Welcoming all new tennis fans! Sloane "fans" also, but particularly, the tennis fans! I noticed I have gained so many supporters on my bulletin platform who don’t know a lick about Tennis! That is so exciting for me. I love that through me, people are being introduced to this beautiful sport. The sport I absolutely love and that has allowed me to live the life of my dreams. In integrating all newcomers into my community, everyone gets the most access to my work/career life; for that reason, I wanted to share a guide that can quickly prepare any new fans of the sport by providing a brief description of the basics!

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Tennis happens throughout the year, non-stop. From mini tournaments to large, nationally televised ones. This year, I’ve participated in 1-3 tournaments a month, from January to November. December is when I get a tournament-free month. I share all of that to say, you will have endless opportunities to take-in Tennis and really get a grasp on the sport.

If resources allow, I always encourage people to witness the sport in-person. The television sometimes creates this degree of separation, where some people aren’t able to see and feel the intensity of the sport and all of its intricacies, which can take away from truly appreciating the sport in its entirety. So, if you’re ever able to get to a match, I highly recommend that.

I thought it would be especially perfect to share this guide today, because I will be back in tournament at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Prague on November 1st; followed by World Team Tennis, November 13th.

So, let’s dive in. In a little over 1000 words, I want to provide the key points that’ll enable anyone to watch Tennis matches with an understanding that’ll allow them to follow what’s happening, while still learning the other complexities along the way.

This is my palatable writing this while on the plane version. So, although I’m the professional, if the dedicated spectators of the sport who are reading this, feel like there is something I did not share, that would be important for a new fan of the sport to be aware of, please share in the comments! Group effort!

Here goes:

Originally introduced in England at the end of the 19th century, it’s crazy to see how much the sport has grown and expanded across the globe, even from my first interaction.

Tennis is a sport that welcomes all ages and genders to participate. Whether you prefer to show up as the ‘lone wolf and play singles, or grab your most coordinated friend to play doubles, it’s a sport that requires as much mental strength and capacity as it does physical. Get ready to be both amazed and entertained.

What’s needed to get a match going?

• Players. If you’re interested in playing Singles (1-on-1) you need one other player to compete against. If playing Doubles (2-on-2) is more your speed, you’ll need a total of four people.

• A court. There are three types of courts: grass (the traditional lawn tennis), clay (the red/green court), artificial grass, or hard surface. Maybe in a later article I’ll share what type of court is my favorite to play on.

• Tennis racquets. Aside from the net, this is the main piece of equipment in the sport. It’s the tool that all players work to become master of.

• Tennis ball.

• Net. This is the divider between each side of the court. It is used to set a clear boundary for the players. Players are not allowed to crossover or touch the net during the match.

We have what’s needed to get a game going, now how do we understand play/score?

This is where newcomers tend to get a little lost. People who’ve never watched tennis before can see the net, court, and racquets and immediately identify that “this is tennis”, but when it comes to understanding the point system and how you win a match, very much like football, where the score doesn’t go up in increments of one, two, or three, if you don’t know the scoring system it can be difficult to grasp by watching without doing your research.

• Point System. Love = 0 points. So, at the start of a match, the score would be referred to as Love-Love. 1 point is 15 on the scoreboard. 2 points is 30 on the scoreboard. 3 points is 40 on the scoreboard. The 4th point is Game.

***But, this is where the complexity of the scoring system turns up a notch; if both players have 3 points each or 40-40, the first to make the 4th point does not call ‘Game’. When two players are one point from winning, that is referred to as a ‘Deuce’. When that happens, one of the players must win two consecutive points to call ‘Game’.

Points —> Games —> Sets —> Match

• Points. To receive points, the ball must land on the opposite side of the net from which the player hit it, while staying within the boundaries of the court without being returned by the opponent OR the ball must be returned by the opponent, but fall outside of the boundary lines.

• Determining a Game Winner. A player has to score at least four points and have at least two more points than their opponent.

• Determining a Set Winner. A set is part of the scoring system. A player wins a set when they are the first to six games and are two games ahead of their opponent (for example, 6-4). If the set arrives to 6-6, you enter a tiebreak, in which the first player to win 7 points, again with a two-point lead over the opponent, wins the entire set.

• Determine a Match Winner. In most cases, if you are watching the men play, the first to win three sets, wins the match. While if you’re watching the women play, the first to win two sets, wins the match. This is not always the case, depending on the tournament, a match can either be best 2 out of 3 sets or best 3 out of 5 sets.

Okay, we understand how the scoring system works and what determines the winner; so, what are some shots we can learn to spot?

Again, I’m keeping this palatable, I said 1,000 words, I don’t want to overwhelm the newcomers with information overload, so, I’m going to highlight just eight basic shots: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead, drop shot and lob.

Instead of explaining each shot, I decided to insert this YouTube video: 8 Basic Tennis Shots Explained.. This video does a phenomenal job of showing and explaining each shot and its use.

I hope this little crash course helps better welcome you into the sport!!

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