Players serve up a treat
Tennis can be played two ways. In singles the competition is between two players. In doubles the competition is between two teams of two players.
Each player uses a racquet (pronounced rak-ket) to hit a ball over the net into the other player's court.
The player who starts the game is called the server. The other player is called the receiver.
Games
A tennis match is played in sets. Each set is at least six games. To win a set, one of the players has to win two more games than the other player. This can go on for up to 12 games.
In some competitions, if the score is 6-6, one more game is played. This game is called a tie-breaker. The player who wins the tie-breaker wins the set.
Scoring
Each player starts with zero points. When they score their first point they get '15'. The second point is '30'. The third point is '40'.
Love means no points. You might hear the score being called '40-love'. This means one player has 40 and the other player has not scored.
If both players get to '40', it is called deuce. In deuce, one of the players has to win two points straight to win the game.
Winning
In men's tennis, the first player to win two or three sets (depending on the game rules) wins the match. In women's tennis, the first player to win two sets wins the match.
Grand Slam
There are four big competitions in a year: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It is a big deal if a player wins all four of these competitions in one year. Such a feat is called a Grand Slam.
