Sport
Tennis Terms: A Comprehensive Guide to Tennis Slang
With the summer underway and Wimbledon upcoming, it’s time to touch up on all the tennis terms you’ll need to follow the action.
In this guide we will cover all of tennis’ key terms, what they mean, and why they are so important in the sport.
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What are Tennis Terms and Why Are They Important?
Tennis has a lot of unique terms which are crucial to understanding the game, so it is important to have a good knowledge of them.
Tennis’ scoring terms are one unique factor, although visually scored in numbers, when calling the score it is much different. Scores of 15, 30 and 40 are the simplest as they are what you see, but it’s when a player is on 0, or the scores are tied that it gets slightly different.
A score of 0 is referred to as “love” while a tied score of 40-40 is referred to as “deuce”.
Enhancing your knowledge on tennis scoring terms and tennis slang can help both on and off the court. A more experienced partner on the court may refer to scores with “love”, or “deuce” and it is important to know what these mean, as well as when engaging in tennis related conversation off the court.
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A-Z Tennis Slang and Terminology
| Terminology | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ace | When a player wins the point directly from their serve without the opponent touching the ball |
| Advantage | A player has an advantage when winning the first point of deuce, if the player then wins the next point they win the game. If the player loses the next point after reaching advantage, the score will return to deuce. |
| Baseline | The line which marks the back of the court, where the players must serve from. |
| Deuce | When a game is tied at 40-40 the players will play deuce. A deuce is won when a player wins two consecutive points. |
| Double fault | When a player misses their first serve, followed by their second serve. |
| Doubles | A match between four players, two on each side. |
| Dropshot | When a player hits a softer shot which bounces close to the net and forces the other player to run forward to hit it. |
| Foot fault | When a player steps over the baseline when serving, it is classed as a missed serve. |
| Game | A game is played within a set, a player wins a game by winning the next point after reaching 40 points, or by winning the deuce. |
| Grand Slam | The four major tournaments in tennis. These are the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. |
| Hot Dog | When a player has to run back to get to a ball, and instead of turning, they hit the ball through their legs while facing backwards. |
| Let | If a player's serve hits the net in any form, but lands in, they are allowed to retake the serve. |
| Lob | When a player hits the ball over the head of the head of the opponent, often played after a dropshot. |
| Love | '0' - The term for a player having a score of zero points or zero games. |
| Rally | Players hitting consecutive shots back and forth within a game. |
| Second serve | If a player's first serve they are allowed a second opportunity to make a successful serve. |
| Serve and volley | A style of play whereby a player quickly advances to the net after serving and tries to end the rally with a winning volley. |
| Service line | A horizontal line in the middle of the court. When serving, if a ball goes beyond the service line it is called 'out'. |
| Set | Made up of six games, matches are usually played in a best of three, or five set format. |
| Singles | A match between two players. |
| Slice | When a player hits the ball with an open racket face, which causes the ball to spin and bounce either sideways or stay low and skid towards the player. |
| Surface | Refers to the surface of the court. Courts can be hard, clay or grass, as well as other surfaces. |
| Tie break | If a set is tied at six games each, a tie break will be played to determine the winner of the deciding game. It is usually played in a first to seven or first to ten points format. |
| Topspin | When a player hits a shot with spin that causes the ball to bounce up and move forwards faster. |
| Tram lines | Two vertical boxes running down each side of the court. In singles matches these aren't used, but when playing doubles, the ball can land in them and still be 'in'. |
| Volley | Hitting the ball before it has bounced. Often done when standing at the net. |
