The rules of tennis in five minutes

Tennis lasts a lifetime, but its rules take five minutes to read. Here's the bare minimum.

The point of the game

Hit the ball over the net so it lands inside your opponent's court and they can't return it. You can hit the ball out of the air or after one bounce. Two bounces — point lost.

Scoring: the strangest part of tennis

Points in a game go: 15 → 30 → 40 → game. Zero is called "love". At 40:40 it's "deuce", and from there you need to win two points in a row ("advantage" → game).

After that it gets simpler:

• Game — you won the exchange of points.
• Set — first to 6 games (with a two-game margin). At 6:6 you play a tiebreak — a shortened game to 7 points.
• Match — usually two sets won.

The serve

• You serve diagonally, into your opponent's service box.
• You get two attempts. Both into the net or out — point to your opponent (double fault).
• Clipped the net but the ball landed in the right box — replay the serve, the score doesn't change.
• Players take turns: one player serves the whole game, then the serve switches.

In or out?

The line is part of the court: a ball that touches the line counts. In doubles the court is wider (the alleys are in play), in singles it's narrower.

Etiquette is part of the rules too

At the amateur level, a disputed ball goes to your opponent or gets replayed. The server calls out the score before serving — and that alone prevents 90% of arguments. After playing on clay, you sweep the court with a drag net — it takes 2 minutes and it's a sign of respect for the next players.

Everything else is fine detail that will come naturally after a couple of months of play. Next step on the route — what to wear and bring.