TENNIS

TENNIS

Tennis is a sport people usually play individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racquet that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a good return.

The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point.

Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. The four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the "Majors") are especially popular: the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open played also on hard courts.

Court

Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, a hardcourt of concrete, and asphalt and occasionally carpet (indoor). The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches.^] Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. It is held up by either a metal cable or cord that can be no more than 0.8 cm (1/3 inch).The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (0.914 m) high in the center. The net posts are 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the doubles court on each side or, for a singles net, 3 feet (0.914 m) outside the singles court on each side.

The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, patented a court much the same as the current one for hisstické tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield's version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.

Lines

The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the center of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the center mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines. These are the boundaries used when doubles is being played. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines and are used as boundaries in singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, which is considered playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the center of a player's side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve.

The line dividing the service line in two is called the center line or center service line. The boxes this center line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player's position, he or she will have to hit the ball into one of these when serving.A ball is out only if none of it has hit the line or the area inside the lines upon its first bounce. All the lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (51 mm) in width. The baseline can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide.

Scoring

Match

The outcome of a tennis match is determined through a best of three or five sets system. Recreational players may agree to play any number of sets, depending upon time availability or stamina. On the professional circuit, men play best-of-five-set matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the Olympic Games and best-of-three-set matches at all other tournaments, while women play best-of-three-set matches at all tournaments. The first player to win two sets in a best-of-three, or three sets in a best-of-five, wins the match^] A set consists ofgames, and games, in turn, consist of points.

Set

A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game, a tie-break is played. A tie-break, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. Only in the final sets of matches at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, and Fed Cup are tie-breaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead. A "love" set means that the loser of the set won zero games, colloquially termed a 'jam donut' in the USA. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score.

Game

A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as "love", "fifteen", "thirty", and "forty" respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each player, making the player's scores equal at forty apiece, the score is not called out as "forty-forty", but rather as "deuce". If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is "advantage" for the player in the lead. During informal games, "advantage" can also be called "ad in" or "van in" when the serving player is ahead, and "ad out" or "van out" when the receiving player is ahead.

The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the serving player's score first. In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., "fifteen-love") after each point. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.

                          Philippines Davis Cup team

.The Philippines Davis Cup team represents the Philippines in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Philippine Tennis Association.

The Philippines currently compete in the Asia/Oceania Zone of Group I. They won the Eastern Zone in 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1964, and reached the World Group Play-off in 1991.

On April 2007, businessman and sportsman Jean Henri Lhuillier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cebuana Lhuillier was appointed team manager of the Philippines' Davis Cup team.

Philippines
Captain	Roland Kraut
ITF ranking	45 5
Colors	Blue and white
First year	1926
Years played	60
Ties played (W–L)	136 (72-64)
Years in World Group	0
Davis Cup titles	0
Runners-up	0
Best finish	Inter-Zonal (1957, 1958, 1960, and1964) World Group Play-offs (1991)
Most total wins	Felicisimo Ampon (40-35)
Most singles wins	Felicisimo Ampon (34-26)
Most doubles wins	Johnny Arcilla (10-7)
Best doubles team	Treat Huey/Cecil Mamiit (5-3) Raymundo Deyro/Juan-Johnson Jose(5-3)
Most ties played	Raymundo Deyro (37)
Most years played	Raymundo Deyro (17)