Tennis Terms A-E

A - E F - J K - O P - S T - Z
  • Ace – a service of a tennis ball that is not returned by an opponent and is deemed to be IN play by the umpire
  • Ad court – the left side of the court of each player
  • Advantage – when one player wins a point from a deuce and needs one more point to win the game
  • Alley – the area of the court between the singles and doubles sidelines, also known as the tramlines.
  • ATP – Association of Tennis Professionals, the men's professional circuit
  • Backhand – a method of wielding a tennis racquet where the player hits the tennis ball with a stroke that comes across their body with the back of their racquet hand facing the ball
  • Backswing – the portion of a swing before the ball is hit
  • Bagel – winning a set 6-0. A double bagel is winning 6-0, 6-0.
  • Ball Boy – a person, male or female, tasked with retrieving tennis balls from the court that have gone out of play
  • Baseline – The chalk line at the farthest ends of the court indicating the boundary of the area of play.
  • Baseliner – a player whose strategy is to stay at the baseline during play
  • Big serve – a forceful serve, usually giving an advantage in the point for the server
  • Block – a defensive shot with relatively little backswing, usually while returning a serve
  • Break – to lose a game to an opponent when you are serving
  • Break point – one point away from a break
  • Closed stance – hitting the ball with the body facing between parallel to the baseline and backturned to the opponent; it is known as a classic technique.
  • Chip and charge – an aggressive strategy to return the opponent's serve with underspin and move forward to the net
  • Chop – a shot with extreme underspin
  • Counterpuncher – a defensive baseliner.
  • Court – The area designated for playing a game of tennis
  • Crosscourt – hitting the ball diagonally into the opponent's court
  • Deuce – the score 40-40 in a game. A player must win two consecutive points from a deuce before winning the game. See advantage
  • Deuce court – the right side of the court of each player
  • Dink – hitting a shot with no pace
  • Dirtballer – a clay court specialist
  • Double Fault – two faults in a row in one point, causing the player serving to lose the Point
  • Doubles – a tennis game played by four players, two per side of the court
  • Down the line – hitting the ball straight ahead into the opponent's court
  • Drop shot – A play in which the player hits the ball lightly enough to just go over the net; designed to catch a player off guard who is away from the net
  • Drop volley – A drop shot executed from a volley