Tennis word for out

Do you speak tennis? Like practically every other sport, tennis has its own set of terms and slang words that might sound a little confusing to the beginner. If you’re just starting out or want to be better informed while you watch matches, you can use the following list of tennis terms to help you expand your tennis vocabulary.

Have we forgotten any? Let us know in the comments section below

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A

Ace: a serve that lands in bounds on the opponent’s side of the net that goes untouched.
Action: Synonym of spin.
Ad Court: the side of the court to each player’s left.
Advantage In or Ad In: a point more than deuce in a tie game, giving the player that scores it the advantage and positioning him/her one point from winning.
Advantage Out or Ad Out: refers to receiver advantage.
All: a term for a tied score, for example, 30-all.
All-Court Player: one who can play comfortably from anywhere on the court.
Alley: the space on the court that is between the singles and doubles sidelines.
Approach Shot: a shot that is used to transition to the net from the baseline, usually hit around mid-court.
At Net: a player’s position close to the net.
ATP: the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of men’s tennis.
Australian Formation: in doubles tennis, the strategy of both players playing on the same side of the court prior to the start of the point.

B

Backcourt: the area of the court from service line to baseline.
Backhand: a stroke played with the back of the hand facing in the direction of the stroke, typically starting with the arm crossing the body.
Backhand Smash: a type of smash played over the backhand side
Backspin: a shot in which the ball is hit with a more open-faced racket to low slicing motion causing a reverse spin.
Backstop: a wall, fence or the like, that prevents a ball from going too far beyond the court.
Backswing: the motion of a swing that moves the racket into position to swing forward and strike the ball.
Bagel: term for a 6-0 win or a 0-6 loss.
Ball Boy or Ball Girl: a male or female who is given the task of chasing down the balls and providing the server with balls during a match.
Ball Toss: occurs before executing a serve.
Baseline: the line at each end of a tennis court, parallel to the net, that marks the in-bounds limit of play.
Baseline Game: the style of play where most shots are hit from around the baseline.
Baseline Judge: an official who duties are calling the shots in or out.
Baseline Player or Baseliner: a player who prefers hitting from near the baseline.
Big Serve: a powerful serve, usually giving an advantage in the point for the server.
Block: typically a service return, the act of using the racket to block a hard hit ball, rather than taking a backswing to return it.
Bounce: the upward movement of the ball after it has hit the ground. Also, it is a term used by recreational doubles players, letting their partner know to not hit the ball.
Breadstick: slang for the shape of the 1 in a 6-1 win or loss.
Break or Break Point: the winning of a game when a player is not the server, hence the breaking of the serve.
Break Back: jargon for a successful receiver play after a service break.
Breaker: Colloquial term for a tiebreak.
Break Point: one point away from the end of the match.
Buggy Whip: the act of hitting the ball with no follow through but a short whip-like motion.
Bumper guard: A piece of plastic that protects the outside of the upper-half of the racket head.
Bunt: To use the power of the opponents shot and hit it back with a short swing.
Bye: occurs when top players qualify to advance without playing a match.

C

Calendar Slam: winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year.
Call: the umpire’s decision to rule on a play during a match.
Cannonball: lingo for a hard serve usually on a flat trajectory.
Career Golden Slam: in addition to having won all four major titles in their career, a player that has also won an Olympic gold medal is said to have achieved a career Golden Slam. Only four players have ever achieved this in singles: Steffi Graf (1988), Andre Agassi (1996), Rafael Nadal (2010) and Serena Williams (2012). The term is rarely used in doubles, although the feat has been more common in that discipline. It has been achieved individually by nine wheelchair tennis players and three able-bodied players (Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernández, Daniel Nestor), and by three teams (The Woodies, the Williams sisters, and the Bryan brothers). Tennis at the Olympics was not played 1928–1984.
Career Grand Slam or Career Slam: players who have won all four Major championships over the course of their career (but not within the same calendar year) are said to have won a career Grand Slam.
Carpet: a tennis court with a surface consisting of textile or polymer materials supplied in rolls. Previously common for indoor professional events, the surface was dropped from major pro tournaments in 2009.
Carry: an illegal action where the ball is held/carried as opposed to hitting the ball.
Carve: a groundstroke hit with spin on it.
Center Court: premium seating location for the tennis court venue.
Centerline Judge: a game official who is responsible for monitoring and calling the center service line.
Center Mark: term for baseline midpoint that is 2 X 14 inches.
Center Service Line: marks the boundary for both service courts.
Chair: tennis games glossary for the location of the game umpire.
Challenge Round: final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year’s champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of Wimbledon (from 1877 through 1921) and the US Open (from 1884 through 1911), and, until 1972, in the Davis Cup.
Challenge: when a player requests an official review of the spot where the ball landed, using electronic ball tracking technology. Challenges are only available in some large tournaments.
Challenger: A tour of tournaments one level below the top-tier ATP World Tour. Currently, Challenger tournaments compose the ATP Challenger Tour. Players, generally ranked around world no. 80 to world no. 300, compete on the Challenger tour in an effort to gain ranking points which allow them to gain entry to tournaments on the ATP World Tour.
Changeover: the time when players switch ends of the court between matches.
Chip: a shot with underspin that is typically a block.
Chip And Charge: type of approach shot which involves hitting a slice shot while rapidly moving forward and following the shot into the net. Aimed at putting the opponent under pressure.
Chop: jargon for tennis shot struck with a rapid downward action, having plenty of backspin.
Clay Court: a tennis court with a natural surface made of crushed shale, stone, brick or clay on which tennis is played, most notably at the French Open.
Clean Winner: tennis shot that the opposing player is unable to reach and play.
Closed Grip: motion where the racket face is pointed down.
Closed Racket: jargon for a racket held with a closed grip.
Closed Stance: hitting the ball with your back turned to your opponent and your body parallel to the baseline.
Code Violation: a rule violation on the men’s and women’s professional tour match called by the chair umpire which results in a player receiving an official warning or a penalty. The first violation results in a warning; the second, a point penalty; the third and more, a game penalty each. A code violation may also be judged severe enough to result in the player having to forfeit the match immediately (without having to go through the three or more automatic penalty stages). There often follows additional monetary fine for each code violation.
Consolidate A Break: to hold serve in the game immediately following a break of serve.
Continental Grip: way of holding the racket in which the bottom knuckle of the index finger is in contact with the top of the handle and the heel of the hand with the bevel directly clockwise from it.
Counterpuncher: Defensive baseliner.
Court or Tennis Court: measures 78 feet X 27 feet wide for singles and 36 feet wide for doubles with a net in the middle. Service lines are marked 21 feet from each side of the net and parallel to it.
Crosscourt Shot: a shot that travels diagonally into the opponent’s side of the court.
Cut: quick, slicing downward movement resulting in sideways and backspin.
Cyclops: an electronic device used to determine if a serve is in bounds or out.

D

Dampener: a small rubber device affixed to the strings of the racket to absorb some of the vibration caused by hitting the ball.
Daisy Cutter: jargon for a low shot with backspin resulting in a low bounce.
Davis Cup: annual men’s tennis competition in which teams from participating countries compete in a single-elimination format, with matches occurring at several stages during the year.
Dead Net: the accidental shot that hits the net and falls into the opponent’s side of the court.
Deciding Point: In doubles, the point played when the game score reaches deuce and there is no ad play; the game is decided in favor of whichever team wins the deuce point.
Deep Shot: shot that lands near the baseline, as opposed to near the net or mid-court.
Default: the loss of a match by disqualification.
Defensive Lob: a lob that is hit when there is no time to prepare.
Defensive Volley: a volley generally taken from below the top of the net.
Deuce: occurs when both players have accumulated a count of 40 or three points each. Either player must make 2 points in a row to win the match after Deuce.
Deuce Court: location to the receiver’s right service court where a serve is received following a deuce score.
Dink: lingo for a shot hit with very little velocity.
Dirtballer: slang for someone who is a clay court player.
Double Bagel: two sets won to love
Double Fault: player action that has failed to produce a valid serve twice in a row.
Double Hit: occurs when the ball is struck twice during a single hit resulting in the loss of a point.
Doubles: a game played with two players on each side and using the full court.
Doubles Court: term for the playing area for a doubles match.
Down the Line: a shot from near the sideline that travels parallel to the line.
Drag Volley: a volley that’s hit with backspin.
Draw: term for the system of player selection and schedule of a tournament.
Drop Shot: a ball hit softly and with backspin that lands close to the net on the opponent’s side; typically used when an opponent is near the baseline.
Drop Volley: a ball hit before it has bounced and that lands close to the net on the opponent’s side.

E

Elbow: Corner of the baseline and the doubles alley.
Error: a failed shot that results in a lost point.
Exhibition: Tournament in which players compete for the purpose of entertaining the crowd or raising money, but not ranking points on the ATP or WTA tours.

F

Fault: a serve that lands out of bounds.
Fed Cup (or Federation Cup): International, annual women’s tennis competition in which teams from participating countries compete in a single-elimination format tournament with matches occurring at several stages during the year.
Fifteen or Five: count for the first point of a game going to a player or side.
First Flight: movement of the tennis ball from the racket hit until just before it bounces.
First One In: In a tennis league, where players don’t warm up with practice serves prior to the match; rather, when each player is serving for the first time during the match, they serve as many balls needed until the first ball goes in.
First Serve: the first of two attempts by a player to serve the ball in bounds.
Five: number of games completed (e.g. “7–5” is spoken as “seven–five”), or a spoken abbreviation of “15” in points (e.g. a score of 40–15 is sometimes spoken as “forty–five”).
Flat: lingo for a rapid, straight shot without spin.
Flatliner: Player who hits the ball flat with a very low trajectory with exceptional depth and accuracy.
Follow Through: movement of the arm with the racket after the ball has been hit.
Foot Fault: occurs when a player steps on the end line before making contact with the ball during a serve.
Foot Fault Judge: an official who monitors and calls foot faults.
Forced Error: a shot that is placed in such a way that it is mis-hit by the opposition.
Forehand: a stroke played with the palm of the hand facing in the direction of the stroke.
Forcing Shot: tactic where a player’s shot places the opponent on the defensive.
Forecourt: specific location between the net and service line.
Forty: count for the third point of a game going to a player or side.
Frame: term for the oval part of the racket that houses the strings.
Frame Shot: a mishit on the frame of the racket rather than the strings.

G

Gallery: lingo for spectators in the stands.
Game: tennis match where the winning player or side must accumulate 4 points and lead their opponent by 2 points.
Game Point: a serve that can decide the outcome of the match with the scoring of one point.
Game-Set-Match: a statement that a winner has been decided and the match has ended.
GOAT: Colloquial acronym for “Greatest Of All Time”.
Golden Set: the win of a set without losing a single point. Congrats are in order!
Golden Slam: winning the Grand Slam and the tennis Olympic gold medal in a calendar year. This has only ever been achieved once, by Steffi Graf in 1988.
Grand Slam: one of four tournaments: Australian Open , French Open, U.S. Open, and Wimbledon make up the premium championships known as the Grand Slams of tennis.
Grass Court: a type of tennis court which has a natural grass turf surface, most notably at Wimbledon.
Grinding: taking your opponents best shots and running down every one, typically in a frenzied manner while refusing to give up.
Grommet Strip: strip of plastic containing small tubes that are placed in the frame’s string holes to prevent the strings from rubbing against the abrasive frame.
Groundstroke or Groundie: the act of hitting the ball after it has bounced once in your court.
Grunting: noises made by players while either serving or hitting the ball.

H

Hacker: lingo for a series of swings or shots by a player that appear to be luck more than skill.
Hail Mary: extremely high lob, for defensive purposes. A last resort return of a near impossible to get to shot.
Half Court: term for court area near the service line.
Half Volley: action occurs when the tennis ball is struck as it hits the court.
Hardcourt or Hard Court: a type of court which is made of asphalt or concrete with a synthetic/acrylic layer on top. They can vary in color and tend to play medium-fast to fast.
Hawk-Eye: computer system connected to cameras to track the path of the ball for replay purposes; used with the player challenge system to contest and review designated line calls.
Head: the top portion of the racquet where the strings are found.
Heavy Ball: jargon for tennis shot hit with topspin.
Hit on the Rise: term for a ball played before reaching the bounce high point.
Hold or Hold Serve: to win the game when serving.
Hopper: tennis balls holder.

