Tennis Talk

Serving is very important in tennis, it is the hit that starts a point. When a player serves, they aim for the box opposite of where they are standing. They want to make it inside of the service box while not hitting the net. If the tennis ball were to hit the net and bounce into the service box, that would be called a “let”. This serve is not legal in tennis and the server will have to serve the ball again. Only when a ball hits a net and goes over on a return does the point count. The player is not timed while serving and can throw the ball up as many times as needed if they do not hit it or contact the ball. The ball must be thrown up into the air and hit the ground without contact for it to not count as a serve.

When a player begins to serve, they stand behind the baseline on either the right or left side. They throw the ball up on the side that they hit and usually hit the ball when it is begins to fall from the highest point of the throw. The server gets two serves if the first serve doesn’t go into the service box the first time. If they miss the second serve, the opponent receives the point. After the first serve is done, the server will switch sides of the court and serve diagonal once again. The opponent will also switch sides in order to retrieve the ball.

It can be difficult to master the serve but once a player does, it becomes a great advantage. Once a person becomes more familiar with serving, they can learn how to aim the ball where they want or even put a spill/ curve on the ball.