Tennis

Tennis is a racquet sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt (most of the time Optic Yellow, but can be any color or even two-tone) over a net into the opponent's court.

The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis" and had heavy connections to the ancient game of real tennis. After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit organized by the National Collegiate Athletics Association.

Except for the adoption of the tie-breaker in the 1970s, the rules of tennis have changed very little since the 1890s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of "instant replay" technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the official call of a point.

Another, however informal, tennis format is called "Kiwi doubles", "Canadian doubles" or "cut-throat". This involves three players, with one person playing a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same as a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body and is only played when a fourth player is not available for normal doubles.

"Australian doubles," another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the "Kiwi" style, only in this version, players rotate court position after each game. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve, and the doubles team each taking one if they break.

Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as "one-up, one-down"), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only.

In tennis, a player uses different strategies that both enhance his own strengths and exploit his opponent's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and win more points. Players commonly specialize in a certain style of play, focusing on what they do best as a means of beating their opponents. Based on their style, players generally fit into one of three types: baseliners, volleyers and all-court players. A baseliner plays from the back of the tennis court, around the baseline, preferring to trade groundstrokes rather than to come up to the net (except in certain situations). A volleyer tries to approach the net and hit volleys, putting pressure on the opponent. All-court players fall somewhere in between. A tennis player usually determines his/her strategies based on his/her weaknesses. For example, most players have a stronger forehand, therefore they will hit forehands inside out to their opponents.

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