TENNIS COURT OATH

French Serment Du Jeu De Paume (June 20, 1789), dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the nonprivileged classes of the French nation (the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates-General (traditional assembly) at the beginning of the French Revolution. The deputies of the Third Estate, realizing that in any attempt at reform they would be outvoted by the two privileged orders, the clergy and the nobility, had formed, on June 17, a National Assembly. Finding themselves locked out of their usual meeting hall at Versailles on June 20 and thinking that the king was forcing them to disband, they moved to a nearby tennis court. There they took an oath never to separate until a written constitution had been established for France. In the face of the solidarity of the Third Estate, King Louis XVI relented and on June 27 ordered the clergy and the nobility to join with the Third Estate in the National Assembly. Play of the game Court and equipment Playing area for lawn tennis (metric dimensions are rounded off). The alleys are used only in The dimensions of the tennis court are 78 by 27 feet (23.8 by 8.2 metres) for singles and 78 by 36 feet (23.8 by 11 metres) for doubles. The height of the net at the centre is three feet, and it is supported at each side of the court by posts 3 feet 6 inches high placed three feet outside the court (see illustration). Tennis was originally called lawn tennis, and grass courts are still in use, but the most common court materials today are clay (called hard courts in most places, although in the United States that term refers to any hard surface), cement, and a number of cushioned asphalt derivatives and synthetic surfaces. The latter may be hard surface or artificial grass, materials that have become popular for indoor courts along with the traditional wood. A tennis ball consists of a pressurized rubber core covered with high-quality cloth, usually wool mixed with up to 35 percent nylon. Balls gradually go soft with use, and in tournament play they are changed at regular intervals agreed upon by officials and depending upon such factors as the court surface. Balls must have a uniform outer surface, and, if there are any seams, they must be stitchless. The ITF specifies that the ball must be yellow and white, between 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) and 2.6 inches in diameter and between 2 ounces (56.7 grams) and 2.06 ounces in weight. The ball must have a bound between 53 inches and 58 inches when dropped 100 inches upon a concrete base. Nothing in the rules defined the racket until 1981. After an ITF committee had made studies of the so-called double-strung, or spaghetti, racket, introduced in 1977, which had two layers of strings that imparted topspin on the ball, it was banned by the following rule: A racket shall consist of a frame, which may be of any material, weight, size or shape and stringing. The stringing must be uniform and smooth and may be of any material. The strings must be alternately interlaced or bonded where they cross. The distance between the main and/or cross strings shall not be less than one quarter of an inch nor more than one-half inch. If there are attachments they must be used only to prevent wear and tear and must not alter the flight of the ball. In 1979 the ITF limited racket length for professional play to 29 inches. This maximum was applied to nonprofessional play in 2000. Maximum racket width is 12.5 inches. Principles of play Opponents spin a racket or toss a coin to decide on side and service. The winner may decide to serve or receive serve first, in which case the opponent chooses the side, or may decide on a choice of side, in which case the opponent may choose to serve or receive service first. The players serve alternate games and change sides after every odd number of games. Beginning each game from behind his or her right-hand court, the server has both feet behind the baseline and strikes the ball diagonally across the net and into the opponent's right-hand service court. Should the ball on service strike the top of the net before falling in the correct service court, it is a let and is replayed. The server is allowed one miss, or fault, either into the net or outside the opponent's service court. Failure to deliver a correct service on two attempts constitutes loss of the point. To return service, the receiver strikes the ball back (before it hits the ground a second time) over the net and within the boundaries of the opponent's court. After the service has been correctly returned, the players may volley the ball (i.e., hit it before it bounces) or hit it after its first bounce, and the point continues until one player fails to make a correct return. This may occur if a player fails to hit the ball over the net, hits it outside the opponent's boundaries, or fails to hit it before it strikes the ground a second time on his or her side of the net. To win a game, a player must win four points and by a margin of two. The scoring goes 15, 30, 40, game; this system, derived from real tennis, is medieval in origin. It never has been satisfactorily explained why three points equal 40 rather than 45. Zero is generally referred to as love, which is thought to be derived from l'oeuf, the French word for egg. The server's score is called first; thus, 3015 means that the server has two points to one, whereas 1530 means that the receiver has two points to one. If both players reach 40, the score is said to be deuce, and the game continues until a player achieves first advantage and then the two-point margin for game. There is no limit to the number of times a game can go to deuce before it is decided, but in some competitions, a so-called no-ad system is used, which means that no two-point margin is required and the first player to win four points wins the game. As points make up a game, games make up a set, and sets make up a match. The first player to win six games traditionally wins the set, although a two-game margin is again required; thus, a set in which each player has won five games cannot be won before 75. Since the early 1970s virtually all competitions have come to employ tiebreakers to eliminate marathon sets. Usually played at six games all, the tiebreaker can consist of an odd number of points with no two-point margin required (sudden death) or an even number of points with a two-point margin required. For example, in a 12-point tiebreaker the first player to reach 7 points with a margin of 2 wins the tiebreaker game and the set, 76. Virtually all tournaments now play tiebreakers at six games all. In major tournaments and the Davis Cup, men generally play best-of-five-set matches and women best-of-three. In most other tournaments, men now also play best-of-three sets; women occasionally play best-of-five for finals. In Olympic competition, all matches are best-of-three sets, except for the men's finals, which are best-of-five. The same basic principles of play and scoring apply to doubles. Service alternates between the two opposing teams, but each team must decide at the start of each set which partner shall serve first. Equally, the receiving team must decide at the start of each set which of them shall receive service first, and they then receive service on alternate points for that game and set. Thus, the server will alternate sides of the court on successive points in each game, but the receiver will always receive on the same side of the court during that game (and the set).