This page is a glossary of tennis terminology.

A Ace: Serve where the tennis ball lands inside the service box and is not touched by the receiver; thus, a shot that is both a serve and a winner is an ace. Aces are usually powerful and generally land on or near one of the corners at the back of the service box. Initially, the term was used to indicate the scoring of a point. Action: Synonym of spin. Ad court: Left side of the court of each player, so called because the ad (advantage) point immediately following a deuce is always served to this side of the court. Ad in: Advantage to the server. Ad out: Advantage to the receiver. Ad: Used by the chair umpire to announce the score when a player has the advantage, meaning they won the point immediately after a deuce. See scoring in tennis. Advantage set: Set won by a player or team having won at least six games with a two-game advantage over the opponent (as opposed to a tiebreak format). All advantage sets were used at the final set of matches at the Olympic tennis events (until 2012), Davis Cup (until 2015), Fed Cup (until 2015), Australian Open (until 2018), Wimbledon (until 2018) and French Open (until 2021) when they were all switched to tie breaks. Advantage: When one player wins the first point from a deuce and needs one more point to win the game; not applicable when using deciding points. All-Comers: Tournament in which all players took part except the reigning champion. The winner of the All-Comers event would play the title holder in the Challenge Round. All-court (or all-court game): Style of play that is a composite of all the different playing styles, which includes baseline, transition, and serve and volley styles. All-courter: Player with an all-court game. All: Used by the chair umpire to announce scores when both players have the same number of points or the same number of games. When both players are at 40, the preferred term is deuce. Alley: Area of the court between the singles and the doubles sidelines, which together are known as tramlines. Alternate: Player or team that gains acceptance into the main draw of a tournament when a main draw player or team withdraws. Such a player may be a lucky loser. American doubles (or American singles, Australian doubles and cut-throat tennis): Informal and unsanctioned variation of tennis played with three players—two on one side of the court and one on the other. The team of two players can only hit the ball within the single player's singles lines, whilst the single player can hit into the full doubles court on the doubles team's side. After each game, the players rotate such that each player plays in every position on the court during the match. See also: Canadian doubles. Approach shot (or approach): A groundstroke shot used as a setup as the player approaches the net, often using underspin or topspin. ATP Finals: (formerly Masters Grand Prix, ATP Tour World Championship, Tennis Masters Cup and ATP World Tour Finals): Annual season-ending tournament of the ATP Tour featuring the eight top-ranked men in the world (plus two alternates). ATP Race (or ATP Race to Milan/Turin/London; formerly ATP Champions Race): ATP point ranking system that starts at the beginning of the year and by the end of the year mirrors the ATP entry system ranking. The top eight players at the end of the year qualify for the ATP Finals. ATP Tour (formerly ATP World Tour): Worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. ATP: Abbreviation for Association of Tennis Professionals, the main organizing body of men's professional tennis; governs the ATP Tour with the largest tournaments for men. Australian doubles: See American doubles. Australian formation: In doubles, a formation where the server and partner stand on the same side of the court before starting the point.

