Tennis Official Rules

SA Catholic Secondary School Girls Sport Association 116 George Street Thebarton SA 5031 PO Box 179 Torrensville Plaza South Australia 5031 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL TENNIS RULES Tennis is conducted under the rules of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia unless otherwise stated, in conjunction with the SACSSGSA Rules Please note these rules have been simplified for the benefit of the completion, for all rules see website link on last page. 1. COURT a) The court shall be a rectangle, 23.77 m long and, for singles matches, 8.23 m wide. For doubles matches, the court shall be 10.97 m wide. b) The net height is to be 1.07 m high 2. SCORING a) A standard game is scored as follows with the server’s score being called first: No point - “Love” First point - “15” Second point - “30” Third point - “40” Fourth point - “Game” b) Deuce/Advantage- If each player/team has won three points, the score is “Deuce”. After “Deuce”, the score is “Advantage” for the player/team who wins the next point. If that same player/team also wins the next point, that player/team wins the “Game”; if the opposing player/team wins the next point, the score is again “Deuce”. A player/team needs to win two consecutive points immediately after “Deuce” to win the “Game”. c) Tie Break- During a tie-break game, points are scored “Zero”, “1”, “2”, “3”, etc. The first player/team to win seven points wins the “Game” and “Set”, provided there is a margin of two points over the opponent 3. STARTING A GAME Updated International Tennis Federation 2013 a) Players toss a coin the winning person elects to serve/receive or choose the end. 4. CHANGING ENDS a) Players must change end every ‘odd’ set when the total sets equal and odd number b) During a tie-break game, players shall change ends after every six points. 5. SERVING a) When serving in a standard game, the server shall stand behind alternate halves of the court, starting from the right half of the court in every game. b) The server must serve behind the base line and serve to the receiver on the opposite of the net and opposite of the court. c) If the first service is a fault, the server shall serve again without delay from behind the same half of the court from which that fault was served, unless the service was from the wrong half. d) If there is a ‘let’ serve the server shall have another serve- (this is if the ball hits the net) e) A serve is not permitted to be hit immediately after a bounce, it must be hit on the “full”, unless agreed upon by both teams. 4. GENERAL RULES a) The ball that bounces or lands on the line is ‘in’ b) If the ball bounces in then hits a permanent fixture it is classified as in. c) 5. PLAYER LOOSES A POINT a) The player serves two consecutive faults b) The player does not return the ball in play before it bounces twice consecutively c) The player returns the ball in play so that it hits the ground outside the correct court d) The receiver returns the service before it bounces e) The player touches the net f) The player catches or throws the ball g) The player hits the ball before it has passed the net; h) In doubles, both players touch the ball when returning it. 6. TENNIS AUSTRALIA’S RULES FOR NON UMPIRED MATCHES: Each player is responsible for all decisions in her half of the court. She should be completely honest on all calls but, if in doubt, he/she should give his/her opponent the benefit of the doubt and play the ball as good. You should not play a let. It is your obligation to call all balls on your side, to make your opponent make calls when the opponent requests it, and to call against yourself (with the exception of a first service) any ball that you clearly see out on your opponent’s side of the net. Any “out”, “let” or “fault” call must be made immediately (i.e. made before either an opponent has hit the return or the return has gone out of play); otherwise the ball continues in play. “Calls” must be verbal and clearly audible to the opponent, followed by a signal if necessary. “Lets” may be called by any of the participating players. On all surfaces if a player incorrectly calls a ball “out” and then realises that the ball was good, the point should be replayed on the first occasion. In the case of a winning shot, a let would not be played. In doubles, when returning service, the partner of the receiver should generally call the service line for him or her. The receiver should generally call the centre line and the side service lines. If players cannot agree on the score, they should calmly discuss the points/games that are the areas of disagreement. If they cannot reach agreement they should replay only the points or game in question. All points or games which the players agree on stand e.g. Two players cannot agree on whether the score is 40-15 or 30-30, but agree on the winner of the first, second and fourth points. Therefore only the third point needs to be replayed. Players are prohibited from checking the mark of the ball on their opponent’s side of the court, unless invited by their opponent to do so. Ball mark inspections are only permitted on clay courts. On clay courts if a player incorrectly calls a ball “out” and then realises that the ball was good, the player who called “out” loses the point. Where a ball interrupts play, either by rolling/bouncing onto the court, and/or creating a visible interruption behind the court, a let should be played. If a player hinders his/her opponent it can be ruled involuntary or deliberate. When a player has created an involuntary hindrance (ball falling out of pocket, hat falling off etc.) the first time a let should be called and the player should be told that any such hindrance thereafter will be ruled deliberate. Any hindrance caused by the player that is ruled deliberate will result in the loss of the point. http://www.tennis.com.au/play-tennis/how-to-play/rules .

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