rosewall (8), Jimmy ConnorsIvan Lendl (8), Andre Agassi (8), John Newcombe (7), John McEnroe (7), Mats Wilander (7), Boris Becker (6), Stefan Edberg (6), Jim Courier (4), Guillermo Vilas (4), Arthur Ashe (3), Jan Kodes (3), Gustavo Kuerten (3), Rafael Nadal (3), Stan Smith (2), Ilie Năstase (2), Johan Kriek (2), Lleyton Hewitt (2), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (2), Patrick Rafter (2), Sergi Bruguera (2), and Marat Safin (2). (8),

Female players who have played at least part of their careers during the open era and who have won at least two Grand Slam singles titles are as follows: Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22), Chris Evert (18), Martina Navrátilová (18), Billie Jean King (12), Monica Seles (9), Serena Williams (8), Justine Henin (7), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (7), Venus Williams (6), Martina Hingis (5), Hana Mandlíková (4), Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (4), Maria Sharapova (3), Virginia Wade (3), Lindsay Davenport (3), Jennifer Capriati (3), Nancy Richey Gunter (2), Tracy Austin (2), Mary Pierce (2), and Amélie Mauresmo (2).

The greatest male singles players of all time

A frequent topic of discussion among tennis fans and commentators is who was the greatest male singles player of all time. No consensus has ever existed, however. By a large margin, an Associated Press poll in 1950 named Bill Tilden as the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century. From 1920-1930, Tilden won singles titles at Wimbledon three times and the U.S. Championships seven times. In 1938, however, Donald Budge became the first person to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during the same calendar year and won six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles in 1937 and 1938. Tilden called Budge "the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived."And in his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the greatest player ever. Some observers, however, also felt that Kramer deserved consideration for the title. Kramer was among the few who dominated amateur and professional tennis during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Tony Trabert has said that of the players he saw before the start of the open era, Kramer was the best male champion.

By the latter half of the 1950s and 1960s, Budge and others had added Pancho Gonzales and Lew Hoad to the list of contenders. Budge reportedly believed that Gonzales was the greatest player ever. Gonzales said about Hoad, "When Lew's game was at its peak nobody could touch him.  ... I think his game was the best game ever. Better than mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys were great. His overhead was enormous. He had the most natural tennis mind with the most natural tennis physique."

During the open era, first Rod Laver and then more recently Björn Borg and Pete Sampras were regarded by many of their contemporaries as among the greatest ever. Cliff Drysdale has said that Laver is the greatest player ever. Mats Wilander said, "The greatest player ever is not necessarily the player who has won the most. I would say that Björn Borg is the greatest player ever because he won Wimbledon five times in a row. And out of those five times, he won the French Open all of those five years, plus another year." Laver has said that Sampras is "equal to anyone who has ever played the game." John McEnroe has said that either Laver or Sampras is the greatest player ever. Roger Federer is now considered by many observers to have the most "complete" game in modern tennis, with the potential to challenge the achievements of these past greats. Many experts of tennis, former tennis players and some of his own tennis peers believe Federer may become the greatest player in the history of the game. The tennis historian Raymond Lee did a statistical analysis account of the question, counting tournament wins totals and percentages of career match wins and wins in a 5 year period. His alltime list ranks Laver ahead of Borg and Tilden (tie), Federer, Gonzales, Rosewall, Budge, Lendl, Connors, Sampras in the top ten.