Tennis

V

Officials

While most recreational matches are refereed by the players themselves, in most high-level tournament competitions officials keep score, determine if shots are good, and interpret rules. The head official on the court, called the chair umpire, sits on a tall chair at one end of the net. A varying number of line judges sit around the court beyond the path of the players. Line judges determine whether serves and shots are good or out. A net-cord judge may be employed to determine when a ball touches the top of the net, and a foot-fault judge may watch for that specific infraction. In the 1980s electronic devices began to be used in some professional tournaments to determine if serves, whose speeds may reach over 100 mph (161 km/h), land in or out of the service box.

VI

Strokes

The basic strokes used in tennis are the forehand and the backhand. In the forehand, the player pivots the body so that the shoulder of the nonracket-bearing arm faces the net. The player then swings the racket forward to meet the ball. In the backhand stroke, the player turns so that the shoulder of the racket-bearing arm faces the net before bringing the racket forward and across the body to meet the ball. The basic types of grips that players may use to hold the racket are called the Eastern, Western, and Continental grips. Players often change their grip depending on the type of shot they are required to hit. A two-handed (also known as a two-fisted) grip is used by some players, primarily for its ability to produce powerful shots. Most often employed to hit the backhand shot, some players use it for forehands as well.

There are several other strokes commonly used during a tennis match. The lob is a high, soft return over the head of an opponent who has approached the net. It is frequently used to force the opponent to retreat to the back of the court to play the ball. The lob can also be used as a defensive stroke, providing time for the hitter to regain court position. The overhead smash is a powerful shot often used to return a lob that has not been hit high or deep enough. The shot is hit in a similar manner to the serve, or the spike in volleyball. The drop shot is a lightly hit, spinning return that drops softly over the net, forcing the opponent to approach the net. If the opponent is positioned deep in the court, the drop shot can be used to win the point. A volley occurs when a player strikes the ball before it bounces. The volley is most often employed when a player is playing close to the net. The half volley is a low return of the ball just after it has bounced.

In addition to using different shots, a player may put varying spins on the ball to make it bounce in certain ways. Topspin is produced when a player strikes the ball so that it spins from low to high as it travels forward, creating a higher bounce. Topspin enables a player to strike the ball harder, because the added spin helps to bring the ball down and keep it in play. Underspin occurs when a player strikes the ball so that it spins from high to low as it travels forward, reducing the bounce. This shot is called a slice. While putting spin on a shot greatly enhances control, both topspin and underspin reduce the amount of speed on the ball. Most players use both types of spin in the course of a game, as well as hitting the ball flat—that is, without any particular spin.

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VII

Amateur Competition

Millions of people, most of them amateurs, play tennis worldwide, either as recreation or in amateur tournaments. Internationally, tennis is governed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), located in London, England, which is a parent body to national governing bodies in more than 100 countries. In the United States the governing body for competitive amateur tennis is the United States Tennis Association (USTA), located in White Plains, New York. The USTA governs amateur tournament play for youths and adults. The organization also operates league tennis programs for adults and helps attract young players to the game by offering several introductory programs.

The national governing body for collegiate tennis in the United States is the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. The ITA established a collegiate grand slam, a series of four tournaments culminating in the season-ending National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tennis tournament, which involves team competitions and individual singles and doubles championships.

VIII

Professional Competition

Tennis was first played professionally in 1926, when American promoter Charles C. Pyle organized a traveling tour for which the players were paid. Professionals were barred, however, from competing in tournaments sanctioned by national tennis organizations, including the prestigious “grand slam” events. During the next 40 years, many but not all of the top male players built reputations in amateur competition before turning professional and earning money playing exhibitions and occasional tournaments. Very few women turned professional during this time.

In 1968 the majority of tournaments became open—that is, eligible to both amateur and professional players. After that, professional players quickly came to dominate tournament tennis. To prevent players from going pro too early, minimum age requirements for the professional tours were established. These regulations are sometimes altered, but current guidelines decree that men under the age of 14 are not permitted to play professionally, and from the ages of 14 to 16, they may only play a limited number of pro tournaments. Women under the age of 14 cannot play professionally, and may only participate in a limited number of pro tournaments until they reach the age of 18.

There are three major organizations that govern professional tennis. The ITF has jurisdiction over the four so-called grand slam tournaments: the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia; the French Open in Paris; the Lawn Tennis Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, in London; and the U.S. Open in New York City. The ITF also governs the Davis Cup (men) and the Fed Cup (women), annual international competitions held between national teams. The ATP (formerly the Association of Tennis Professionals), located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, has jurisdiction over the men’s professional events except for the grand slam tournaments. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, located in Saint Petersburg, Florida, governs women’s professional tennis.

IX

Tournaments

Entry-level men’s professional tournaments are called challenger events. These tournaments offer unranked and lower-ranked players the opportunity to compete for ranking points; the more ranking points a player earns, the better the quality of tournaments he is eligible to play in. A similar system is used in women’s tennis, with the tournaments often called futures events. Successful players at these levels can then compete at the tournaments run by the professional tours. Most professional tournaments offer both singles and doubles competitions. Mixed doubles competitions, where a team consists of one male player and one female player, are typically held only at the four grand slam events.

Annual tennis tournaments operated by the professional tours, such as the Italian and Canadian opens, are held throughout the world all year long. They involve varying amounts of prize money, and some tournaments are considered more prestigious than others and thus attract higher-ranked players.

Matches in tournaments are arranged by a system called seeding. By seeding players in certain places within the pool of players, or draw, according to their performance during the previous 12 months, organizers ensure that the best players do not compete against each other until the later rounds of a tournament. Unanticipated upsets, in which unseeded or lower-seeded players defeat higher-seeded players in early rounds, often add excitement to tournaments. Tournaments involve up to 128 players and seven rounds of play. The ATP Tour operates about 70 tournaments each year, while the WTA Tour operates about 60 competitions annually.

Other major tennis championships include the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup. The Davis Cup, started in 1900, is an annual international men’s competition held between national teams. The Fed Cup, started in 1963, is the women’s equivalent to the Davis Cup. Countries play each other throughout the year in contests known as ties, and the winning country advances to the next round. Davis Cup and Fed Cup competitions involve four singles matches and one doubles match. The team that wins at least three out of the five matches is the winner. Tennis is also an Olympic sport. It was first played in the Olympic Games from 1896 until 1924. After a long hiatus, Olympic play was renewed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

To win the grand slam—that is, all four major tournaments in one calendar year—is considered the greatest achievement in tennis. The first player to win the grand slam in singles was American Don Budge in 1938. The only other players to win the singles grand slam are American Maureen Connolly in 1953, Australian Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969, Australian Margaret Smith Court in 1970, and German Steffi Graf in 1988. Several players have accomplished the feat in doubles and in mixed doubles.

X

History

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