| Ace |
A service of a tennis ball that is not returned
by an opponent and is deemed to be in play by the
umpire. |
| Ad court |
The left side of the court of each player |
| Advantage |
When one player wins a point from a deuce and
needs one more point to win the game |
| Alley |
The area of the court between the singles and
doubles sidelines, also known as the tramlines |
| Approach shot |
A shot used as a setup as the player runs up to
the net, often using underspin |
| ATP |
Association of Tennis Professionals, the men's
professional circuit |
| Backhand |
A method of wielding a tennis racquet where the
player hits the tennis ball with a stroke that comes
across their body with the back of their racquet
hand facing the ball |
| Backswing |
The portion of a swing before the ball is hit |
| Bagel |
Winning a set 6-0. A double bagel is winning 6-0,
6-0. |
| Ball Boy |
A person, male or female, tasked with retrieving
tennis balls from the court that have gone out of
play |
| Baseline |
the chalk line at the farthest ends of the court
indicating the boundary of the area of play. |
| Baseliner |
a player whose strategy is to stay at the baseline
during play |
| Big serve |
a forceful serve, usually giving an advantage
in the point for the server |
| Block |
a defensive shot with relatively little backswing,
usually while returning a serve |
| Bread stick |
winning a set 6-1. See also bagel |
| Break |
to lose a game to an opponent when you are serving |
| Break point |
one point away from a break |
| Closed stance |
hitting the ball with the body facing between
parallel to the baseline and backturned to the opponent;
it is known as a classic technique. |
| Chip |
blocking a shot with underspin |
| Chip and charge |
an aggressive strategy to return the opponent's
serve with underspin and move forward to the net |
| Chop |
a shot with extreme underspin |
| Counterpuncher |
a defensive baseliner. See tennis strategy |
| Court |
the area designated for playing a game of tennis |
| Crosscourt |
hitting the ball diagonally into the opponent's
court |
| Deep |
a shot that lands near the baseline, as opposed
to near the net |
| Deuce |
the score 40-40 in a game. A player must win
two consecutive points from a deuce before winning
the game. See advantage |
| Deuce court |
the right side of the court of each player |
| Dink |
hitting a shot with no pace |
| Dirtballer |
a clay court specialist |
| Double Fault |
two faults in a row in one point, causing the
player serving to lose the Point |
| Doubles |
a tennis game played by four players, two per
side of the court |
| Down the line |
hitting the ball straight ahead into the opponent's
court |
| Drop shot |
a play in which the player hits the ball lightly
enough to just go over the net; designed to catch
a player off guard who is away from the net |
| Drop volley |
a drop shot executed from a volley |
| Fault |
an unsuccessful serve that fails to place the
ball in the correct area of play therefore not starting
the Point |
| First Service |
the first of the two serves of a tennis ball
a player is allowed at the beginning of a Point. |
| Flat |
e.g. a flat serve; a shot with relatively no
spin |
| Follow through |
the portion a swing after the ball is hit |
| Foot fault |
a fault caused by the server stepping into the
tennis court |
| Forehand |
a method of wielding a tennis racquet where the
player hits the tennis ball with a stroke that comes
from behind their body with the front of their racquet
hand facing the ball |
| Game point |
one point away to win the game. |
| Golden set |
winning a set without losing a point |
| Golden Slam |
winning the Grand Slam and the tennis Olympic
gold medal in a calendar year |
| Grand Slam |
the four most prestigious tournaments in a year:
the Australian Open, the French Open (or Roland
Garros), Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Winning the
Grand Slam is winning all four in a calendar year. |
| Groundies |
see Groundstroke |
| Groundstroke |
a forehand or backhand shot that is executed
after the ball bounces once on the court |
| Hail Mary |
an extremely high lob, for defensive purposes |
| Head |
(racket) the portion of the racket that contains
the strings |
| Hold |
winning the game when serving |
| I-formation |
(in doubles) a formation where the server and
his partner stand on the same side of the court
(deuce- or ad-court) before starting the point |
| Inside-out |
running around one side (e.g. the backhand side)
and hitting a crosscourt shot |
| Inside-in |
running around one side and hitting it down the
line; less popular than the inside-out |
| Jamming |
to serve or return straight to the opponent's
body |
| Kick serve |
a type of spin serve that bounces high |
| Lawn Tennis |
tennis played on a court laid out on a grass
covered surface |
| Let |
when the ball touches the net but enters the
opponent's half of the court within the play area.
