It’s Tennis Time! Are You Ready to Learn Some Wimbledon Vocabulary?
With world-renowned tennis players currently competing in the Wimbledon championships, we thought it was the perfect time to explore some common tennis words.
Like many sports and games, tennis has its own unique language that’s filled with terms that might seem puzzling at first.
But fear not!
In this blog post, we'll demystify common tennis terms to help you understand and appreciate the sport even more.
- Tennis Court – A rectangular playing area divided into two halves by a net, where the game is played.
- Serve – The act of hitting the ball to start a point. The server stands behind the baseline and hits the ball diagonally across the net to the opponent.
- Forehand – A stroke made by hitting the ball with the palm of your hand facing the direction you want it to go. It's the most natural stroke for right-handed players on their right side and left-handed players on their left side.
- Backhand – A stroke made by hitting the ball with the back of your hand facing the direction you want it to go. For right-handed players, this is on the left side and for left-handed players, this is on the right side.
- Baseline – The boundary lines at the ends of the court, parallel to the net. Players must hit the ball within these lines during play.
- Deuce – A situation where both players have a score of 40-40, requiring one player to win two consecutive points to win the game.
- Advantage – A situation where one player has won a point after deuce, and they only need to win one more point to win the game.
- Break Point – A situation where the receiving player has an opportunity to win the game while their opponent is serving. If the receiving player wins the point, they ‘break’ their opponent's serve.
- Game – A unit of scoring in tennis. To win a game, a player must win four points (15, 30, 40, and game).
- Set – A collection of games. To win a set, a player must win six games with a margin of at least two games.
- Match – A competition consisting of multiple sets. To win the match, a player must win a predetermined number of sets.
- Tiebreak – A special game used to determine the winner of a set when the game score reaches 6-6. Players take turns serving, and the first to reach seven points with a margin of two wins the tiebreak and the set.
- Love – A term used to indicate a score of zero.
- Let – A situation where a serve hits the net but lands in the correct service box, resulting in a replay of the point.
- Ace – A serve that lands in the service box and the opponent fails to touch it, resulting in an immediate point for the server.
By learning the language of tennis, you'll be able to follow the action, engage in tennis-related conversations confidently, or perhaps even step onto a court yourself. Not a sporty person? Learn how to spell these tennis words using one of our spelling games instead!
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10 Jul 2023
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