# Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Lawn Tennis

See also Tennis on Wikipedia; Tennis in the 11th edition; and the disclaimer.
​TENNIS, Lawn. Lawn-tennis is a modern adaptation of the first principle of tennis, in the simplest form, to a ball-game played on grass with rackets. The balls are of india-rubber, hollow, and covered with white cloth. The rackets are lighter and broader than those used at tennis. The court for the single-handed game, one player against one, is shown in fig. 1, that for the three or four-handed game in fig. 2.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Lawn-tennis courts. Fig. 1, for single game; fig. 2, for double game.
The dimensions of the courts, the size and weight of the balls, the mode of scoring, and other details are given in the laws of the game (see below). The only requisites for the game are the balls, rackets, net and posts, and a hard level surface of grass. It may be, and often is, played upon surfaces of wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, or other substance. The grass requires constant mowing, rolling, and in dry weather watering, to keep it
​in order. In the winter months it should be sedulously weeded, sown where necessary, and swept and rolled whenever the weather permits.
The choice of sides depends upon a toss or spin of a racket, as in tennis. The winner chooses the service or the preferable side, as he pleases. The server begins the game by striking the ball with his racket so that it passes (without touching) over the net, which is hung across the court from the posts A, A. The ball served must drop in the space which is diagonally opposite to him on the other side of the net,—a space bounded by the net, the side line, the half-court line, and the service line. His adversary, called the "striker-out," must return the ball before it touches the ground a second time; and the server must similarly return it again; and so on, until one or other player fails to return it over the net so that it shall drop on the ground anywhere on the side of the net furthest from him, and within or upon any of the lines which bound that space, technically called his adversary's court. When one player thus fails, he loses a stroke, which the other is deemed to win, and it is added to the score of the latter. The score is kept as at tennis, but there are no chases.
Activity and condition have great value in lawn-tennis, though there is room for much skill in placing the ball in the corners with hard, low strokes, and in intercepting and returning the ball by the volley while in the air, before it reaches the ground. But in matches temper, endurance, and quickness of movement count for very much.
Lawn-tennis, in one form or another, has been played for many centuries out-of-doors. The present variety of the game was first introduced, in a form which was soon shown to be impracticable, about the year 1874. It was then taken up by the All England Club at Wimbledon, who in 1877 remodelled the size and shape of the court, and the laws, and altered the system of scoring to that which obtains in the parent game. Thereupon, with the consent of the M.C.C. at Lord’s, who lent the authority of their name to the movement, the code of laws which now prevails, and has been occasionally amended only in a few details, was promulgated by the All England Club. The championship of the game, which is open to gentlemen amateurs only, was instituted at Wimbledon by the A.E.C. in 18.77. A lady’s championship and a championship for pairs (gentlemen) have also been instituted, and are annually competed for on the grounds of the A.E.C. at Wimbledon. Lawn-tennis, in the short time which has elapsed since its introduction, has achieved immense popularity. Prize-meetings are held annually at Bath, Cheltenham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, and many other places in the United Kingdom; the game is also played with as great enthusiasm in the United States, Canada, Australia, and India. In all those countries prize-meetings are held and championships are instituted.
Laws.
Single-Handed Game.
1. For the single-handed game the court is 27 feet in width and 78 feet in length. It is divided across the middle by a net, the ends of which are attached to the tops of two posts A and A (see fig. 1), which stand 3 feet outside the court on each side. The height of the net is 3 feet 6 inches at the posts and 3 feet at the centre. At each end of the court, parallel to the net, and at a distance of 39 feet from it, are drawn the base lines CD and EF, the extremities of which are connected by the side lines CE and DF. Half-way between the side lines, and parallel to them, is drawn the half-court line GH, dividing the space on each side of the net into two equal parts, called the right and left courts. On each side of the net, at a distance of 21 feet from it, and parallel to it, are drawn the service lines XX and YY.
2. The balls shall be not less than 21/2 inches nor more than 29/16 inches in diameter, and not less than 17/8oz. nor more than 2 oz. in weight.
3. In matches where umpires are appointed their decision shall be final; but where a referee is appointed an appeal shall lie to him from the decision of an umpire on a question of law.
4. The choice of sides and the right of serving during the first game shall be decided by toss, provided that, if the winner of the toss choose the right to serve, the other player shall have the choice of sides, and vice versa.
5. The players shall stand on opposite sides of the net. The player who first deliver the ball shall be called the server, the other the striker-out.
6. At the end of the first game the striker-out shall become server and the server shall become striker-out; and so on alternately in the subsequent games of the set.
7. The server shall stand with one foot beyond (i.e., further from the net than) the base line, and with the other foot upon the base line, and shall deliver the service from the right and left courts alternately, beginning from the right.
8. The ball served must drop within the service line, half-court line, and side line of the court which is diagonally opposite to that from which it was served, or upon any such line.
9. It is a fault if the service be delivered from the wrong court, or if the server do not stand as directed in law 7, or if the ball served drop in the net or beyond the service line, or if it drop out of court or in the wrong court; it is not a fault if the server’s foot which is beyond the base line do not touch the ground at the moment at which the service is delivered.
10. A fault may not be taken.
11. After a fault, the server shall serve again from the same court from which he served that fault, unless it was a fault because served from the wrong court.
12. A fault may not be claimed after the next service has been delivered.
13. The service may not be volleyed, i.e., taken before it touches the ground.
14. The server shall not serve until the striker-out is ready. If the latter attempt to return the service, he shall he deemed to be ready.