I

I-formation: formation used in doubles where the net player on the serving team crouches roughly at the centre service line; used mainly to counter teams that prefer a crosscourt return.
In: valid tennis shot landing in the opponent’s court.
Inside-in: running around the backhand side to hit a forehand down the line. Vice versa for inside in backhand.
Inside-out: running around the backhand side and hitting a crosscourt forehand. Vice versa for inside out backhand.
In To The Net: hitting the ball then following it toward the net.
ITF: abbreviation for International Tennis Federation, the governing body of world tennis.

J

Jam: ball hit near the opposing player’s body resulting in a weak return.
Jump Smash: jargon for a player’s vigorous hit while jumping into the air.
Junk Ball: a shot or return stroke in which the ball tends to be slow and possibly also without spin; often introduced unpredictably to upset the flow of the game and the rhythm of the opposition.

K

Kick Serve or Kicker: term for robust spinning hit resulting in a change of direction when it lands.
Kill: lingo for a heavy hit that leaves the opponent unable to reach and play it.

L

Lawn Tennis: name for the original tennis game location, played on grass.
Let: a ball touching the net on the serve but landing in bounds.
Line Judge: a person with the responsibility of ruling the ball in or out of bounds.
Lob: a ball hit high in the air into the opponent’s court.
Lob Volley: type of volley shot aimed at lobbing the ball over the opponent and normally played when the opponent is in the vicinity of the net.
Long: hit that is called out of bounds as it lands beyond the opposing baseline.
Love: tennis game where the losing player scores no points.
Love Game: a game won without the opponent scoring a single point.
Love Set: a game set where the losing player won no games.
Lucky Loser: highest-ranked player to lose in the final round of qualifying for a tournament, but still ends up qualifying because of a sudden withdrawal by one of the players already in the main draw. In Grand Slam events, one of the four highest-ranked losers in the final qualifying round is randomly picked as the lucky loser.

M

Mac-Cam: named after John McEnroe, a high-speed video camera used for televised instant replays of close shots landing on/near the baseline.
Masters Cup: former name of the year-end ATP championship, in which the eight highest-ranked players compete in a round-robin format.
Match: tennis game that includes games and sets where the winner is declared based on greater number of sets won.
Match Point: the point in a game where a player can win the entire match by winning the final set with the next point.
Mini-Break: term for a loss of a point on service during a tiebreaker.
Mini-hold: point won by the server, usually in a tiebreak.
Mis-hit: stroke in which the racket fails to make contact with the ball in the “sweet spot” area of the strings.
Mixed Doubles: typical doubles tennis played with a male and female on each team.
Moonball or Lob: a type of groundstroke that is hit with a lot of topspin, usually with the forehand, to create a high, slow, floating shot that lands close to the opponent’s baseline.

N

Net: suspended from a steel cable, equipment divides a tennis court into halves. Also, the verb, ‘to net’, refers to hitting the ball into the net.
Net Cord: cable support for the net.
Net Judge: a game official who monitors and calls lets on service.
Net Point: a point won by charging and playing close to the net.
Net Posts: posts on each side of the court which hold up the net. The net posts are placed 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the doubles court on each side, unless a singles net is used, in which case the posts are placed 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the singles court.
No-Ad: A system of scoring a game in which the first player to win four points wins the game. If the score reaches 3-all, the next point decides the game.
No-man’s land: lingo for the area located between the baseline and service line where it is a challenge to hit groundstrokes or slams.
Not Up: term for tennis ball hit at a second bound resulting in a point loss.

O

Offensive Lob: A ball that is purposefully hit high and deep into opponent’s court.
Offensive Volley: a shot taken from above the net.
On Serve: when both players or teams have the same number of breaks in a set. While on serve, neither player or team can win the set without a break of serve.
Open Era: period in tennis which began in 1968 when tournaments became open to both amateurs and professional players.
Open Grip: occurs when racket faces upward and away from the court.
Open Racket: occurs when the racket is held with an open grip.
Open Stance: facing the opponent and hitting parallel to the baseline.
Open Tournament: both amateurs and professional tennis players are welcome.
Out: term for tennis shot that ends up outside the designated playing area.
Overhead and Overhead Smash: the act of hitting down on the ball, typically on a lob with great velocity.
Overrule: to reverse a call made by a line judge, done by the umpire.
Overspin: lingo for topspin.
Over Wrap: a spongy material wrapped around a racquets grip to improve comfort and grip on the racquet.

P

Pace: refers to the speed that the ball is hit. Do I hear a “pick up the pace to very high?”
Pair: doubles tennis team.
Partner: refers to one of the two players on a doubles team.
Pass: tennis shot that is hit past the opposing player.
Pickup Shot: see half volley.
Placement: strategic tennis hit that the opponent cannot play or reach.
Poach: jargon for play by one doubles player that was intended for the partner of the team.
Point: term for tennis scoring referred to as fifteen, thirty, forty, and game.
Point Penalty: results in a point loss as determined by the umpire.
Puddler: lingo for an inexperienced player who hits plenty of chip and drop shots.
Punch Volley:  to hit a ball hard and fast with a very short swing.
Pusher: a competitor who plays defensively as opposed to trying to score.
Putaway: a perfectly placed unreturnable shot.

Q

Qualies: short for qualification rounds or similar.
Qualification Round: final round of play in a pre-tournament qualification competition, also known as qualies.
Qualifier or “Q”: a player who reaches the tournament’s main draw by competing in a pre-tournament qualifying competition, rather than automatically by virtue of his/her world ranking, by being awarded a wild card, or other exemption.
Qualifying Draw: see draw.

R

Racket or Racquet: the tool of the trade in tennis used to hit the ball. It has a long handle with an oval frame on the end containing a series of woven cords that are stretched tight across it. Rackets today can be produced using steel, aluminum, graphite, titanium, carbon, and fiberglass.
Racket Face: 
Rally: a lengthy back and forth series of shots between players or sides.
Ready Position: receiver’s position before a serve.
Receivers: tennis game terms for players who receive the serve during the game.
Referee: game official presiding over the tournament, but leaves the officiating up to the umpire.
Reflex Volley: a volley that happens more by reaction than plan.
Retrieve: tennis game terms for the return of a difficult shot.
Retriever: a skillful defensive player who is proficient at returning difficult shots. Don’t we all want to grow up to be a retriever?
Return Ace: a returned serve in which the serving player does not touch the ball and it lands in bounds resulting in a point.
Return Of Serve Plus One: a player hits a great return of serve and follows it with a winning shot.
Reverse Twist: jargon for a served ball with spin resulting in a high bounce to the receiver.
Round: match series of a tournament that determines a player’s advancement to the next round.
Round Robin: to assess player standings based on win-loss records during a tournament.
Run Around the Backhand: lingo meaning to vigorously play a ball on the forehand rather than the backhand.

S

Sandbagger: A tennis player who plays on a lower level team.
Scoring System: is established based on game points, then a set is based on games and finally to a match based on sets.
Second Flight: jargon for tennis ball after it bounces.
Second Service: the second attempt of putting a serve in play.
Seed: is a ranking system of players based on skills and recent matches. The best players are considered top-seeded and are not required to play until the end of a tournament.
Serve: the act of putting the ball into play.
Server: a player who serves the ball in turn.
Serve and Volley: the motion of serving and making an aggressive follow shot on the return to score a point.
Serve Plus One: a player has a good serve, then a winning shot after the return.
Service Court: area consisting of the service sideline, service line, center service line with the net in between each side.
Service Line: line marking that designates the back boundary of the service courts for each side.
Service Line Judge: a game official who monitors and calls served hits.
Set: series of at least 6 games to include a two-game margin win, unless there is a tiebreaker.
Set Point: final game or match point, that if successful becomes that player’s win.
Shank: a hit where the ball hits the handle or frame of the racket, usually resulting in a missed shot.
Shot: the motion of hitting the ball with the racket.
Sideline: tennis game terms for the side line boundary of the court.
Sideline Judges: game officials who monitor and call the shots in or out of the sidelines.
Singles: a match played by one player on each side of the net.
Singles Court: used for single matches.
Slamboni: a mini hockey Zamboni with squeegee and vacuum technology for quickly drying the courts after rain.
Slice: lingo for a shot hit with both backspin and sidespin.
Smash: an aggressive shot that lands down hard into the opponent’s side.
Snap Volley: wrist action volley that packs a wallop.
Stop Volley: a short easy volley that lands just over the net.
Straight Sets: a match is won without a set being lost.
Strings: refers to the hitting surface of the racket.
Stroke: a hit, shot or swing at the ball.
Sudden Death: usually, a 9 point tiebreaker where the first player to reach 5 points wins while it’s ‘sudden death’ for the loser.
Sweet Spot: jargon for the ideal hitting area from the racket face.

T

T: region of the court where the service lines meet the center service line.
Tanking or Tank: colloquial term for losing a match on purpose.
Take the Net: jargon for the act of moving towards the net to control the volleys aimed at the opponent.
Tandem/Up and Back: strategy whereby one plays the forecourt and the other, the backcourt at a doubles game.
Tape: tennis game terms for canvas material covering the top of the net.
Team Tennis: a contest among teams that include singles and doubles matches. Results are based on the team that wins the most games.
Tennis Ball: rubber ball filled with pressurized air, covered with wool and nylon material and weighing between 2 and 2 1/16 ounces.
Tennis Elbow: the pain of playing the game–caused by joint strain at the elbow.
Topspin: the spin put on a ball by hitting the top of the ball, causing it to spin in the direction it is traveling.
Thirty: count for the second point of a game going to a player or side.
Tiebreaker: the method used to determine the winner of a set that is tied. Usually settled with a short game of 13 points where the first player to reach 7 points is declared the winner.
Top Seed: the best of the best player in a tournament.
Touch: accurate control of hit followed by precise placement.
Triple: successful accomplishment of winning singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at a tournament.
Twist: lingo for a serve that combines topspin and sidespin.
Two-handed Backhand: shot delivered with both hands on the racket handle.

U

Umpire: a game official who is the ‘boss’ of a tennis match. The final word, the umpire may also overturn decisions by other judges if necessary.
Underhand serve (or underarm serve): a serve in which the player lobs the ball from below shoulder level.
Underspin: the spin put on a ball by hitting under the ball, causing it to spin in the opposite direction of travel.
Unforced Error: term used to describe a shot that goes into the net or out of bounds resulting in a lost point.
Unseeded Player: a player who is not a seed in a tournament.
Upset: the defeat of a high-ranked player by a lower-ranked player.

V

Volley: a shot hit prior to the ball bouncing on your side of the court.

W

Walkover: jargon for an easy win resulting from the opponent’s default.
Western Grip: type of grip used if a player wants to generate a lot of topspin on the groundstrokes, is created by placing the index knuckle on bevel 5 of the grip.
Whiff: a stroke in which the player misses the ball completely. Whiffing a serve is considered a fault in an official match.
Wide: service shot that lands beyond the sideline or service sideline.
Wild Card or “WC”: a player allowed to play in a tournament, even if his or her rank is not adequate or he or she does not register in time.
Winner: a shot that is not reached by the opponent and wins the point; sometimes also a serve that is reached but not returned into the court.
Wrong-foot: lingo for shot to the opponent’s side while this player is moving or turned in a different direction.
WTA: the Women’s Association of Tennis is the governing body of women’s tennis.

YZ

Yips: a bad case of nerves making it very difficult for a gamer to serve well.

A

Ace
Очко, выигранное одним ударом. Эйс, или подача навылет – ситуация, когда мяч приземлился в нужном квадрате подачи, но ракетка принимающего его не коснулась. Засчитывается как при первой, так и при второй подачах, чаще удаётся на быстрых покрытиях.

Advantage (судейск.)
Преимущество – ситуация, при которой один из игроков или одна из команд выигрывает очко после счета «ровно», т. е. игрок получает временное преимущество в одно очко и, если выигрывает подряд следующее, выигрывает гейм. В случае проигрыша очка счет снова становится «ровным». При объявлении «преимущества» добавляется фамилия выигравшего очко; в русском варианте объявляется «больше», если подающий выиграл очко, и «меньше» — если проиграл.

ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
Руководящий орган профессионального мужского тенниса с индивидуальным членством. По структуре представляет собой партнерское взаимодействие между игроками и турнирами. Основана в 1972 г. при активном участии знаменитого теннисиста Джека Крамера, который был ее первым исполнительным директором.

ATP Tour
Тур ATP – ежегодная марафонская серия профессиональных турниров, проводилась в 1990-1999 гг. В 2000 г. Переименован в ATP.

Australian Open
Открытый чемпионат Австралии – первый в сезоне из четырех турниров «Большого шлема». С 1988 г. проводится во Флиндерс-Парке.

B

Backhand
Бэкхенд – удар слева по отскочившему мячу. Выполняется игроком с левой от себя стороны с разворотом корпуса правым боком к сетке (левша выполняет его справа).

Backhand smash
Смэш, или удар над головой, сыгранный по мячу, летящему слева от теннисиста; cм. Smash Balance Баланс ракетки – распределение веса ракетки вдоль ее длины. Зачастую степень тяжести (или легкости) головки определяется расстоянием между центром ее длины и центром тяжести – при совпадении этих точек баланс называется нейтральным.

Ball
Мяч – принадлежность теннисной игры в виде полого резинового шарика белого (до 1972 г.) или желтого цвета, обтянутого сукном. Для каждого покрытия предусмотрен свой тип ткани. Каждый мяч должен отвечать стандартам, установленным правилами игры в теннис: диаметр 6,35 – 6,67 см; вес: 56,0 – 59,4 г. После падения с высоты на твердую поверхность он должен отскакивать на высоту 134,6 – 147,3 см.

Ballboy
Мальчик (девочка), подбирающий мячи.

Break
1) Ситуация, при которой игрок выигрывает гейм на подаче противника. 2) Перерыв в игре при смене сторон или между сетами, который производится по определенным правилам.

Break point
Брейк-пойнт – последний мяч в гейме, выигранный:
а) подающим (в ситуации 40:30) – приносит ему выигрыш гейма, тогда это Game point;
б) принимающим (в ситуации 30:40), который получает возможность продолждить гейм и попытаться его выиграть. При ситуациях брейк-пойнта (0:40, 15:40, 30:40, «больше») в любом гейме этот мяч является ключевым; см. Critical points

C

Challenger
1) Претендент на звание чемпиона.
2) «Челенджер» — соревнование с более высоким призовым фондом, нежели Satellite; проводится под патронажем TE у женщин и ITF у мужчин.

Champion
Чемпион, победитель чемпионата.

Championship
Чемпионат — соревнование, в ходе которого разыгрывается звание чемпиона.

Check (the mark)
Проверка отметки, следа — в спорных ситуациях на грунтовых кортах судья на вышке по требованию игрока проверяет верность мяча по следу и решает спорный мяч.

Choice of ends
Выбор стороны — если игрок перед началом матча проиграл жребий выбора подачи, то он выбирает сторону корта.

Clay court
Грунтовый (глиняный) корт — теннисная площадка, поверхность которой изготовлена из дробленого кирпича или различных горных пород. Различают два типа покрытий: красный грунт и зеленый грунт.

Coach
Тренер. В задачи тренера, работающего с профессиональным игроком, помимо постановки ударов, входит также обучение тактике и стратегии игры. Однако советы и помощь теннисисту во время матча могут караться штрафом или дисквалификацией игрока.

Come on!
Давай!, Вперед!. Возглас, который в зависимости от ситуации на корте, может означать еще и сомнение в правильности решения судьи.

Consolation
Утешительное соревнование для игроков, проигравших в первом (а иногда и во втором) круге крупного турнира.

Cross-court
Кросс — удар, пробиваемый по диагонали из одного угла площадки в другой; может совершаться ударом слева или справа. Различают длинный и короткий кроссы.

Davis Cup
— неофициальный чемпионат мира по теннису среди национальных мужских команд. Основан американцами Дуайтом Дэвисом, Малколмом Уитмэном и Холкомбом Вардом в 1900 г. и назван в честь первого. Команды, состоящие из 4-х теннисистов, играют серию пятисетовых матчей (4 одиночные и 1 парная встречи). Оборочные соревнования продолжаются весь год, а в конце сезона играется финальный турнир.

D

Deuce
Ровно — равный счет в гейме для двух соперников, выигравших в гейме по 3 мяча (счет 40:40)

Double fault
Двойная ошибка – потеря подающим двух подач подряд, что означает потерю очка.

Doubles
Парная игра – матч между двумя командами, каждая из которых состоит из двух игроков.

Drop-shot
Укороченный удар – тонко выполненный, но рискованный удар с обратным вращением мяча.

E

Ends
Стороны, или выбор сторон – ситуация, при которой игрок, выигравший жеребьевку, по желанию выбирает либо право начать первый гейм с определенной стороны сетки, либо право на подачу, а его оппонент – оставшееся.

Extra long
Сверхдлинная ракетка – любая ракетка, длина которой превышает 68.6 см.Она имеет больший рычаг, но менее маневренна.

F

Fast court
«Быстрый» корт – тип покрытий теннисной площадки, обеспечивающих более резкий и низкий отскок мяча, нежели остальные. Самыми «быстрыми» покрытиями считаются трава и дерево.

Fault!
Ошибка — возглас судьи, констатирующий ситуацию, при которой подаваемый мяч не попал в квадрат подачи либо нарушены теннисные правила подачи мяча. Если подающий совершил подряд две ошибки, он теряет очко. Данный термин используется только в отношении подачи.

Fed Cup
Кубок Федерации – неофициальный чемпионат мира среди национальных женских команд. Учрежден ITF в 1963 г.

Final
Финал, или матч турнира – заключительная часть соревнования, выявляющая чемпиона.

Foot-fault
Зашаг! — ошибка при подаче, когда подающий изменяет исходную позицию шагом или бегом либо касается любой ногой зоны площадки или забега вне зоны подачи. Во время матчей нередко случается, что носок обуви подающего в момент «вытягивания» корпуса игрока при совершении подачи оказывается на задней линии и фиксируется как «зашаг».

Forehand
Удар справа по отскочившему от площадки мячу, левша совершает этот удар слева.

French Open
Открытый чемпионат Франции – один из турниров «Большого шлема», неофициальное первенство мира на грунтовых кортах. Основан в 1891 г. как однодневный национальный чемпионат, в 1925 г. впервые объявлен международным. С 1928 г. разыгрывается в Париже на стадионе «Ролан Гаррос» (Roland Garros) и проводится в течение двух недель не считая отборочных игр.

G

Game
1)Игра;
2)Гейм — единица счета более высокого порядка, нежели очко. Игрок (или команда) подает, пока не выявится победитель гейма; игрок, первым набравший 6 геймов, выигрывает сет. Для выигрыша сета необходима разница в 2 гейма либо, при счете 6:6, назначается «тай-брейк».

Golden Slam
Золотой шлем — символический приз для игрока, выигравшего все 4 турнира «Большого шлема» (не обязательно за один год) и золотую олимпийскую медаль. Единственным мужчиной – обладателем «Золотого шлема» является Андре Агасси. Единственной женщиной – Штеффи Граф.

Good ball
Верный — подтверждение факта приземления мяча в пределах площадки, фиксируется судьей на линии (без восклицания) только жестом сведенных вместе кистей рук, обращенных ладонями к поверхности площадки.

Grand Slam
Большой шлем — общее название четырех важнейших турниров для теннисистов — профессионалов: открытых чемпионатов Австралии, Франции, Великобритании и США.

Graphite
Графит — углеродное волокно, используемое в сочетании с полимерными смолами при изготовлении обода ракетки и придающее материалу жесткость и твердость. На сегодняшний день является наиболее распространенным материалом для производства ракеток. Grass court – Травяной корт – единственное стопроцентно натуральное покрытие.

Grip
1) Хватка теннисной ракетки – способ удержания ракетки в руке. От правильно выбранной хватки зависит эффективность удара. Различают восточную, западную, австралийскую (полузападную) и континентальную (универсальную) хватки.
2) Обмотка (намотка) рукоятки ракетки – полоска тонкой кожи или искусственного влагопоглощающего материала шириной около 3 см, служит для удобства во время игры.

Gut
Струна из кишок – натуральная струна, изготовленная из кишок животного.

H

Half-court
Хафкорт, или полкорта – зона теннисной площадки вблизи линии подачи по обе стороны от сетки. Handicap
Гандикап – преимущество в условиях при соревновании, предоставляемое более слабому противнику с целью уравнять шансы на успех (например, заранее обусловленное преимущество, «фора» в счете).

Hard court
Хард-корт – корт с твердым покрытием.

Head (Blade)
Головка (лопасть) – верхняя часть ракетки, на которой натянуты струны. Различают ракетки с «легкой» и «тяжелой» головками, подбираемые, в зависимости от баланса, индивидуально.

Hospitality
Гостеприимство – возможность размещения и обеспечения питанием игроков основного состава юношеских и профессиональных турниров определенных уровней.

I

ITF
Сокр. от International Tennis Federation (Международная федерация тенниса) – некоммерческая всемирная организация, руководящая развитием тенниса в мире. Создана в 1913 г. в Париже на конференции с участием 12- и национальных федераций (в т. ч., России).

J

Junior racquet
Юношеская ракетка – ракетка уменьшенного размера, удобная для детской руки (т. е. короче – 68.58 см, легче взрослой и с меньшим диаметром рукоятки)

L

Lawn court
Травяной корт.

Let!
Переиграть! — команда для переигрывания очка на подаче в ситуации, когда принимающий не готов или когда мяч задел сетку, но попал в квадрат подачи, а также в иных случаях, оговоренных правилами игры в теннис.

Line ball
Мяч, попавший на линию корта и, согласно теннисным правилам, считающийся «верным».

Lucky loser
Счастливый неудачник — игрок, проигравший в квалификационных соревнованиях, но включенный в основную сетку турнира в результате появившейся там вакансии.

M

Main draw
Основной состав – список игроков, вошедших в основной тур соревнований одиночного или парного разряда.

Main strings
Основные струны – струны, натянутые вдоль продольной оси ракетки .Расположены друг к другу ближе, чем поперечные. В процессе подкрутки при ударе на них приходится наибольшая нагрузка, поэтому основные струны рвутся чаще.

Masters Series
Турниры серии Мастеров – 9 крупнейших мужских соревнований.

Match ball
Матчбол – розыгрыш решающего, последнего мяча в матче.

Medical time-out
Медицинский тайм – аут – одноразовый трехминутный (либо пятиминутный заранее объявленный) перерыв в игре, необходимый для оказания помощи игроку. Допускается в случае травмы теннисиста или его неспособности продолжать игру по иным причинам.

Miss
1) Промах – неудачная попытка попасть по мячу ракеткой;
2) Мисс, барышня – обращение к незамужней женщине в Великобритании; на турнире в Уимблдоне – приставка при объявлении фамилии теннисиста.

Natural gut
Натуральные струны.

N

Net
Сеть, сетка.
1) Теннисная сетка – один из важнейших элементов оборудования площадки, барьер, который делит корт посередине и через который игроки должны перебивать мяч.
2) «Сетка!» — возглас судьи у сетки фиксирует факт касания мячом (при подаче) верхнего края сетки между подпорками (в одиночной игре) или между столбами (в парной).

Netball
Нетбол – мяч, коснувшийся сетки во время подачи в игре.

New balls
Замена мячей. Первый раз производится в матче через 7 геймов, далее – через каждые 9 геймов.

Not up!
Поздно! — объявление судьи на вышке, когда:
1) Удар по мячу произведен после второго отскока от площадки;
2) Мяч отскочил от ракетки на свою площадку и только потом перелетел через сетку.

O

Off – backhand
Обратный кросс при ударе слева.

Off – forehand
Обратный кросс при ударе справа.

Open face
Открытая ракетка – положение струнной поверхности ракетки, при котором она отклонена вверх и назад относительно траектории приближающегося мяча.

Out!
Аут! — возглас судья на линии, фиксирующий факт приземления мяча за пределами теннисной площадки, а при подаче – непопадание в желаемый квадрат.

