The Court

• A tennis court is 78 feet long. For singles matches, the court is 27 feet wide and for doubles matches the court is 36 feet wide. The net dividing the court in half is 3.5 feet high on the ends and three feet high in the center. On each side of the net, a line, called the service line, is drawn from sideline to sideline 21 feet away from the net. The resulting rectangle formed by the sidelines, service line and the net is then divided into two service boxes. Along the baseline of each side, a mark extending two inches into the court is made at the center.
  
  

Playing

• The point is started by the person who is serving. He must toss the ball and hit it before it touches the ground and the ball must land in the service box located diagonally from where he is serving. If the first serve is out, the server gets a second chance. If the second serve misses as well, the receiver gets a point. If the serve is in, the receiver must return the ball before it bounces more than once. You win a point when you hit a ball that lands in your opponent's court that is not returned before it bounces twice or your opponent hits the ball out of bounds. After each point, the server switches sides from where he hits the ball. After each game, the person who is serving switches sides of the net.
  
  

Scoring

• Each match is made up of sets which are made up of games. The first point you score in a game moves your score from 0 to 15, the second point moves it from 15 to 30, the third point moves it from 30 to 40 and the fourth point wins you the game. However, you must win the game by two points so if you are tied at 40 the score is known as deuce. The winner of the next point is declared to have the advantage, such as "advantage server" or "advantage receiver." If that person wins the next point, she wins the game. If the other person wins, the score goes back to deuce. In order to win a set, you must win six games and be ahead by two games. If you are tied at six games each, you play a tiebreaker game to seven points which you must win by two points. The winner of the game wins the set. Most women's matches are played as best of three sets, and most men's matches are played as best of five sets.