Variations of Tennis Rules
- Tennis rules and regulations vary depending on gender and number of players.Tennis ball and the shadow of tennis net image by Elzbieta Sekowska from Fotolia.com
The goal of tennis is straightforward: win six games before your opponent does, and you win the set. Keeping track of the rules, on the other hand, can be complicated. Some of the sport's regulations vary depending on whether it's a men's, women's or doubles match being played. The differences can be subtle, but they are worth keeping track of nonetheless. - In a standard tennis match, when the game reaches 6-6, players face off in a tiebreaker to seven points to decide the set winner. This is the case for men's singles, women's singles and doubles matches. The only time a set can go beyond a 7-6 score is at the Wimbledon Championships played annually just outside of London, England. In men's singles, if the deciding set is tied 6-6, the players march on until one of them wins the set by two points. With this scoring rule variation, the final set can go on for a long time. At the 2010 tournament, American John Isner and France's Nicolas Mahut played a fifth set that lasted more than eight hours. Isner went on to win the set 70-68.
- Men's, women's and mixed doubles use a unique tiebreaker scoring system for the third and deciding set of matches. In most tournaments, if two doubles teams are tied at a set apiece, they play the third set using a "super tiebreak" format that amounts to a race to 10 points. The tiebreaker is run with the same rules used to decide sets that are tied 6-6. A point is awarded on each rally, with each team serving twice before ceding serve to the other team. A team must win the super tiebreak by two points to win the match.
- A regular tennis match is a two-out-of-three-set affair. This is true for most men's games, and all women's and doubles matches. The rule changes for men's singles matches held at any of the four major championships, or select high-prize tournaments throughout the year. In these competitions, each men's singles match is made into a three-out-of-five showdown. Because major tournaments have larger fields and are usually stretched out over a longer period of time, the longer matches aren't a concern because players will generally have more time between rounds to rest and recover.