B

Backboard: Vertical wall, often with the image of a tennis net painted on it, which is used to practice hitting against such that the ball bounces back without the need for a partner. Backcourt: The area of the tennis court between the baseline and the service line. Backhand: Stroke in which the ball is hit with the back of the racket hand facing the ball at the moment of contact. A backhand is often hit by a right-handed player when the ball is on the left side of the court, and vice versa. Backhand smash: A type of smash played over the backhand side. Backspin: Shot that rotates the ball backwards after it is hit; also known as slice or underspin. The trajectory of the shot is affected by an upward force that lifts the ball. See Magnus effect. Backswing: Portion of a swing where the racket is swung backwards in preparation for the forward motion to hit the ball. Bagel: Colloquial term for winning or losing a set 6–0 (the shape of the zero being reminiscent of the round shape of a bagel). See also breadstick. Bagnall-Wild: A method of draw which places all byes in the first round. Introduced in the 1880s by Ralph Bagnall Bagnall-Wild. Ball boy (also ball girl or ballkid): a person, commonly a child, tasked with retrieving tennis balls from the court that have gone out of play and supplying the balls to the players before their service. Ball boys in net positions normally kneel near the net and run across the court to collect the ball, while ball boys in the back positions stand in the back along the perimeter of the arena. Ball boys in the back are responsible for giving the balls to the player serving. Ball toss: The action of throwing up the ball prior to the serve. Ball machine: Machine that shoots tennis balls onto the court at a similar speed and trajectory as a human player, allowing an individual to practice their strokes without the need for a partner. Banana shot or banana forehand: Forehand hit down the line with sufficient spin that it curves in the air outside over the tramline and then back into the court again. A signature shot of Rafael Nadal. Baseline: Line at the furthest ends of the court indicating the boundary of the area of play. If the ball goes over the baseline it will be the other player's point. Baseliner: Player who plays around the baseline during play and relies on the quality of their ground strokes. Big serve: Forceful serve, usually giving an advantage in the point for the server. Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup or Federation Cup): International, annual women's tennis competition where teams from participating countries compete in a single-elimination format tournament with matches occurring at several stages during the year. Bisque: One stroke (point), which may be claimed by the receiver at any part of the set. Part of the handicapping odds and used during the early era of the sport. Abolished by the LTA in 1890. Block (or blocked shot, blocked return): Defensive shot with relatively little backswing and shortened action instead of a full swing, usually while returning a serve. Bounce: The upward movement of the ball after it has hit the ground. The trajectory of the bounce can be affected by the surface and weather, the amount and type of spin and the power of the shot. Boxed set: The career slam in singles, doubles, and mixed, i.e. winning at least one title in each discipline at all four of the slam venues. Has been completed only four times, by Doris Hart, Margaret Court (twice), and Martina Navratilova. Breadstick: Colloquial term for winning or losing a set 6–1, with the straight shape of the one supposedly being reminiscent of the straight shape of a breadstick. See also bagel. Break back: To win a game as the receiving player or team immediately after losing the previous game as the serving player or team. Break point: Point which, if won by the receiver, would result in a break of service; arises when the score is 30–40 or 40–ad. A double break point or two break points arises at 15–40; a triple break point or three break points arises at 0–40. Break: To win a game as the receiving player or team, thereby breaking serve. At high level of play the server is more likely to win a game, so breaks are often key moments of a match. Noun: break (service break) (e.g. "to be a break down" means "to have, in a set, one break fewer than the opponent", "to be a double break up" means "to have, in a set, two breaks more than the opponent"). Breaker: Colloquial term for tiebreak. Brutaliser: Hitting the ball directly at the opponent. Buggy whip: Forehand hit with a follow-through that does not go across the body and finish on the opposite side, but rather goes from low to high, crosses the opposite shoulder (optionally) and finishes on the same side (similar to the driver of a horse-drawn carriage whipping a horse). Used, for example, by Rafael Nadal (racket head crosses the opposite shoulder) and Maria Sharapova (racket head stays on the same shoulder). Bumper guard: A piece of plastic that protects the outside of the upper-half of the racket head. Bye: Automatic advancement of a player to the next round of a tournament without facing an opponent. Byes are often awarded in the first round to the top-seeded players in a tournament. Bunt: To use the power of the opponent's shot and hit it back with a short swing.

C

Call: Verbal utterance by a line judge or chair umpire declaring that a ball landed outside the valid area of play. Canadian doubles: Informal and unsanctioned variation of tennis played with three players—two on one side of the court and one on the other. The team of two players can only hit the ball within the single player's singles lines, whilst the single player can hit into the full doubles court on the doubles team's side. See also: American doubles. Can opener: Serve hit by a right-handed player with slice, landing on or near the intersection of the singles tramline and service line in the deuce court (or in the ad court for a left-handed server). Cannonball: A very fast, flat or "big" serve. Term most popular in the 1970s and 80s. Career Golden Slam: In addition to having won all four major titles in their career, a player that has also won an Olympic gold medal is said to have achieved a career Golden Slam. Only five players have ever achieved this in singles: Steffi Graf (1988), Andre Agassi (1996), Rafael Nadal (2010), Serena Williams (2012), and Novak Djokovic (2024). The term is rarely used in doubles, although the feat has been more common in that discipline. It has been achieved individually by nine wheelchair tennis players and four able-bodied players (Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernández, Daniel Nestor, Mate Pavić), and by three teams (The Woodies, the Williams sisters, and the Bryan brothers). Tennis at the Olympics was not played from 1928 to 1984. Career Grand Slam (or career slam): Players who have won all four major championships over the course of their career (but not within the same calendar year) are said to have won a career Grand Slam. Carpet court: A surface for tennis courts consisting of textile or polymer materials supplied in rolls. Previously common for indoor professional events, the surface was dropped from major pro tournaments in 2009. See carpet court. Carve: To hit a groundstroke shot with a combination of sidespin and underspin. Centre mark: Small mark located at the centre of the baseline. When serving the player must stand on the correct side of the mark corresponding with the score. Chair umpire: See umpire. Challenge Round: Final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of Wimbledon (from 1877 through 1921) and the US Open (from 1884 through 1911), and, until 1972, in the Davis Cup. Challenge: When a player requests an official review of the spot where the ball landed, using electronic ball tracking technology. See Hawk-Eye. Challenges are only available in some large tournaments.