Overhead
Удар над головой – удар по мячу, произведенный выше головы игрока. Чаще используется как смэш над головой, когда противник недостаточно высоко и далеко пытается пробить свечу.

Oversize
Сверх большой размер – массивная ракетка с большей, чем у обычной, площадью струнной поверхности. Первая ракетка для профессиональной игры, выпущенная Г. Хэдом в 1976 г. под маркой «Принц» со сверх большой головкой (830 см), была изготовлена из алюминия.

P

Play a let
Переиграть мяч.

Player
Игрок – участник игры в теннис.

Point
Очко – наименьшая единица счета в теннисе. Набранные 4 очка позволяют игроку выиграть гейм, если разница с соперником по числу выигранных очков составляет не менее двух; первое очко – 15, второе – 30, третье – 40, четвертое – гейм; в тайбреке очки считаются в натуральном ряде чисел – 1, 2, 3….

Practice
Тренировка – отработка различных игровых навыков, мастерства и приемов во время регулярных упражнений.

Professional
Игрок – профессионал -теннисист, для которого участие в соревнованиях является профессией.

Q

Qualifier
Квалификант — теннисист, попавший в основную сетку турнира благодаря выигрыша определенного количества матчей отборочного (квалификационного) соревнования.

Quarter – final
Четвертьфинал – этап турнира, на котором в игре остается восемь игроков или команд, когда для завоевания чемпионского титула необходимо победить еще в трех матчах.

Quiet, please!
Тише, пожалуйста! — замечание судьи на вышке, относящееся к зрителям для восстановления тишины.

R

Racquet
Теннисная ракетка – инструмент для выполнения ударов по теннисному мячу. Подбор ракетки по весу, размеру и типу струн значительно влияет на игру. Прототипы современных ракеток появились в Италии в 14 веке. До начала 1970 – х гг. были популярны ракетки из дерева с кожаной оплеткой на рукоятке. С появлением новых технологий менялись материал ракетки и струн, площадь струнной поверхности, длина рукоятки, вес, баланс и т. д.В настоящее время общая длина ракетки может быть не более 73.66 см при общей ширине головки не более 31.7 см. Размер ударной поверхности не должен превышать 39.4 см в длину и 29.2 см в ширину.

Racquet weight
Вес ракетки. Имеет большое значение для мощности удара и степени контроля мяча, утяжеление головки либо утяжеление рукоятки имеют в игре различный эффект. В промышленности существуют следующие градации веса ракетки (без струн): сверхлегкая – до 240 г., легкая – 240-280 г., средняя – 280-320 г., тяжелая – от 320 г.
Одна из самых тяжелых ракеток (454 г.) была у Дона Баджа, который в 1938 г. выиграл ею «Большой шлем».

Ranking
Ранжирование, классификация – система начисления очков, определяющая положение игрока относительно других по результатам участия в турнирах; применяются с конца 19 века.

Ready?
Вопрос судьи на вышке к игрокам перед началом розыгрыша первого мяча в матче, после чего следует команда «Play!».

Retirement
1) Отказ игрока от продолжения матча по какой-либо причине (как правили, по медицинским показаниям);
2) Отставка – выход профессионального игрока на пенсию.

Reverse
Реверс — удар в прыжке для отражения высокого мяча.

Roland Garros
1) «Ролан Гаррос» — теннисный комплекс в Париже, на кортах которого с 1928 г. проходит один из турниров «Большого шлема» — Открытый чемпионат Франции (French Open). Назван по имени французского летчика Р. Гарроса (1888 – 1918 гг.), погибшего во время Первой мировой войны.
2) Ролан – Гаррос – Открытый чемпионат Франции.

Rules of tennis
Правила игры в теннис – приведенные к единому стандарту нормы, регулирующие игру в теннис. Первые правила современного тенниса разработал и описал в своей брошюре «Сферистика» отставной британский майор Уолтер Уингфильд в 1873 г.

S

Second serve
Вторая подача – вторая попытка игрока пробить подачу.Предоставляется игроку в случае неудачной первой подачи; чтобы избежать двойной ошибки (потери очка), теннисист пробивает ее с меньшей скоростью, компенсируя подкруткой.

Semifinal
Полуфинал – матч, предшествующий финалу; этап проведения турнира, на котором в соревновании остается всего 4 игрока (команды).

Serve
Подача

Set
Сет, партия – единица счета в теннисном матче более высокого порядка, чем гейм. Теннисист, первым выигравший шесть геймов с перевесом, по крайней мере, в два гейма, выигрывает сет. При необходимости игра продолжается до разницы в 2 гейма. Турниры играются из трех или пятисетовых матчей, т. е. для победы необходимо выиграть, соответственно, 2 или 3 сета.

Set ball
Розыгрыш решающего очка в сете.

Sign- in
Записаться (заявиться) для участия в турнире до определенного срока.

Singles
Одиночные встречи – теннисные матчи с участием лишь двух игроков (в отличии от парных).

Slow court
Медленный корт. Благодаря своему покрытию (зеленый и красный грунт) обеспечивает высокий отскок мяча, при этом поступательная составляющая скорости уменьшается; т. е. мяч с отскока больше летит вверх, чем вперед. Исключение составляют удары, произведенные с различными вращениями.

Smash
Смэш – мощный удар по мячу над головой с лета либо с отскока. Выполняется в манере плоской подачи подходом справа или слева, возможно с небольшой подрезкой, также дает возможность «гасить» свечу, которая была пробита недостаточно высоко или глубоко.

Soft court
Мягкий корт. К данной категории относится зеленый (популярен в США) и красный (популярен в Латинской Америке и Европе) грунты.

Speed gun
Устройство, следящее за скоростью движения мяча.

Spin
Вращение – усиленное вращение мяча в полете, специально придаваемое ему струнной поверхностью ракетки. Направление и сила вращения влияют на траекторию полета, направление и высоту отскока мяча. При этом его траектория может изгибаться как в вертикальной, так и в горизонтальной плоскостях. Различают верхнее (переднее), обратное (заднее) и боковое вращение.

Split step
Разножка — первое движение теннисиста после совершения удара для определения оптимального подхода к мячу, представляющее собой легкий подскок игрока перед совершением резкого рывка в нужную сторону; нарабатывается со временем.

Stringer
Стрингер – специалист по натяжке струн на ракетки. От его мастерства зависят правильность натяжки струн и долговечность ракетки.

Supervisor
Супервайзер – официальное лицо, участвующее в судействе на профессиональных турнирах в качестве представителя от WTA, ITF, TE, ATP. Следит за работой судейской бригады и при необходимости может заменить главного судью на турнире. Решение, принятое супервайзером, является окончательным, т. е. на турнире нет судьи выше него.

Synthetic gut
Синтетические струны – все типы струн, не относящиеся к натуральным; изготавливаются из полимерных материалов, по химическому составу и строению делятся на 3 группы: арамидные, кевларовые и мультиволокнистые. Современные синтетические струны по игровым характеристикам максимально приближаются к натуральным.

T

Tactics
Тактика – пути и способы реализации тактических планов игры. Различают тактику одиночной и парной игры.

Tension
Натяжение (струн).

Through
Сквозь — ситуация, когда мяч пролетел сквозь ячейки сетки между подпорками в одиночной игре или между столбами – в парной. В этом случае пробивший его игрок (сторона) проигрывает очко.

Tie break
Тайбрейк – укороченный гейм, победа в котором решает судьбу сета при счете 6:6. Счет в тай-бреке ведется в натуральном порядке чисел (1, 2, 3…), теннисист, первым выигравший 7 или другое заранее объявленное количество очков, выигрывает сет (счет в сете при этом становится 7:6).Для победы в тайбреке необходима разница в два очка – игра продолжается до тех пор, пока одна из сторон не достигнет этого превосходства.

Time!
Время! — команда, подаваемая судьей на вышке по окончании разминки или отдыха игроков, которые при этом должны занять исходные позиции на корте.

Top ten
Верхняя десятка – 10 сильнейших игроков в национальной или мировой классификации (текущих или по итогам года); выявляются отдельно среди мужчин и женщин.

Topspin
Переднее вращение мяча в полете.

Touch
1) Касание – легко пробитый удар. Даже сильный удар по мячу кажется совершаемым одним касанием ракетки умелого теннисиста.
2) «Задет» — касание мяча после удара по нему, касание игроком сетки во время розыгрыша мяча или касание мячом в игре теннисиста, частей его одежды, любого предмета за пределами площадки и т. п. В этом случае очко присуждается противнику.

Tournament
Турнир – соревнование теннисистов. Турниры делятся на личные, командные лично-командные. Каждый из этих видов может состоять из одиночного, парного и смешанного разрядов. В личных соревнованиях результаты матчей засчитываются отдельно каждому игроку, в командных – каждой команде. Основными системами проведения являются олимпийская, усовершенствованная олимпийская и круговая; существуют также смешанные системы, которые являются комбинациями основных на разных этапах соревнования.

Two! (Take two!)
Два! — означает, что у подающего остается еще две подачи; в игровом обиходе (при игре без судьи) принимающий объявляет подающему после первой неудачной подачи о том, что подачу необходимо переиграть (мяч задел сетку, но приземлился в поле подачи).

U

Unforced error
Невынужденная ошибка – потеря игроком очка на ударе по собственной вине. Совершается вследствие неправильно произведенного удара, в результате которого мяч ушел в аут или попал в сетку. Разбор невынужденных ошибок играет большую роль при анализе статистики матча игрока.

US Open
Открытый чемпионат США – заключительный календарный турнир серии «Большого шлема», проводимый с 1881 г. в августе – сентябре как национальное первенство США.

V

Versus
Против; напр. Safin vs. Hewitt – Сафин играет против Хьюита.

Volley
Удар слета. Совершается до касания мячом поверхности корта и может производится из любой точки площадки, но обычно – у сетки, для быстрого выигрыша очка. Чаще пробивается в агрессивной манере и составляет существенную часть арсенала теннисиста. Удар с лета хорошо использовать на быстрых покрытиях, когда у принимающего нет времени подготовится к его отражению.

W

Wild Card
Свободная карта — возможность участия игрока с недостаточно высоким рейтингом в турнире без прохождения квалификационного отбора. Любой турнир имеет право наградить «свободными картами» некоторое количество игроков с учетом их заслуг в развитии юношеского тенниса, популяризации игры в собственной стране или в случае, когда сильный игрок опоздал с подачей заявки. Хорват Горан Иванишевич в 2001 году стал единственным из обладателей WC, который выиграл престижный титул победителя Уимблдонского турнира в мужском разряде.

Wimbledon
Уимблдон – старейший из турниров «Большого шлема», единственный из аналогичных, проводящихся в настоящее время на траве. Проводится с 1887 года на травяных кортах Всеанглийского крокетного и лаун-теннисного клуба в пригороде Лондона, Уимблдоне.

Winner
1) Победитель в гейме, сете, матче, турнире.
2) Победный мяч – мяч, оказавшийся вне досягаемости ракетки соперника.
WTA Tour – Тур WTA – серия турниров теннисисток-профессионалов, ежегодно разыгрываемая под эгидой WTA.Все турниры, кроме «Большого шлема», разделены по категориям, в зависимости от суммы призового фонда.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page is a glossary of tennis terminology.

