TERMINOLOGY

Here are a few tennis terms to help you understand what someone is bleating on about at the other end of the court and to help make you feel like a pro: 

Ace:  A serve where the tennis ball served is served in and not touched by the receiver. Aces are usually powerful and generally land on or near one of the corners at the back of the service box.

Advantage:  When one player wins the first point from a deuce and needs one more point to win the game.

Backhand:  A stroke in which the ball is hit with the back of the racquet hand facing the ball at the moment of contact. A backhand will often be hit by a right-handed player when the ball is at the left side of the court, and vice versa.

Backspin:  A shot such that the ball rotates backwards after it is hit; also known as slice or underspin.

Baseline:  The line at the farthest ends of the court indicating the boundary of the area of play.

Break Point:  A point which, if won by the receiver, would result in a break of service; arises when the score is 30–40 or 40–Adv. A double break point (or two break points) arises at 15–40; a triple break point (or three break points) arises at 0–40.

Bye:  The automatic advancement of a player to the next round of a tournament without facing an opponent.

Court:  The area designated for playing a game of tennis.

Crosscourt:  Hitting the ball diagonally into the opponent's court.

Deep:  Describes 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 in order to win the game.

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:  Describes a ball hit straight along the sideline to the opponent's side of the 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 who is away from the net off guard.

Fault:  A serve that fails to land the ball in the correct area of play, therefore not starting the point.

Foot Fault:  A type of service fault in which a player, during the serve, steps on or over the baseline into the court before striking the ball. A foot fault may also occur if the player steps on or across the center hash mark and its imaginary perpendicular extension from the baseline to the net.

Forced Error:  A miss caused by an opponent's good play; contrasted with unforced error.

Forehand:  A stroke in which the player hits the ball with the front of their racquet hand facing the ball; contrasted with backhand.

Game Point:  A situation when the player who is leading needs one more point to win a game, usually used for the server (as the opposite situation is break point).

Half Volley:  A shot made after a short bounce or simultaneously to the bounce.

Head:  The portion of the racket that contains the strings.

Hold Serve:  To win the game when serving.

Kick Serve:  A type of spin serve that bounces high.

Let:  A call that requires the point to be replayed. This typically occurs when an otherwise valid serve makes contact with the net. However, a let call can also be made when there is some distraction to either player that the players themselves do not cause, such as a ball boy moving behind a receiver, debris flying across the court in windy conditions, or a ball accidentally falling out of a player's pocket or entering from a neighboring court. The call is made by the chair umpire when one is assigned to the match, as in professional matches, or one of the players when there is no chair umpire. Furthermore, when a receiver is legitimately unprepared for a serve, a let is technically the result, even if the word goes unspoken, in favour of a simple statement by the receiver that he was not ready.

Lob:  A stroke where the ball is hit high above the net. If the opposing player or players are up at the net, the intention may be an offensive lob in order to win the point outright. In a defensive lob, the intent is to give the player time to recover and get in position, or, if the opponents are at the net, to force them to chase down the lob.

Love:  Zero (score) eg "15-0" is spoken "fifteen-love"; "to hold to love" means "to win the game when serving with the opponent scoring zero points"; "to break to love" means "to win the game when receiving with the opponent scoring zero points". Thought to be derived from the French term, "l'oeuf", literally "egg", meaning nothing.

Match Point:  A situation when the player who is leading needs one more point to win the match.Mixed Doubles:  A tennis match played by four players, two male, two female, one of each player sex per side of the court.

Net:  The interlaced fabric, cord, and tape stretched across the entire width of the court; it is held up by the posts.

No-man's Land:  The area between the service line and the baseline, where a player is most vulnerable.

Out:  Describes a ball that lands outside the play area.

Overhead (also known as "smash"):  A stroke in which the player hits the ball over his/her head; if the shot is hit relatively strongly, it is referred to as a smash; smashes are often referred to as simply "overheads", although not every overhead shot is a smash.

Passing Shot:  A shot that passes by (not over) the opponent at the net (see also lob).

Point:  The period of play between the first successful service of a ball and the point at which that ball goes out of play.

Racquet:  A bat with a long handle and a large looped frame with a string mesh tautly stretched across it, the frame made of wood, metal, graphite, composite, or some other synthetic material, used by a tennis player to hit the tennis ball during a game of tennis.

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.

Receiver:  The person who is being served to.

Second Service:  The second and final of the two serves a player is allowed at the beginning of a point.

Serve:  To begin a point by hitting the ball into the opponent's half of the court.

Set Point:  A situation when the player who is leading needs one more point to win a set. If the player is serving in such a situation, (s)he is said to be "serving for the set".

Singles:  A tennis game played by two players.

Slice:  A shot with underspin.

Smash:  A strongly hit overhead, typically executed when the player who hits the shot is very close to the net and can therefore hit the ball nearly vertically, often so that it bounces into the stands, making it unreturnable.

Spin:  Rotation of the ball as it moves through the air, affecting its trajectory and bounce.

Strings:  The material weaved through the face of the racquet. The strings are where contact with the ball is supposed to be made.

Stroke:  A striking of the ball.

Sweetspot:  The central area of the stringbead which is the desired location for making contact with the ball.

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 seven points with a difference of two over the opponent.

Topspin:  Spin of a ball where the top of the ball rotates toward the direction of travel; the spin goes forward over the top of the ball, causing the ball to dip and bounce at a higher angle to the court.

Tramline:  A line defining the limit of play on the side of a singles or doubles court.

Unforced Error:  During play, an error in a service or return shot that cannot be attributed to any factor other than poor judgment and execution by the player.

Volley:  A shot hit by a player before it bounces on his own side of the court, excluding overheads.

Winner:  A forcing shot that cannot be reached by the opponent and wins the point; a forcing serve that is reached by the opponent, but is not returned properly, and wins the point.