Tennis Terms

Tennis Terms for Vocabulary Enrichment

You slipped on your powdered- smell pajamas, hopped on to the comforts of your bed then covered yourself with that crisp blanket. It was a perfect night, you sighed with gratitude. Before you finally dozed off to sleep, you opened the television and checked out ESPN. It was a Rolland Garros tournament with your two all- time favorite players, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal. Suddenly, Andy Roddick shouted “love”. You screamed with disbelief, “Did he just said that to Rafael Nadal?”

Sounds funny but there are really tennis terms that comes so greek to our ears. “Love”, by the way, means zero or nothing. It is a rule in the game that when the player wins a certain round, he will say the score aloud, as to “15- love”.

To lessen the amount of ignorance, here are the tennis terms:

* Tennis Terms from A-E

All-Rounder - a player with the ability to play well both offensively and defensively.

Bye - before the start of a tournament seeded players can be given a Bye, which means they are automatically awarded a place in the second round of the tournament.

Clay Court - a court with a surface made of crushed shale, stone or brick. It can be red or green. The French Open is played on clay.

Cross Slice - a shot hit with underspin, or backspin, and side spin at the same time.

Dink Shot - a soft dipping shot that just clears the net; used often in doubles, especially on return of serve.

Donut - if you score zero (0) games in a set this may be referred to as a Donut.

Double Bagel - if the server fails to serve correctly on both 1st and 2nd serves this is called a double fault. The server then loses this point.

* Tennis Terms from F-J

Flat Face - when the strings of the racquet are perpendicular to the ground and the racquet meets the ball squarely, with little spin.

Golden Set - a set of tennis which is won 6-0 without dropping a single point. Only one player in the history of professional tennis has ever achieved this, Bill Scanlon (USA). It was against Marcos Hocevar (Brazil) in the first round of the WCT Gold Coast Classic at Del Ray (Florida, USA) on 22 February 1983. Bill Scanlon won the match 6-2, 6-0.

Ground Stroke Slice - a ground stroke hit with an open-faced racquet producing backspin or underspin.

Hitting On The Rise - playing the ball before it has reached the peak of its bounce. Also known as "taking the ball early."

Inside-Out - a forehand that is to run around the ball to take it on your forehand, even though it has been hit to you in a natural backhand position.

* Tennis Terms from K- O

Kill-to "put the ball" away and end the point.

Knockout Competition - a ournament whereby players are eliminated when they lose a match. Most events are played with this format, except for the Masters, the Hopman Cup, the Davis Cup, or the Fed Cup.

Let - called to announce that a point is to be replayed. A common example is when a serve clips the top of the net but still lands correctly in the court.

Lob - to hit the ball over your opponents head using a lot of Topspin. Best played when your opponent is at the net.

Lucky Loser - in some knockout tournaments, one defeat does not automatically result in elimination. Beaten players have the chance to play again, if, for instance a player withdrew. These players are known as "lucky losers."

Moon Ball - a very high lob mixed into a baseline exchange, primarily used to change the tempo.

"No-man's" Land - the area between the baseline and the service line.

* Tennis Terms from P-T

Put Away Volley - a volley hit beyond the opponent's reach.

Seeding - a graded list of the best players entering a tournament. The best players are normally "seeded" before a tournament begins. This prevents these players from being drawn against each other - and knocking each other out - during the early rounds of the competition.

Serena Slam - a term created after Serena Williams consecutively won all 4 Grand Slam events, but not in the same season. In 2002 Serena won the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, followed by the Australian Open in 2003.

Taking The Net - moving from the baseline Position to the net position.

Tennis Elbow - pain in the elbow caused by too much play, improper technique, improper tension (see below), or any combination of the three.

* Tennis Terms from U- Z

Unforced Error - where a player is not under any pressure from an opponent yet plays a shot which does not land in the court.

Vertical Face - when the hitting area of the racquet is at a right angle to the ground or "on edge," as opposed to an open or a closed face.

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