Entertainment / Tennis Glossary

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 down the side of the court 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 who is away from the net off guard

Drop Volley: A drop shot executed from a volley

Entry System: The ranking system used by the atp and wta tours which is so named because it determines whether a player has a sufficiently high ranking to gain direct acceptance (not as a qualifier or wil . . . View Full Definition

Exhibition: A tournament in which players compete for the purpose of entertaining the crowd but not ranking points on the atp or wta tours. Examples include the kooyong tournament and the sampras v fede . . . View Full Definition

Fault: A serve that fails to place the ball in the correct area of play, therefore not starting the point

Fed Cup: An international, annual women's tennis competition in which teams from participating countries compete in a single elimination format tournament with matches occurring at several intervals . . . View Full Definition

First Service: The first of the two serves of a tennis ball a player is allowed at the beginning of a point.

Five: An expression of a number of games completed (e.g. '7-5' is spoken as 'seven-five'), or (curiously, in the uk) as a spoken abbreviation of '15' in points (e.g. A score of 40-15 is spoken as . . . View Full Definition

Flat: E.g. A flat serve; a shot with relatively little spin

Flatliner: A player that hits the ball flat with a very low trajectory with exceptional depth and accuracy such that the ball strikes the lines often. Also said because their shots cause their opponent . . . View Full Definition

Follow Through: The portion of a swing after the ball is hit

Foot Fault: When a player, during the serve, steps on or over the baseline into the court before striking the ball, which results in a service fault. A foot fault may also occur when the player steps on . . . View Full Definition

Forced Error: When an opponent hits a difficult shot that causes the player to miss. As opposed to the unforced error

Forehand: A method of wielding a tennis racquet where the player hits the tennis ball with a stroke that comes from behind their body with the front of their racquet hand facing the ball

Fry: Jargon for winning (or losing) a set 6-1, with the straight shape of the '1' being evoked supposedly by the straight shape of a potato fry. The term seems to be used relatively rarely.

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