Lawn tennis is one of the important game in India. Lawn Tennis is a game played indoors or outdoors on a rectangular court by two persons (in singles), or by four of the same sex ( Women's and men's double) or by men and women partners (mixed doubles). The players use rackets to strike a ball back and forth across a net. The object is to score points by hitting the ball out of the opponents reach or in such a way that he cannot return it successfully.
The origin of the game is varied and ancient. It was at first a solemn Fertility rite in Egypt and in the Middle East. Another view is that, the term'tennis' is derived from an Egyptian town on the Nile known as Tennis and 'racket' is derived from an Arab word rahat, Records confirm that tennis was played in France in the 12th century at first with the palm of the hand. It was played by monks and later by kings. Because of the enthusiasm , the sport came to be called royal tennis.After 1800, court tennis began to experience a decline and lawn tennis came into being, The game became standardised in 1877.
The game started in India in the late 19th century. The first All India championships in Tennis were held in 1910, in which both men and women took part. India reached the top challenging position in the Davis cup Touranament, a couple of times. Several Indians made an impression on the Tennis court, Sleem, Deane, Ranga rao, S. M. Hadi, E.v.Bobb, P.L. Mehata, Brooke Edwards and Balagopalan were among thenpioneers of Indian Tennis. Among women, Leila Rao, Jenny Sanderson, Kusum Mehta and Khanum Haji were the celebrated stars.
Ramanathan Krishnan with naresh Kumar was a great force in the doubles, winning the National and the Asian Championships a number of times. The Amritraj brothers- Vijay and Anand proved to be among the best pairs in doubles.
Mahesh Bhupati and Leander paes became the first doubles team to reach four Grand Slam Finals. They won French Open and Wimbledon.
Game
The maximum number of sets in a match shall be 5 for men and 3 for women. A set usually consist of six games. But it shall be extended where necessary.
The choice of sides and the right to be Server or Receiver in the first game shall be decided by toss. The players shall stand on opposite sides of the net; the player who first delivers the ball shall be called the Server and the other the Receiver.
In doubles game, the order of serving shall be decided at the beginning of each set. The pair who has to serve in the first game of each set shall decide which partner shall do so and the opposing pair shall decide similarly for the second game. The partner of the player who served in the first game shall serve in the third. The partner of the player who served in the second game shall serve in the fourth and so in the same order in all subsequent games of a set.
At the end of the first game the receiver shall become the server and so on alternately in all the subsequent games of a match. If a player serves out of turn, the player who ought to have served shall serve as soon as the mistake is discovered but all the points scored before such discovery shall be reckoned. If a game shall have been completed before such discovery, the order of the service remains as altered. A fault served before such discovery shall not be reckoned.
The player shall change ends at the end of the first, third and every subsequent alternate game of each set.
Let
The service is a let;
1) If the ball served touches the net, strap or band and is otherwise good 2) or after touching the net, strap or band, touches the receiver or anything which he wears or carries, before hitting the ground 3) if a service or a fault be delivered when the receiver is not ready.
In case of a let, that particular service shall not count and the server shall serve again but a service let does not annual a previous fault.
Fault
A service is said to be fault if,
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the ball is not delivered properly
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the server changes his position by walking or running during the delivery of the service
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the server touches any area other than that behind the base line within the imaginary extension of the centre mark and side line with either foot
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the server misses the ball in attempting to strike it
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if the ball served touches a permanent fixture (other than the net, strap or band) before it hits the ground.
In doubles game in addition to this, the service is a fault if the ball touches the server's partner or anything which he wears or carries.
If a fault occurred for the first time during the service, the server shall serve again from behind the same half of the court from which he served that fault.
ScoringThe Server wins the point
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if the ball served, not being a let, touches the receiver or anything which he wears or carries, before it hits the ground
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if the receiver loses the point
The Receiver wins the point
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if the server serves two consecutive faults
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if the server loses the point
If the ball in play touches a permanent fixture (other than the net, posts, singles sticks, cord or metal cable, strap or band) after it has hit the ground, the player who struck it, wins the point;
If the ball in play touches a permanent fixture (other than the net, posts, singles sticks, cord or metal cable, strap or band) before it hits the ground his opponent wins the point.