A[edit]

• Ace: Serve where the tennis ball lands inside the service box and is not touched by the receiver; thus, a shot that is both a serve and a winner is an ace. Aces are usually powerful and generally land on or near one of the corners at the back of the service box. Initially, the term was used to indicate the scoring of a point.^[1][2]
• Action: Synonym of spin.
• Ad court: Left side of the court of each player, so called because the ad (advantage) point immediately following a deuce is always served to this side of the court.^[2]
• Ad in: Advantage to the server.
• Ad out: Advantage to the receiver.
• Ad: Used by the chair umpire to announce the score when a player has the advantage, meaning they won the point immediately after a deuce. See scoring in tennis.
• Advantage set: Set won by a player or team having won at least six games with a two-game advantage over the opponent (as opposed to a tiebreak format). Final sets in the singles draws of the French Open remains the only major tennis event to use all advantage sets. In the past, they were used at Olympic tennis events (until 2012), Davis Cup (until 2015), Fed Cup (until 2015), Australian Open (until 2018) and Wimbledon (until 2018) when they all switched to tie breaks.
• Advantage: When one player wins the first point from a deuce and needs one more point to win the game; not applicable when using deciding points.^[1]
• All-Comers: Tournament in which all players took part except the reigning champion. The winner of the All-Comers event would play the title holder in the Challenge Round.^[3][4]
• All-court (or all-court game): Style of play that is a composite of all the different playing styles, which includes baseline, transition, and serve and volley styles.^[5][6]
• All-courter: Player with an all-court game.
• All: Used by the chair umpire to announce scores when both players have the same number of points or the same number of games. When both players are at 40, the preferred term is deuce.^[4]
• Alley: Area of the court between the singles and the doubles sidelines, which together are known as tramlines.^[7]
• Alternate: Player or team that gains acceptance into the main draw of a tournament when a main draw player or team withdraws. Such a player may be a lucky loser.
• American doubles (or American singles, Australian doubles and cut-throat tennis): Informal and unsanctioned variation of tennis played with three players—two on one side of the court and one on the other. The team of two players can only hit the ball within the single player’s singles lines, whilst the single player can hit into the full doubles court on the doubles team’s side. After each game, the players rotate such that each player plays in every position on court during the match. See also: Canadian doubles.
• Approach shot (or approach): A groundstroke shot used as a setup as the player approaches the net, often using underspin or topspin.^[8]
• ATP Finals: (formerly Masters Grand Prix, ATP Tour World Championship, Tennis Masters Cup and ATP World Tour Finals): Annual season-ending tournament of the ATP Tour featuring the eight top-ranked men in the world (plus two alternates).^[9]
• ATP Race (or ATP Race to Milan/Turin/London; formerly ATP Champions Race): ATP point ranking system that starts at the beginning of the year and by the end of the year mirrors the ATP entry system ranking. The top eight players at the end of the year qualify for the ATP Finals.^[10]
• ATP Tour (formerly ATP World Tour): Worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
• ATP: Abbreviation for Association of Tennis Professionals, the main organizing body of men’s professional tennis; governs the ATP Tour with the largest tournaments for men.
• Australian doubles: See American doubles.
• Australian formation: In doubles, a formation where the server and partner stand on the same side of the court before starting the point.^[11][12]

B[edit]

• Backboard: Vertical wall, often with the image of a tennis net painted on it, that is used to practice hitting against such that the ball bounces back without the need for a partner.
• Backcourt: The area of the tennis court between the baseline and the service line.^[13]
• Backhand: Stroke in which the ball is hit with the back of the racket hand facing the ball at the moment of contact. A backhand is often hit by a right-handed player when the ball is on the left side of the court, and vice versa.^[3]
• Backhand smash: A type of smash played over the backhand side.^[13]
• Backspin: Shot that rotates the ball backwards after it is hit; also known as slice or underspin. The trajectory of the shot is affected by an upward force that lifts the ball. See Magnus effect.^[13]
• Backswing: Portion of a swing where the racket is swung backwards in preparation for the forward motion to hit the ball.^[3]
• Bagel: Colloquial term for winning or losing a set 6–0 (the shape of the zero being reminiscent of the round shape of a bagel). See also breadstick.^[14][15][16]
• Bagnall-Wild: A method of draw which places all byes in the first round. Introduced in the 1880s by Ralph Bagnall Bagnall-Wild.^[17][18]
• Ball boy (also ball girl or ballkid): a person, commonly a child, tasked with retrieving tennis balls from the court that have gone out of play and supplying the balls to the players before their service. Ball boys in net positions normally kneel near the net and run across the court to collect the ball, while ball boys in the back positions stand in the back along the perimeter of the arena. Ball boys in the back are responsible for giving the balls to the player serving.^[19]
• Ball toss: The action of throwing up the ball prior to the serve.^[19]
• Ball machine: Machine that shoots tennis balls onto the court at a similar speed and trajectory as a human player, allowing an individual to practice their strokes without the need for a partner.
• Banana shot or banana forehand: Forehand hit down the line with sufficient spin that it curves in the air outside over the tramline and then back into the court again. A signature shot of Rafael Nadal.^[20]
• Baseline: Line at the farthest ends of the court indicating the boundary of the area of play. If the ball goes over the baseline it will be the other player’s point.^[21][22]
• Baseliner: Player who plays around the baseline during play and relies on the quality of their ground strokes.^[22]
• Big serve: Forceful serve, usually giving an advantage in the point for the server.
• Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup or Federation Cup): International, annual women’s tennis competition in which teams from participating countries compete in a single-elimination format tournament with matches occurring at several stages during the year.^[23]
• Bisque: One stroke (point), which may be claimed by the receiver at any part of the set. Part of the handicapping odds and used during the early era of the sport. Abolished by the LTA in 1890.^[24]
• Block (or blocked shot, blocked return): Defensive shot with relatively little backswing and shortened action instead of a full swing, usually while returning a serve.^[25]
• Bounce: The upward movement of the ball after it has hit the ground. The trajectory of the bounce can be affected by the surface and weather, the amount and type of spin and the power of the shot.^[21]
• Breadstick: Colloquial term for winning or losing a set 6–1, with the straight shape of the one supposedly being reminiscent of the straight shape of a breadstick. See also bagel.^[26]
• Break back: To win a game as the receiving player or team immediately after losing the previous game as the serving player or team.
• Break point: Point which, if won by the receiver, would result in a break of service; arises when the score is 30–40 or 40–ad. A double break point or two break points arises at 15–40; a triple break point or three break points arises at 0–40.^[27]
• Break: To win a game as the receiving player or team, thereby breaking serve. At high level of play the server is more likely to win a game, so breaks are often key moments of a match. Noun: break (service break) (e.g. «to be a break down» means «to have, in a set, one break fewer than the opponent», «to be a double break up» means «to have, in a set, two breaks more than the opponent»).^[28]
• Breaker: Colloquial term for tiebreak.^[27]
• Brutaliser: Hitting the ball directly at the opponent.^[29]
• Buffalo Log: The population of unbiased spectators enqueued viva their exchange mechanism, in attendance at the field.

Buggy whip: Forehand hit with a follow-through that does not go across the body and finish on the opposite side, but rather goes from low to high, crosses the opposite shoulder (optionally) and finishes on the same side (similar to the driver of a horse-drawn carriage whipping a horse). Used, for example, by Rafael Nadal (racket head crosses the opposite shoulder) and Maria Sharapova (racket head stays on the same shoulder).^[30]

• Bumper guard: A piece of plastic that protects the outside of the upper-half of the racket head.^[27]
• Bye: Automatic advancement of a player to the next round of a tournament without facing an opponent. Byes are often awarded in the first round to the top-seeded players in a tournament.^[21]
• Bunt: To use the power of the opponents shot and hit it back with a short swing.

C[edit]

• Call: Verbal utterance by a line judge or chair umpire declaring that a ball landed outside the valid area of play.^[31]
• Canadian doubles: Informal and unsanctioned variation of tennis played with three players—two on one side of the court and one on the other. The team of two players can only hit the ball within the single player’s singles lines, whilst the single player can hit into the full doubles court on the doubles team’s side. See also: American doubles.
• Can opener: Serve hit by a right-handed player with slice, landing on or near the intersection of the singles tramline and service line in the deuce court (or in the ad court for a left-handed server).
• Cannonball: Somewhat archaic term for a very fast, flat serve.^[31]
• Career Golden Slam: In addition to having won all four major titles in their career, a player that has also won an Olympic gold medal is said to have achieved a career Golden Slam. Only four players have ever achieved this in singles: Steffi Graf (1988), Andre Agassi (1996), Rafael Nadal (2010) and Serena Williams (2012). The term is rarely used in doubles, although the feat has been more common in that discipline. It has been achieved individually by nine wheelchair tennis players and three able-bodied players (Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernández, Daniel Nestor), and by three teams (The Woodies, the Williams sisters, and the Bryan brothers). Tennis at the Olympics was not played from 1928 to 1984.
• Career Grand Slam (or career slam): Players who have won all four Major championships over the course of their career (but not within the same calendar year) are said to have won a career Grand Slam.^[32]
• Carpet court: A surface for tennis courts consisting of textile or polymer materials supplied in rolls. Previously common for indoor professional events, the surface was dropped from major pro tournaments in 2009. See carpet court.
• Carve: To hit a groundstroke shot with a combination of sidespin and underspin.
• Centre mark: Small mark located at the centre of the baseline. When serving the player must stand on the correct side of the mark corresponding with the score.^[33]
• Chair umpire: See umpire.
• Challenge Round: Final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year’s champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of Wimbledon (from 1877 through 1921) and the US Open (from 1884 through 1911), and, until 1972, in the Davis Cup.^[3][34]
• Challenge: When a player requests an official review of the spot where the ball landed, using electronic ball tracking technology. See Hawk-Eye. Challenges are only available in some large tournaments.
• Challenger: A tour of tournaments one level below the top-tier ATP Tour. Currently, Challenger tournaments compose the ATP Challenger Tour. Players, generally ranked around world no. 80 to world no. 300, compete on the Challenger tour in an effort to gain ranking points which allow them to gain entry to tournaments on the ATP Tour.
• Champions tiebreak: See super tiebreak.
• Change-over (or change of ends): 90 second rest time after every odd-numbered game when the players change ends.^[35][32]
• Chip and charge: Type of approach shot which involves hitting a slice shot while rapidly moving forward and following the shot into the net. Aimed at putting the opponent under pressure.^[36][32]
• Chip: Blocking a shot with underspin, creating a low trajectory.^[36]
• Chop: Shot hit with extreme underspin, opposite of topspin.^[21][37]
• Circuit: The entire annual group of sanctioned tennis tournaments.
• Clay (or clay court, claycourt): a natural surface made of crushed shale, stone, brick or clay on which tennis is played, most notably at the French Open. See: clay court.
• Claycourter (or clay-courter, clay courter): Player who is particularly proficient or a specialist on clay courts.
• Closed tournament: Entries to “closed” tournaments are restricted, normally by a requirement of residency within a specified geographic area.^[38]
• Closed stance: Classic technique in which the ball is hit while the hitter’s body is facing at an angle between parallel to the baseline and with their back turned to the opponent.^[39]
• Code violation: a rule violation at a men’s and women’s professional tour match called by the chair umpire which results in a player receiving an official warning or a penalty. The first violation results in a warning; the second, a point penalty; the third and successive violations, a game penalty each. A code violation may also be judged severe enough to result in the player having to forfeit the match immediately (without having to go through the three or more automatic penalty stages). There often follows additional monetary fine for each code violation.
• Consolidate (a break): To hold serve in the game immediately following a break of serve.
• Continental grip: way of holding the racket in which the bottom knuckle of the index finger is in contact with the top of the handle and the heel of the hand with the bevel directly clockwise from it.^[32]
• Counterpuncher: Defensive baseliner. See tennis strategy.
• Court: Area designated for playing a game of tennis.^[40][41]
• Cross-over: Player crossing the net into the opponent’s court. It can be done either in a friendly fashion, or maliciously, thereby invoking a code violation. The latter sometimes happens when it is uncertain whether the ball on a decisive point landed inside or outside the court when playing on clay, thus leaving a mark.
• Crosscourt shot: Hitting the ball diagonally into the opponent’s court.^[42]
• Cut-throat tennis (or cutthroat tennis): see American doubles.
• Cyclops: Device formerly used at Wimbledon and other tournaments to detect a serve that landed long, past the service line. The device emitted an audible noise when the serve was long. Succeeded by Hawk-Eye.^[43]

D[edit]

