Rule of the Week

Rule of the Week Question

I have two sons who are tennis fanatics. There always seems to be an argument about the rules of the tiebreaker. Could someone out there give me the rules of a tiebreaker?

Answer

Here are the rules for tie-breaker (for singles) in a nutshell. Except for the first serve (where the server only serves once), every player takes two consecutive serves until one player wins the tie-break and the set by reaching a score of 7 points or better with a margin of two points (example, 7-5, 8-6, or 9-7).

The player (Player A) who began serving in the set serves first point of the tie-break to the deuce court (the left service box of the court while facing your opponent). Then Player B serves point 2 and 3 to the ad court (right service box while facing your opponent). The sequence of 2 serves each continues, each time the server begins by serving to the ad court. Remember, players must switch sides of the court when the tie-break score reaches six points (example, 5-1, 4-2, 3-3).

Following the completion of the tie-break (and therefore the set), the players switch ends and Player B (the one who did not start serving in the first set and the tie-break), begins serving in the next set.

In doubles, the same rules apply with the partners preserving their serving order.


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