The point is replayed |
| Line Judge |
a person designated to observe the passage of
tennis balls over the boundary lines of the court.
A Line Judge can declare that a play was within
or outside of the play area and cannot be overruled
by the players. A line Judge must defer to an Umpire's
decision, even when it contradicts their own observations. |
| Lob |
a stroke in tennis where the ball is lifted high
above the net with the intention of it going over
the opposing player in the case of him being close
to the net, thus nearly guaranteeing the point |
| Love |
zero (score) Love game a shutout game won without
the other player scoring |
| Match point |
a situation when the player who is leading needs
one more point to win the match |
| Mini-break |
to win a point from the opponent's serve in a
tiebreak |
| Mixed Doubles |
a tennis game played by four players, two players
are male, two are female, one of each player sex
per side of the court |
| Moonball |
an extremely high lob |
| No-Man's Land |
the area between the service line and the baseline,
where a player is most vulnerable |
| Open stance |
hitting the ball with the body facing between
parallel to the baseline and facing the opponent;
it is known as a modern technique. |
| Out |
any ball that lands outside the play area |
| Overrule |
reversing a call from the linesperson, done by
the umpire |
| Passing shot |
A shot that passes by the opponent at the net,
but not over him (see lob) |
| Poaching |
(in doubles) an aggressive move where the player
at net moves to volley a shot intended for his/her
partner |
| Point |
the period of play between the first successful
service of a ball to the point at which that ball
goes out of play |
| Pusher |
a player who does not try to hit winners, but
only to return it safely |
| Putaway |
a shot to try to end the point from an advantageous
situation |
| Racquet |
a bat with a long handle and a large looped head
with a string mesh tautly stretched across it, made
of wood, metal or some other synthetic material,
that is used by a tennis player to hit the tennis
ball during a game of tennis - (see also Racket) |
| Rally |
(Following the service of a tennis ball) A series
of return hits of the ball that ends when one or
other player fails to return the ball within the
court boundary or fails to return a ball that falls
within the play area. |
| Referee |
a person in charge of enforcing the rules in
a tournament, as opposed to a tennis match (see
Umpire) |
| Retriever |
a defensive baseliner. See tennis strategy |
| Set point |
one point away from winning a set |
| Singles |
a tennis game played by two players |
| Second Service |
the second and final of the two serves of a tennis
ball a player is allowed at the beginning of a Point |
| Serve |
to begin a point by hitting the ball into the
opponents half of the court |
| Serve and volley |
a strategy to serve and immediately move forward
to make a volley and hopefully a winner |
| Slice |
(rally) hitting a tennis ball with underspin;
(service) serving with sidespin |
| Spin |
rotation of the ball as it moves through the
air, affecting its trajectory and bounce |
| Split step |
a footwork technique by doing a small hop just
before the opponent is hitting the ball |
| Tanking |
to purposefully lose a match, because of poor
mental game or others. Or, to simply purposefully
lose one unnecessary set, so as to focus energy
and attention on the final and match-deciding set |
| Tennis Ball |
a soft, hollow, air filled rubber ball coated
in a synthetic fur used in the game of tennis |
| Tiebreak |
a special game at the score 6-6 in a set to decide
the winner of the set; the winner is the first to
reach at least 7 points with a difference of 2 from
the opponent. |
| Topspin |
spin of a ball that goes forward over the top
of the ball, causing the ball to dip and bounce
higher |
| Tramline |
a line defining the limit of play on the side
of a singles or doubles court. |
| Underspin |
spin of a ball that goes forward under of the
ball, causing the ball to float and bounce lower |
| Umpire |
(during play) an independent person designated
to enforce the rules of the game in a match, usually
sitting on a high chair beside the net |
| Unforced error |
during play, an error in a service or return
shot that cannot be attributed to any factor other
than poor judgement by the player. |
| Wild card |
a player let by organizers to play in a tournament,
even if his/her rank is not adequate or does not
register in time |
| Winner |
(rally) a forcing shot that can not be reached
by the opponent and wins the point; (service) a
forcing serve that is reached by the opponent, but
is not returned properly, and wins the point |
| WTA |
Women's Tennis Association, the women's professional
circuit |