• Dampener A small rubber device affixed to the strings of the racket to absorb some of the vibration caused by hitting the ball.^[44]
• Davis Cup: International, annual men’s tennis competition in which teams from participating countries compete in a single-elimination format, with matches occurring at several stages during the year.^[45]
• Dead net (or dead net cord): Situation in which a player scores by inadvertently hitting the ball in such a way that it touches the upper cord of the net and rolls over to the other side; the player is said to have «gotten (caught) a dead net (dead net cord)» and considered to be lucky.
• Dead rubber: Davis/Fed Cup match which is played after the victor of the tie has already been decided. Dead rubbers may or may not be played, depending on the coaches’ agreement to do so, and are usually best of three, instead of five, sets. Typically, players who play the dead rubber are lower-ranked members of the team looking to gain Davis/Fed Cup match experience.^[46]
• Deciding point: In doubles, the point played when the game score reaches deuce and there is no ad play; the game is decided in favor of whichever team wins the deuce point.
• Deep shot: Shot that lands near the baseline, as opposed to near the net or mid-court.
• Default: Disqualification of a player in a match by the chair umpire after the player has received four code violation warnings, generally for their conduct on court. A default can occur with less than four code violations warnings if the code violation is judged severe enough to warrant it. A double default occurs when both players are disqualified. Defaults also occur when a player misses a match with no valid excuse. Defaults are considered losses.
• Deuce court: Right side of the court of each player, so called because it is the area into which the ball is served when the score is deuce.
• Deuce: Score of 40–40 in a game. A player must win two consecutive points from a deuce to win the game, unless the tournament employs deciding points, as in the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals. A player who has won one point after deuce is said to have the advantage.
• Dig: A shot where the player hits the ball just before the second bounce. So named because the racket is positioned in a downward position, similar to a shovel digging a hole.
• Dink: Onomatopoetic term for a shot with little pace, usually hit close to the net.^[47]
• Direct acceptance («DA«): The process followed for the bulk of players who enter and are selected for a tournament by ranking. The term «DA» may be used specifically where a player’s ATP or WTA ranking would be insufficient to gain entry into a tournament, but they are selected based on an ITF ranking, top 500 national ranking, or randomly if the player is unranked but more direct entry spots are needed to fill the draw.^[48]
• Dirtballer: Colloquial term for a clay court specialist.^[47]
• Double bagel: Two sets won to love; see bagel.^[49]
• Double break point: A situation where the receiver has two consecutive break point opportunities in game, or a score of 15–40.
• Double break (or double-break): An advantage of two breaks of service in a set.
• Double fault: Two serving faults in a row in one point, causing the player serving to lose the point.^[49]
• Double-handed backhand (or double-hander): See two-handed backhand.
• Double-handed forehand (or double-hander): See two-handed forehand.
• Doubles net: A net used for playing doubles; longer than a singles net.
• Doubles: Match played by four players, two per side of the court. A doubles court is 9 ft (2.97m) wider than a singles court.^[50]
• Down the line: Ball hit straight along the sideline to the opponent’s side of the court.^[42]
• Draw: The schedule of matches in a tennis tournament. The starting fixtures are determined by a combined process of player seeding and random selection, and may or may not involve a public draw ceremony. A qualifying draw is set up to arrange the starting lineup of the qualifying competition (qualies), from where unseeded players qualify for a place in the starting lineup or the main draw of the tournament.^[42]
• Drive volley (or drive-volley, swing volley): a tennis volley executed with full swing or topspin drive, thus with pace and conventionally at shoulder height; in the manner of a forehand or backhand swing.^[51][52]
• Drive: Groundstroke hit with a flat trajectory.
• Drop (a set): to lose (the set)
• Drop shot (colloquial: dropper): Play in which the player hits the ball lightly enough to just go over the net, usually with backspin; designed to catch a player who is away from the net off guard.^[42]
• Drop volley: Drop shot executed from a volley position.
• Dual match: A team competition format used at the college level in the US. In NCAA Division I, a dual match consists of three one-set doubles matches and six singles matches. One point is awarded to the team that wins two or more of the doubles sets, and six more points are awarded for each singles win. The winner of the dual match is the team with four or more of the seven points.^[53]

E[edit]

• Elbow: Corner of the baseline and the doubles alley.
• Entry system: Ranking system used by the ATP and WTA tours, so named because it determines whether a player has a sufficiently high ranking to gain direct acceptance (not as a qualifier or wild card) into the main draw of a tournament. A player’s Entry System ranking is different from their Race ranking, which is reset to zero at the beginning of each year. A player carries points and the associated Entry ranking continuously unless those points are lost at a tournament at which the player had previously earned them.
• Error: A shot that does not land (correctly) in the opponent’s court, resulting in the loss of a point.^[51]
• Exhibition: Tournament in which players compete for the purpose of entertaining the crowd or raising money, but not ranking points on the ATP or WTA tours.

F[edit]

• Fault: Serve that fails to land the ball in the opponent’s service box, therefore not starting the point. See also double fault and foot fault.^[54]
• Fed Cup (or Federation Cup): See Billie Jean King Cup.
• First serve: The first of the two attempts to serve that a player is allowed at the beginning of a point. A let serve that lands inbounds does not count as a serve.
• Five: Number of games completed (e.g. «7–5» is spoken as «seven–five»), or a spoken abbreviation of «15» in points (e.g. a score of 40–15 is sometimes spoken as «forty–five»).
• Flat (or flat shot): Shot with relatively little spin and usually hard-hit.^[51]
• Flatliner: Player who hits the ball flat with a very low trajectory with exceptional depth and accuracy. Examples include Andre Agassi and Lindsay Davenport.
• Follow through: Portion of a swing after the ball is hit.^[55][51]
• Foot fault (or footfault): 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. The definition of a foot fault has changed several times since the introduction of (lawn) tennis.^[56]
• Forced error: Error caused by an opponent’s good play; contrasted with an unforced error. Counting forced errors as well as unforced errors is partly subjective.^[51][32]
• Forehand: Stroke in which the player hits the ball with the front of the racket hand facing the ball; contrasted with backhand.^[56]
• Frame shot (or frame, wood shot): A mishit on the frame of the racket rather than the strings.
• Fry: See breadstick.
• Futures: Series of men’s tour tennis tournaments which compose the ITF Men’s Circuit, a tour two levels below the ATP Tour and one level below the ATP Challenger Tour. Players compete in Futures events (generally when ranked below world no. 300 or so) to garner enough ranking points to gain entry into Challenger events.

G[edit]

• Game point: Situation in which the server is leading and needs one more point to win the game. See also break point.^[57]
• Game, set, match: Expression used at the conclusion of a match to indicate that one of the competitors has prevailed.
• Game: A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving and is a segment of a set. Each set consists of at least six games.^[57]
• Get: Reaching and returning a ball that is difficult to retrieve.
• Ghost in to the net: To approach the net from the baseline while the opposing player is focused on retrieving a ball and therefore unaware that the player is approaching the net.
• Golden set: A set that is won without dropping a single point.
• Golden Slam: Winning the Grand Slam and the tennis Olympic gold medal in a calendar year. This has only ever been achieved once, by Steffi Graf in 1988. See also Career Golden Slam.
• Grand Slam: Winning all four of the prestigious major tournaments in a calendar year. «Grand Slam» is also commonly used to refer to any one of the four tournaments: the Australian Open, the French Open (Roland Garros), Wimbledon, and the US Open. See also Career Grand Slam.^[56]
• Grass (or grass court): A natural turf surface tennis is played on, most notably at Wimbledon. See: grass court.
• Grasscourter (or grass-courter, grass courter): Player who is particularly proficient or a specialist on grass courts.
• Grinding: Playing out points with a series of shots from the baseline. See also attrition.
• Grip: A way of holding the racket in order to hit shots during a match. The three most commonly used conventional grips are the Continental, the Eastern and the Western. Most players change grips during a match depending on which shot they are hitting. For further information on grips, including all the types, see grip (tennis).^[58]
• Grommet strip: A strip of plastic containing small tubes that are placed in the frame’s string holes to prevent the strings from rubbing against the abrasive frame.^[59]
• Groundie: Colloquial word for a groundstroke.
• Groundstroke: Forehand or backhand shot that is executed after the ball bounces once on the court.^[57]
• Grunting: Noises made by players while either serving or hitting the ball.^[60]
• Gut: Type of racket string. Can be made from catgut or synthetic gut.^[57]

H[edit]

• Hacker: Player whose clumsy strokes seem more accidental than intentional.^[57]
• Hail Mary: Extremely high lob, for defensive purposes.
• Half court: The area of the court in the vicinity of the service line.
• Half volley: A groundstroke shot made immediately after a bounce or simultaneous to the bounce and played with the racket close to the ground.^[60]
• Handicapping A system in which competitors are given advantages or compensations to equalize the chances of winning.^[60][61]
• Hardcourt (or hard court): A type of court which is made of asphalt or concrete with a synthetic/acrylic layer on top. They can vary in color and tend to play medium-fast to fast.
• Hardcourter (or hard-courter, hard courter): Player who is particularly proficient or a specialist on hard courts.
• Hawk-Eye Live: Advanced version of the Hawk-Eye technology that calls shots in or out in real time (through speakers), fully replacing human line judges.^[62]
• Hawk-Eye: Computer system connected to cameras to track the path of the ball for replay purposes; used with the player challenge system to contest and review designated line calls.
• Head (or racket head): Portion of the racket that contains the strings.^[63]
• Heavy (ball): Ball hit with so much topspin that it feels «heavy» when the opposing player strikes it.
• Hit and giggle: non-competitive social tennis.
• Hitting partner (or sparring partner): specialist employed by a tennis player to practice strokes during training.
• Hold (or hold serve): To win the game when serving. Compare break.
• Hot Dog: A shot where the player hits the ball between their legs.

I[edit]

• I-formation: Formation used in doubles where the net player on the serving team crouches roughly at the centre service line; used mainly to counter teams that prefer a crosscourt return.^[64][65]
• Inside-in: Running around the backhand side to hit a forehand down the line. Vice versa for inside in backhand.
• Inside-out: Running around the backhand side and hitting a crosscourt forehand. Vice versa for inside out backhand.
• Insurance break: Break that achieves an overall advantage of two breaks of serve.
• IPIN: Abbreviation for International Player Identification Number, a registration number required for all professional tennis players and administered by the governing body ITF.
• ITF entry: High-ranking ITF players can be awarded a spot into ATP Challenger and ITF women’s tournaments main draws based on their ITF ranking.
• ITF: Abbreviation for International Tennis Federation, the governing body of world tennis. Founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF).^[66]

J[edit]

• Jamming: Serving or returning straight into the opponent’s body.
• Junior exempt («JE«): High-ranking junior players can be awarded a spot in the draw of a tournament through the ITF’s junior exempt project.^[67]
• Junk ball: A shot or return stroke in which the ball tends to be slow and possibly also without spin; often introduced unpredictably to upset the flow of the game and the rhythm of the opposition.
• Junk baller (or junkballer): Player that hits junk balls; often used in a derogative manner.

K[edit]

• Kick serve: Type of spin serve that bounces high. Introduced in the United States in the late 1880s and called the American twist.^[68][69]
• Knock-up: Practice or warm-up session without scoring which usually precedes the start of competitive play.^[57][70]

L[edit]

• Last direct («LD«): a player with the lowest rank/rating allowed to participate directly in the tournament.
• Lawn tennis: «Regular» tennis, as opposed to real tennis, the game from which tennis is derived. Reflects the fact that the game was first played on grass.^[71]
• Let-check: Electronic sensor on the net that assists chair umpires in calling lets by detecting vibration. Typically, it is used only on show courts in professional matches, like electronic review. Players and commentators occasionally complain that such devices are too sensitive, that is, indicate too many false positives.
• Let: A call that requires the point to be replayed. The umpire indicates this type of let by announcing «Let. First serve», or «Let. Second serve.» Lets typically occur when an otherwise-valid serve makes contact with the net before hitting the ground. Theoretically, a player could serve an unlimited number of otherwise-valid let serves, but a serve that touches the net and then lands out of bounds counts as one of the two allowed serves. A let can also be called during play when there is some distraction to either player not caused by the players themselves, 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. When a receiver is legitimately unprepared for a serve, a let is technically the result, even if the word goes unspoken.^[72][73]
• Line call (or call): Call made by the line judge. A call of ‘out’ will be made in combination with an outstretched arm pointing sideways if a ball lands outside the court and if the ball is ‘in’, i.e. lands on or within the outer lines, this is indicated by holding both hands flattened and the arms stretched downwards.^[74]
• Line judge (or linesman, lineswoman or line umpire): 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 inside or outside the play area and cannot be overruled by the players. Line judges must defer to an umpire’s decision, even when it contradicts their own observations.^[60][75]
• Lingering death tiebreak: Version of the tiebreak played as the best of twelve points, with a two-point advantage needed to clinch the set.^[76]
• Lob volley: Type of volley shot aimed at lobbing the ball over the opponent and normally played when the opponent is in the vicinity of the net.^[77]
• Lob: Stroke in which 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. See also moonball.^[60]
• Long: A call to indicate that the ball has landed out of court, beyond the baseline.
• Love game: Shutout game, won without the opponent scoring a single point.^[78]
• Love hold: Game won by the server without the opponent scoring a single point.
• Love: A score of zero (e.g. «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 the egg, meaning nothing; less popular alternative theory claiming it to be from the Dutch word lof doen, meaning honour.^[79][80][81]
• Lucky loser («LL«): Highest-ranked player to lose in the final round of qualifying for a tournament, but still ends up qualifying because of a sudden withdrawal by one of the players already in the main draw. In Grand Slam events, one of the four highest-ranked losers in the final qualifying round is randomly picked as the lucky loser.

