Tennis

If you’ve ever watched a set drag on and on, with both players holding serve game after game, you’ve probably wondered how it ever ends. That’s exactly what the tiebreak was designed to solve. Before it existed, sets could theoretically go on forever, and in a few rare, brutal cases, they actually did. Once you…

If you’ve ever watched a tennis match and heard the umpire suddenly call “let,” followed by the point just restarting, with no real explanation, you’re not alone in wondering what just happened. It’s one of those rules that seems random until you understand the logic behind it, and then it makes complete sense. A let…

Few moments in tennis feel as deflating as watching a player toss the ball up, miss the serve twice in a row, and hand the point straight to their opponent without a single shot being returned. That’s a double fault, and it’s one of the few ways a player can lose a point in tennis…

If you’ve watched a tennis match where a single game seemed to go on forever, with the score bouncing back and forth without ever quite finishing, chances are you were watching deuce play out. It’s one of the most talked-about rules in tennis, and also one of the most misunderstood by people who are new…

If you’ve spent any time watching tennis commentary, you’ve probably heard someone say a player “bageled” their opponent, and if you weren’t already in on the joke, it can sound completely random. It’s one of those slang terms that’s so deeply embedded in tennis culture that broadcasters use it constantly, without ever really explaining where…