Tennis rules

Call the server's score first: love, 15, 30, 40, game. At deuce, two successive points win the game. Under no-ad scoring, a deciding point is played at deuce and the receiving side chooses the receiving court, subject to the event's rules.

A standard set requires six games with a two-game margin. At 6–6, a conventional tiebreak is first to seven, win by two. The first server serves one point, then players alternate two-point turns. Change ends every six points.

Some events replace a final set with a ten-point match tiebreak, also requiring a two-point margin.

• Serve from behind the baseline between the center mark and the relevant sideline. A foot fault occurs if you step on or over the baseline before striking the serve.
• Begin each game from the deuce court, serving diagonally into the opposite box, then alternate sides.
• Two faults lose the point: a double fault.
• A serve that touches the net and lands in the correct box is a let. Replay that attempt; there is no fixed limit on lets.
• Catching or letting a toss drop without attempting a swing is not a fault; swinging and missing is.
• The receiver must let the serve bounce before returning it.

• Make calls only on your side of the court.
• When uncertain, call the ball good. “I think it was out” is not enough.
• Make an out call immediately and loudly enough to be heard; do not continue a rally and then claim an earlier ball was out.
• Correct an incorrect out call in your opponent's favor; the point outcome follows the applicable self-officiating code.
• For a scoring dispute, establish the last mutually agreed score and resolve disputed points under the event's rules.

Service rotates A1, B1, A2, B2, keeping that order throughout the set. Receiving partners keep their deuce and ad sides for the set and can change them for the next set.

During a rally either partner may strike the ball, but partners cannot both hit it in succession on one return. If a serve hits the receiver's partner before bouncing, the serving team wins the point. Both partners may stand back or both may play at the net.

• Touching the net or its supporting parts with body, clothing or racket while the ball is live loses the point, subject to the rules for singles sticks and doubles posts.
• A live ball touching your body or clothing loses the point.
• Return the ball before the second bounce; call your own double bounce.
• Normally contact must be on your side. If a ball bounces on your side and spins back across the net, you may reach over to play it without touching the net or the opponent's court.
• A ball passing around the outside of the net post can be a valid return.
• You must be holding the racket at contact; dropping it after contact is different.
• A follow-through may cross the net after legal contact on your side, but you may not interfere with your opponent or touch their court during a live point.
• If a stray ball creates a hazard, stop play promptly and call a let. Do not wait to see whether the point turns against you.