In a doubles game, if the ball served touches the partner of the receiver or anything which he wears or carries, before it hits the ground, the server wins the point. The ball shall be struck alternately by one or other player of the opposing pair and if a player touches the ball in play with his racket in contravention of this rule, his opponents wins the point.
A player loses the point if
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he fails to return the ball in play directly over the net, before it hits the ground twice consecutively
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he returns the ball in play so that it hits the ground, a permanent fixture or other object, outside any of the lines which bound his opponents court
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he volleys the ball and fails to make a good return even when standing outside the court
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he touches or strikes the ball in play with his racket more than once in making a stroke
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he or his racket or anything which he wears or carries, touches the net, posts, cord or metal cable, strap or band or the ground within his opponents court at any time while the ball is in play
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he volleys the ball before it has passed the net
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the ball in play touches him or anything that he wears or carries, except his rackets or hands
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he throws his racket and the racket hits the ball
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a player deliberately and materially change the shape of the racket during the game
Result
If the player wins his first point, the score is called 15 for that player. On winning his second point, the score is called 30 for that player. On winning his third point the score is called 40 for that player and the fourth point won by the player who's score is 40 will win the game.
If both the players have won three points, the score is called Deuce and the next point won by a player is scored Advantage for that player. If the same player wins the next point, he wins the game. If the other player wins the next point the score is again called Deuce and so on, until the player wins the two points immediately following the score at deuce, when the game is scored for that player.
A player (or players) who first wins six games wins a Set, except that he must win by a margin of two games over his opponent and where necessary a Set shall be extended until this margin be achieved.
Field And Equipments
The lines bounding the ends and sides of the court shall be called the Base-lines and the Side-lines. On each side of the net, at a distance of 21feet from it and parallel with it, shall be drawn the Service line.
The space on each side of the net between the service-line and the side-line shall be divided into two equal parts called the Service-courts, by the center service line which must be 2 inches in width, drawn, half-way between the parallel with the side-lines. Each base-line shall be bisected by an imaginary continuation of the center service-line to a line 4 inches in length and 2 inches in width called the Center mark, drawn inside the court, at right angles to and in contact with such base-lines. All other lines shall be not less than 1 inch nor more than 2 inches in width, expect the base-line, which may be 4 inches in width and all measurements shall be made to the outside of the lines.
In the Doubles Game, the measurement of the field is same as in the Singles Game except the width. The width of the court shall be 36ft i.e. 4 1/2 feet wider on each side than the court for the Singles Game.
Equipments
Ball
The diameter of the ball shall be in between 2 1/2 inch and 2 5/8 inches and its weight is in between 2 and 2 1/16 oun
Racket
The hitting surface of the racket shall be flat and consist of a pattern of crossed strings connected to a frame and alternately interlaced or bounded where they cross and the stringing pattern shall be generally uniform. The frame of the racket shall not exceed 32 inches including the handle and 12 1/2 inches in over all width.
Court Officials
In matches where an Umpire is appointed, his decision shall be final; but where a Referee is appointed, an appeal shall can be made to him against the decision of an umpire on a question of law and in all such cases the decision of the referee shall be final.
In matches where assistants to the Umpire are appointed (linesmen, net-cord judges, foot fault judges) their decisions shall be final on questions of fact except that if in the opinion of an Umpire a clear mistake has been made he shall have the right to change the decision of an assistant or order a 'let' to be played. When such an assistant is unable to give a decision he shall indicate this immediately to the Umpire who shall give a decision. When an umpire is unable to give a decision on a question of fact he shall order a 'let' to be played.
In Davis Cup matches or other team competitions where Referee is on court, any decision can be changed by the Referee, who may also instruct an Umpire to order a 'let' to be played.
The Referee, in his discretion, may at any time postpone a match on account of darkness or the condition of the ground or the weather. In any case of postponement the previous score and previous occupancy of courts shall hold good, unless the Referee and the players unanimously agree otherwise.
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