15. A ball is in play from the moment at which it is delivered in service (unless a fault) until it has been volleyed by the striker-out in his first stroke, or has dropped in the net or out of court, or has touched either of the players or anything that he wears or carries, except his racket in the act of striking, or has been struck by either of the players with his racket more than once consecutively, or has been volleyed before it has passed over the net, or has failed to pass over the net before its first bound (except as provided in law 17), or has touched the ground twice consecutively on either side of the net, though the second time may have been out of court.
16. It is a let if the ball served touch the net, provided the service he otherwise good, or if a service or fault be delivered when the striker-out is not ready, or if either player be prevented by an accident beyond his control from serving or returning the ball in play. In case of a let, the service or stroke counts for nothing, and the server shall serve again.
17. It is a good return although the ball touch the net, or, having passed outside either post, drop on or within any of the lines which bound the court into which it is returned.
18. The server wins a stroke if the striker-out volley the service, or fail to return the service or the ball in play (except in the case of a let), or return the service or ball in play so that it drop outside any of the lines which bound his opponent’s court, or otherwise lose a stroke, as provided by law 20.
19. The striker-out wins a stroke if the server serve two consecutive faults, or fail to return the ball in play (except in the case of a let), or return the ball in play so that it drop outside any of the lines which bound his opponent’s court, or otherwise lose a stroke, as provided by law 20.
20. Either player loses a stroke if the ball in play touch him or anything that he wears or carries, except his racket in the act of striking, or if he touch or strike the ball in play with his racket more than once consecutively, or if he touch the net or any of its supports while the ball is in play, or if he volley the ball before it has passed the net.
21. On either player winning his first stroke, the score is called 15 for that player; on either player winning his second stroke, the score is called 30 for that player; on either player winning his third stroke, the score is called 40 for that player ; and the fourth stroke won by either player is scored game for that player, except as below.
If both players have won three strokes, the score is called deuce; and the next stroke won by either player is scored advantage for that player. If the same player win the next stroke, he wins the game; if he lose the next stroke, the score is again called deuce; and so on until either player win the two strokes immediately following the score of deuce, when the game is scored for that player.
22. The player who first wins six games wins a set, except as below.
If both players win five games, the score is called games all; and the next game won by either player is scored advantage game for that player. If the same player win the next game, he wins the set ; if he lose the next game, the score is again called games all; and so on until either player win the two games immediately following the score of games all, when he wins the set.
Note.—Players may agree not to play advantage sets, but to decide the set by one game after arriving at the score of games all.
23. The players shall change sides at the end of every set; but the umpire, on appeal from either party before the toss for choice, may direct the players to change sides at the end of every game if in his opinion either side have a distinct advantage, owing to the sun, wind, or any other accidental cause; but, if the appeal be made after a match has been begun, the umpire may only direct the players to change sides at the end of every game of the odd and concluding set.
24. When a series of sets is played, the player who was server in the last game of one set shall be striker-out in the first game of the next.
Odds.
26. A bisque is one stroke, which may be claimed by the receiver of the odds at any time during a set, except as below.
A bisque may not be taken after the service has been delivered.
The server may not take a bisque after a fault; but the striker-out may do so.
26. One or more bisques may be given in augmentation or diminution of other odds.
27. Half-fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of the second and every subsequent alternate game of a set.
28. Fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of every game of a set.
29. Half-thirty is one stroke given at the beginning of the first game, two strokes at the beginning of the second game ; and so on, alternately, in all the subsequent games of a set.
30. Thirty is two strokes given at the beginning of every game of a set.
31. Half-forty is two strokes given at the beginning of the first game, three strokes at the beginning of the second game; and so on, alternately, in all the subsequent games of a set.
32. Forty is three strokes given at the beginning of every game of a set.
33. Half-court: the players having agreed into which court the giver of the odds shall play, the latter loses a stroke if the ball, returned by him, drop outside any of the lines which bound that court.
Three-Handed and Four-Handed Games.
34. The above laws shall apply to the three-handed and four-handed games, except as below.
35. For the three-handed and four-handed games the court is 36 feet in width. Within the side lines, at a distance of 4 1/2 feet from them, and parallel to them, are drawn the service side lines IK and LM. The service lines are not drawn beyond the points I, L, K, and M, towards the side lines. In other respects, the court is similar to that which is described in law 1.
36. In the three-handed game the single player shall serve in every alternate game.
37. In the four-handed game, the pair who have the right to serve in the first game may decide which partner shall do so, and the opposing pair may decide similarly for the second game. The partner of the player who served in the first game shall serve in the third; and the partner of the player who served in the second game shall serve in the fourth; and so on in the same order in all the subsequent games of a set. ​38. The players shall take the service alternately throughout each game. No player shall receive or return a service delivered to his partner. The order of service and of striking-out once arranged shall not he altered, nor shall the strikers-out change courts to receive the service, before the end of the set.
39. The ball served must drop within the service line, half-court line, and service side line of the court which is diagonally opposite to that from which it was served, or upon any such line.
40. It is a fault if the ball served do not drop as provided in law 39, or if it touch the server’s partner or anything that he wears or carries.
41. If a player serve out of his turn, the umpire, as soon as the mistake is discovered by himself or by one of the players, shall direct the player to serve who ought to have served; but all strokes scored and any fault served before such discovery shall be reckoned. If a game shall have been completed before such discovery, then the service in the next alternate game shall be delivered by the partner of the player who served out of his turn ; and so on in regular rotation. (J. MA*.)