M[edit]

• Mac-Cam: High-speed video camera used for televised instant replays of close shots landing on/near the baseline. Name derived from John McEnroe.
• Masters Cup (or Tennis Masters Cup) Former name of the year-end ATP championship, in which the eight highest-ranked players compete in a round-robin format. See ATP Finals.
• Masters: Colloquial name for a tournament in the ATP Tour Masters 1000 category on the ATP Tour.
• Match: A contest between two players (singles match) or two teams of players (doubles match), normally played as the best of three or five sets.^[60][77]
• Match point: Situation in which the player who is leading needs one more point to win the match. Variations of the term are possible; e.g. championship point is the match point in the final match of a championship or a gold medal point is the match point in the final match of the Olympics.^[77]
• Mercedes Super 9: Former name for the nine ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournaments.
• Match tiebreak: A final set played under a tiebreak or super tiebreak format. The match tiebreak is used in ATP and WTA doubles tournaments, as well as the Australian Open, US Open and French Open mixed doubles tournaments.
• Mini-break: Point won from the opponent’s serve. The term is usually used in a tiebreak, but it can be used during normal service games as well. To be «up a mini-break» means that the player has one more mini-break than the opponent.
• Mini-hold: Point won by the server, usually in a tiebreak.
• MIPTC: Abbreviation for Men’s International Professional Tennis Council, administrative body of the tournaments that composed the Grand Prix tennis circuit. Existed from 1974 until the creation of the ATP Tour in 1989.
• Mis-hit (or mishit): Stroke in which the racket fails to make contact with the ball in the «sweetspot» area of the strings.
• Mixed doubles: Match played by four players, two male, two female, one of each sex per side of the court.^[77]
• Moonball: A type of groundstroke that is hit with a lot of topspin, usually with the forehand, to create a high, slow, floating shot that lands close to the opponent’s baseline. See also lob.^[82][83]
• MOP: Point at 0–30; stands for major opportunity point.
• Main draw: See draw.

N[edit]

• Net cord: See dead net cord.
• Net point: Point won or lost on approaching the net, as opposed to a point won or lost by a stroke from the baseline.
• Net out: Fault occurred when the ball hits the net and lands outside the court during a serve.
• Net posts: Posts on each side of the court which hold up the net. The net posts are placed 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the doubles court on each side, unless a singles net is used, in which case the posts are placed 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the singles court.^[40]
• Net sticks (or singles sticks): Pair of poles placed on the singles line to support the net during a singles match.^[77]
• Net: Interlaced fabric, cord, and tape stretched across the entire width of the court; it is held up by the posts.^[84]
• New balls: A new set of balls replacing an old set, usually after seven or nine games have been played (depending on the point of the match), and requested by the chair umpire calling for «new balls, please.» A necessary move since constant strokes cause balls to heat up and lose pressure and velocity, which leads to an alteration of their bounce characteristics.^[85] As a courtesy, the player first to serve a new ball will show it to their opponent before serving.
• No ad scoring: Game format in which the player who wins the first point after deuce wins the game. The receiver determines whether the server serves to the deuce or ad court. Typically used in matches with time constraints.
• No-man’s land: Area between the service line and the baseline, where a player is most vulnerable.^[77]
• Non-endemic products: Products for tennis sponsorship that are not intrinsic to the sport such as watches, cars, jewelry.
• Not up: Call given by the umpire when a player plays a ball that has already bounced twice, i.e. the ball was out of play when the player played it.
• NTRP rating: National Tennis Rating Program rating; system used in the United States to rank players on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being an absolute beginner and 7 a touring pro.^[86]

O[edit]

• Official: Member of the officiating team: tournament referee, chair umpire, or linesman.
• On one’s racket: A situation in which a player can win the match, set, or tiebreak by holding serve. This occurs when a player breaks the opponent’s serve or achieves a mini break in a tiebreak.^{[87][88][89][90]}
• On serve: Situation where both players or teams have the same number of breaks in a set. While on serve, neither player or team can win the set without a break of serve. An advantage set requires at least one break to win.
• One-handed backhand (or single-handed backhand, single-hander, one-hander): Backhand stroke hit with one hand on the grip.
• One-two punch: When a server wins a point in two shots, where the second shot results in a winner or an opponent’s forced error due to the positioning of both players after the serve.
• Open: A pre-open era term used to indicate a tournament open to all comers of any nationality as opposed ‘closed’ tournaments for nationals of the country concerned.^[91]
• Open Era: Period in tennis which began in 1968 when tournaments became open to both amateurs and professional players.^[92]
• Open stance: Modern technique in which the hitter’s body facing is at an angle between parallel to the baseline and facing the opponent. See also closed stance.
• OP: Stands for opportunity point; 15–30, an opportunity to potentially break serve.
• Order of play («OOP«): Schedule of matches in a tennis tournament.
• On-site entry («OSE«): The process by which vacant slots in a doubles tournament are filled by teams who physically sign up for the draw and are selected based on ranking cut-offs.
• Out: An error in which the ball lands outside the playing area.^[93]
• Overgrip (or overwrap): padded tape spirally wrapped over the handle or grip of the racket to absorb moisture or add gripping assistance.^[93]
• Overhead: Stroke in which the player hits the ball over their 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.^[94]
• Overrule: To reverse a call made by a line judge, done by the umpire.^[94]

P[edit]

• Pace: The speed and power of the ball after it is struck by the racket. Pace is used to control the tempo of the game.^[95]
• Paint the lines: To hit shots that land as close to the lines of the court as possible.
• Pass (or passing shot): Type of shot, usually played in the vicinity of thvee baseline, that passes by (not over) the opponent at the net. See also lob.^[96]
• Percentage tennis: Style of play consisting of safe shots with large margins of error. Aimed at keeping the ball in play in anticipation of an opponent’s error.^[32]
• Ping it: To hit an offensive shot and place the ball deep to the corners of the court.
• Poaching (noun: poach): In doubles, an aggressive move where the player at the net moves to volley a shot intended for their partner.^[97][96]
• Point penalty: Point awarded to a player’s opponent following successive code violations.
• Point: Period of play between the first successful service of a ball and the point at which that ball goes out of play. It is the smallest unit of scoring in tennis.^[98]
• Pre-qualifying: Tournament in which the winner(s) earn a wild card into a tournament’s qualifying draw.
• Pressureless ball: Special type of tennis ball that does not have a core of pressurized air as standard balls do, but rather has a core made of solid rubber, or a core filled tightly with micro-particles. Quality pressureless balls are approved for top-pro play generally, but pressureless balls are typically used mostly at high altitudes, where standard balls would be greatly affected by the difference between the high pressure in the ball and the thin air.
• Protected ranking («PR«) or Special ranking («SR«) : Players injured for a minimum of six months can ask for a protected ranking, which is based on their average ranking during the first three months of their injury. The player can use their protected ranking to enter tournaments’ main draws or qualifying competitions when coming back from injury (or some occurrences such as COVID-19 frozen ranking concerns in 2020–21).^[10] It is also used in the WTA for players returning from pregnancy leave.^[99]
• Pull the trigger: To hit a powerful offensive shot, particularly after patiently waiting for the right opportunity to arise during a rally.
• Pulp: 30–30, not quite deuce (a pun on the homophone «juice»).
• Pusher: Player who does not try to hit winners, but only to return the ball safely; often used in a derogative manner.
• Putaway: Offensive shot to try to end the point with no hope of a return.^[100]

Q[edit]

• Qualies: Short for qualification rounds or similar.^[101]
• Qualification round: Final round of play in a pre-tournament qualification competition, also known as qualies.^[101]
• Qualifier («Q«): Player who reaches the tournament’s main draw by competing in a pre-tournament qualifying competition instead of automatically qualified by virtue of their world ranking, being a wild card, or other exemption.^[101]
• Qualifying draw: See draw.

R[edit]

• Racket (or racquet): 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.^[102][103]
• Racket abuse (racquet abuse): When a player slams their racket into the ground or net in frustration. Can result in a warning from the umpire or docking of points.
• 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.^[104]
• Rankings: A hierarchical listing of players based on their recent achievements. Used to determine qualification for entry and seeding in tournaments.^[97]
• Rating: A system used by national tennis organizations to group players of comparable skills. The rating of players is dependent on their match record.^[105]
• Real tennis (also royal tennis or court tennis): An indoor racket sport which was the predecessor of the modern game of (lawn) tennis. The term real is used as a retronym to distinguish the ancient game from the modern game of lawn tennis. Known also as court tennis in the United States or royal tennis in Australia.^[106]
• Receiver: Player who is receiving the service of the opponent.^[104][107]
• Referee: Person in charge of enforcing the rules in a tournament, as opposed to a tennis match. See also umpire.^[108][100]
• Reflex volley: Volley in which the player has no time to plan the shot, and instead reacts instinctively to get the racket in position to return the ball. This occurs frequently in doubles and in advanced singles.
• Registered player: A designation used during the beginning of the Open Era to identify a category of amateur tennis players who were allowed to compete for prize money but stayed under the control of their national associations.
• Retirement («ret.«): Player’s withdrawal during a match, causing the player to forfeit the tournament. Usually this happens due to injury. For a pre-match withdrawal, see walkover.
• Retriever: Defensive baseliner who relies on returning the ball rather than scoring direct winners. See tennis strategy.^[100]
• Return: Stroke made by the receiver of a service.^[109]
• Return ace: Shot in which the opponent serves, the receiver returns the serve, and the opponent does not hit the ball.
• Rising shot: Shot in which the ball is hit before it reaches its apex; also hitting on the rise.
• Round of 16: Round of a tournament prior to the quarterfinals in which there are 16 players remaining, corresponds to the fourth round of 128-draw tournament, the third round of a 64-draw, and second round of a 32-draw tournament.
• Round robin («RR«): Tournament format in which players are organised into groups of three or four players and compete against all other members of the group. Players are then ranked according to number of matches, sets, and games won and head-to-head records. The top one, two, or four players then qualify for the next stage of the tournament.^[104]
• Rubber: Individual match, singles or doubles, within a Davis Cup or Billie Jean King Cup tie.^[46][110]
• Run around the ball: To quickly move laterally on the court during a rally so as to be able to hit a forehand instead of a backhand, or vice versa.

S[edit]

• Satellite: Intermediate junior level of play, equivalent of Level 6.^{[clarification needed]}
• Scoring: Method of tracking progress of a match. A match consists of points, game and sets.^[111]
• Scratch: Withdrawal from a match due to an injury.
• Second serve (or second service): Second and final of the two serve attempts a player is allowed at the beginning of a point, not counting net cord let serves that would otherwise be good.
• Second snap: a tennis ball struck for top spin against lubricated or co-poly strings will get extra rotation on the ball from the mains popping back in position before the ball leaves contact with the racket.
• Seed (or seeding): Player whose position in a tournament has been arranged based on their ranking so as not to meet other ranking players in the early rounds of play. Named for the similarity to scattering seeds widely over the ground to plant them. For a given tournament there is a specified number of seeds, depending on the size of the draw. For ATP tournaments, typically one out of four players are seeds. For example, a 32-draw ATP Tour 250 tournament would have eight seeds. The seeds are chosen and ranked by the tournament organizers and are selected because they are the players with the highest ranking who also, in the estimation of the organizers, have the best chance of winning the tournament. Seed ranking is sometimes controversial, because it does not always match the players’ current ATP ranking.^[110]
• Serve and volley: Method of play to serve and immediately move forward to the net to make a volley with the intent to hit a winner and end the point.^[112]
• Serve-and-volleyer: Player that plays serves-and-volleys frequently or for all of their service points.
• Serve out: To win a set (and possibly therefore, the match) by holding serve.
• Serve (verb and noun. Also service, noun): The starting stroke of each point. The ball must be hit into the opponent’s service box, specifically the box’s half that is diagonally opposite the server.^[113]
• Service box (or service court): Rectangular area of the court, marked by the sidelines and the service lines, that a serve is supposed to land in.^[114]
• Service game: With regard to a player, the game in which the player is serving (e.g. «Player A won a love service game» means that Player A has won a game where (s)he was serving without the opponent scoring).
• Service line: A line that runs parallel to the net at a distance of 21 ft (6.4m) and forms part of the demarcation of the service box.^[115]
• Set point: Situation in which 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».^[112]
• Set: A unit of scoring. A set consists of games and the first player to win six games with a two-game advantage wins the set. In most tournaments a tiebreak is used at six games all to decide the outcome of a set.^[112]
• Shallow: Not deep into the court; not close to the baseline (of a struck ball).
• Shamateurism: Amalgamation of ‘sham’ and ‘amateurism’, derogatory term for a custom that widely existed before the open era where an amateur player would receive financial remuneration to participate in a tournament in violation of amateur laws.^[116]
• Shank: Significantly misdirected shot, the result of hitting the ball in an unintentional manner, typically with the frame of the racket. Such shots typically land outside the court, however, it is possible to hit a shank that lands validly in the court.
• Shot clock: A publicly displayed clock which is used in between points to ensure that a player serves within 25 seconds. First used in Grand Slams at the Australian Open in 2018.
• Single-handed backhand (or single-hander): See one-handed backhand.
• Singles net: A net used for playing singles; shorter than a doubles net.
• Singles sticks (or net sticks): Pair of poles which are placed underneath the net near the singles sideline for the purpose of raising it for singles play.
• Singles: Match played by two players, one on each side of the court. A singles court is narrower than a doubles court and is bounded by the inner sidelines and the baseline.^[115][117]
• Sitter: Shot which is hit with very little pace and no spin, which bounces high after landing, thus being an easy shot to put away.^[118]
• Skyhook: Overhead shot hit behind the body.
• Sledgehammer: Colloquial term for a two-handed backhand winner down the line.
• Slice: Shot with underspin (backspin), or a serve with sidespin. Groundstrokes hit with slice tend to have a flat trajectory and a low bounce.^[115][117]
• Smash: 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.^[115]
• Spank: To hit a groundstroke flat with a lot of pace.
• Sparring partner: see hitting partner.
• Special exempt («SE«): Players who are unable to appear in a tournament’s qualifying draw because they are still competing in the final rounds of a previous tournament can be awarded a spot in the main draw by special exempt.^[119]
• Special ranking («SR«): See protected ranking.
• Spin: Rotation of the ball as it moves through the air, affecting its trajectory and bounce. See backspin, topspin, and underspin.^[115]
• Split step: a footwork technique in which a player does a small bounce on both feet, just as the opponent hits the ball. This lets the player go more quickly in either direction.^[120]
• Spot serving/spot server: Serving with precision, resulting in the ball landing either on or near the intersection of the center service line and service line or singles tramline and service line.
• Squash shot: Forehand or backhand shot typically hit on the run from a defensive position, either with slice, or from behind the player’s stance.
• Stance: The way a player stands when hitting the ball.
• Stick volley: Volley hit crisply, resulting in shot with a sharp downward trajectory.
• Stiffness (or racket stiffness): The resistance of the racket to bending upon impact with the ball.^[121]
• Stop volley: A softly-hit volley which absorbs almost all the power of the shot resulting in the ball dropping just over the net.^[122][123]
• Stopper: Player who will not win or go deep in a tournament but is good enough to stop a top seed from advancing.
• Straight sets: Situation in which the winner of a match does not lose a set. A straight set may also mean a set which is won by a score of 6-something; i.e. is won at the first opportunity and does not reach five games all.^[122]
• Stringbed: Grid of strings within the frame of the racket.
• String saver: Tiny piece of plastic that is sometimes inserted where the strings cross, to prevent the strings from abrading each other and prematurely breaking.^[124]
• Strings: Material woven through the face of the racket. The strings are where contact with the ball is supposed to be made.^[125]
• Stroke: Striking of the ball.^[115]
• Sudden death tiebreak: Version of a tiebreak played as the best of nine points, with the last being a deciding point to clinch the set. Introduced in 1965 by Jimmy Van Alen as a component of the VASSS.^[126][127]
• Super tiebreak (or Champions tiebreak): A tiebreak variation played with a first to ten points format instead of seven; usually used in doubles to decide a match instead of playing a third set.^[128]
• Supercoach: A tennis coach who has had a successful professional career.^[129]
• Sweetspot: Central area of the racket head which is the best location, in terms of control and power, for making contact with the ball.^[130]
• Swing volley: See drive volley.

T[edit]

• Tanking (noun: tank): Colloquial term for losing a match on purpose; or to purposely lose a non-vital set, so as to focus energy and attention on a match-deciding set.^[131] It may result in a temporary ban such as that encountered by Nick Kyrgios at the 2016 and 2017 Shanghai Open.^[132]
• Tape it: To play a shot that hits the tape at the top of the net.
• Tennis ball: Soft, hollow, air-filled rubber ball coated in a synthetic fur, used in the game of tennis. The ITF specifies that a tennis ball must have a diameter of 6.54–6.86 cm (2.57–2.70 in) and a weight of 56.0–59.4g. Yellow and white are the only approved colors at tournament level.^[3][133]
• Tennis bubble: Indoor tennis facility consisting of a domed structure which is supported by air pressure generated by blowers inside the structure.
• Tennis dad: Father of a tennis player, often used in reference to a parent actively participating in the player’s tennis development and/or career.
• Tennis elbow: Common injury in beginner to intermediate tennis players, possibly due to improper technique or a racket which transmits excessive vibration to the arm.^[134]
• Tennis Hall of Fame: The International Tennis Hall of Fame located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was established in 1954 and hosts an annual tournament around the induction ceremony.^[135]
• The vineyard of tennis: Southern California as characterized by tennis commentator and historian Bud Collins.
• Tiebreak: Special game played when the score is 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 points over the opponent.^[115][126]
• Tie: Synonymous with match, but used for team competitions such as the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.
• 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.^[136]
• Toss: At the beginning of a match, the winner of a coin toss chooses who serves first. In amateur tennis the toss is often performed by spinning the racket.^[137][138]
• Touch: Occurs when a player touches any part of the net when the ball is still in play, losing the point.
• Tramline: Line defining the limit of play on the side of a singles or doubles court.^[139][140]
• Trampolining: Effect which occurs when striking a ball flat with a racket that is strung at a very loose tension. Trampolining results in a shot that has a very high velocity.
• Two ball pass: Passing an opponent that has come to the net with a first shot that causes them trouble on the volley followed up by hitting the second ball by them.
• Triple bagel: Colloquial term for three sets won to love. See bagel.
• Triple crown: Winning the championship in all three tennis disciplines (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) at one event, especially a Grand Slam tournament.
• T (the T): The spot on a tennis court where the center line and the service line intersect perpendicularly to form a «T» shape.^[141]
• Tube: (Colloquial term) to deliberately and successfully hit the ball at the opponent’s body; e.g. «he tubed his opponent.»
• Tweener (also called tweeny, tweenie, hot dog, Gran Willy or Sabatweenie — the last two being named after Guillermo Vilas and Gabriela Sabatini respectively, who pioneered the shot in the 1970s and 80s): A difficult trick shot in which a player hits the ball between their legs. It is usually performed when chasing down a lob with the player’s back to the net. Forward-facing tweeners are also sometimes employed, and have been dubbed «front tweeners».
• Tweener racket: a tennis racket of mid-weight, mid-head size and mid-stiffness, often used as a transitional racket for young professionals.
• Twist serve (or American twist serve): Serve hit with a combination of slice and topspin which results in a curving trajectory and high bounce in the opposite direction of the ball’s flight trajectory. See also kick serve.^[142]
• Two-handed backhand (or double-handed backhand, double-hander, two-hander): Backhand stroke hit with both hands on the grip.
• Two-handed forehand (or double-handed forehand, double-hander, two-hander): Forehand stroke hit with both hands on the grip.

U[edit]

• Umpire (or chair umpire): Person designated to enforce the rules of the game during play, usually sitting on a high chair beside the net.^[139]
• Underhand serve (or underarm serve): A serve in which the player lobs the ball from below shoulder level.^[143]
• Underspin (or backspin or undercut): Spin of a ball where the top of the ball rotates away from the direction of travel; the spin is underneath the ball, causing the ball to float and to bounce at a lower angle to the court.^[144][145]
• Unforced error: Error in a service or return shot that cannot be attributed to any factor other than poor judgement and execution by the player; contrasted with a forced error.^[146]
• Unseeded player: Player who is not a seed in a tournament.^[147]
• Upset: The defeat of a high-ranked player by a lower-ranked player.^[148]

V[edit]

• Vantage: Archaic term for advantage.^[144]
• VASSS: Abbreviation for Van Alen Streamlined Scoring System, an alternative scoring method developed by James Van Alen aimed at avoiding very long matches that can arise under the traditional advantage scoring system. The only element of the VASSS to be adopted by tennis authorities was the tiebreak.^[149][150]
• Volley: A shot hit, usually in the vicinity of the net, by a player before the ball bounces on their own side of the court.^[139][151]

W[edit]

• Walkover («WO» or «w/o«): Unopposed victory. A walkover is awarded when the opponent fails to start the match for any reason, such as injury. For a mid-match withdrawal, see retirement.
• Western grip: Type of grip used if a player wants to generate a lot of topspin on the groundstrokes, is created by placing the index knuckle on bevel 5 of the grip.^[152][144]
• Whiff: A stroke in which the player misses the ball completely. Whiffing a serve is considered a fault in an official match.^[153]
• Wide: A call to indicate that the ball has landed out of court, beyond the sideline.^[144][154]
• Wild card («WC«): Player allowed to play in a tournament, even if their rank is not adequate or they do not register in time. Typically a few places in the draw are reserved for wild cards, which may be for local players who do not gain direct acceptance or for players who are just outside the ranking required to gain direct acceptance. Wild cards may also be given to players whose ranking has dropped due to a long-term injury.^[155]
• Winner: A shot that is not reached by the opponent and wins the point; sometimes also a serve that is reached but not returned into the court.^[156][157]
• Wood shot: See frame shot.
• WCT: Abbreviation for World Championship Tennis, a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 which lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990.
• Wrong-foot (or wrong foot, wrongfoot): To hit the ball in the opposite horizontal direction to that expected by the opponent, causing them to switch direction suddenly.
• WTA Finals: The annual season-ending tournament of the WTA Tour featuring the eight top-ranked women in the world (plus two alternates).
• WTA Tour: Worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women’s Tennis Association.
• WTA: Abbreviation for Women’s Tennis Association, the main organizing body of women’s professional tennis; governs the WTA Tour with the largest tournaments for women.^[158][159]

Y[edit]

• Yo-yo: Situation in which a player scores by hitting the ball in backspin in such a way that the ball touches the opponent’s court first and returns back to the player side after the first bounce.

Z[edit]

• Zero pointer: Ranking points received by skipping selected professional tennis tour events which a top ranked player is committed to participate in (mandatory tournaments). Therefore, the player risks getting no points added to their ranking even when participating in an alternative tournament in place of the mandatory event.

See also[edit]

• Tennis shots

References[edit]

Sources

External links[edit]

• Glossary of tennis terms at britishtennis.com
• Glossary of tennis terms at Tennis Australia

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Tennis Terms to Know

RALLY – A series of good hits made successfully by players. Also, the practice procedure in which players hit the ball back and forth to each other.