An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
Shortly after I started this project, the USTA published a rules column on their national web page with a rules question about the foot fault. The “What’s the Call” section is updated monthly with a new topic. At best what was published in that particular column is misleading. Alternatively, it is flat out wrong.
The most famously epic meltdown over a foot fault call was Serena Williams against Kim Clijsters in the 2009 US Open semifinals. Serena was down a set and serving at 5-6, 15-30 when a foot fault was called on a second serve, resulting in two match points for Clijsters.
The Foot Fault rule in tennis is somewhat unique in the USTA Friend at Court/ITF Rules of Tennis. It is the first section that consists exclusively as a litany of things that the server is prohibited from doing.
Exactly where and how the implications of the tie-break game were added to the ITF Rules of Tennis is completely fascinating to me. Tie-break implications are sprinkled throughout the main body, appendices, ITF Case Rulings, and USTA comments.
This section contains the description of where the server stands and the fact that the position alternates sides each point. Additionally it is indicated that that the first serve is delivered from the right half of the court in every game.
Today we shift our attention to the most underhanded serve in tennis, the drop serve. To execute a drop serve, the server lets the ballRead More
The rule are silent on what happens if a player pretends to strike the ball, but intentionally misses. This transitions us nicely to the matter of trick serves.
The tennis serve should be one of the easiest shots in all of tennis. The server’s opponent has no influence whatsoever on the delivery of the serve. It is the only shot in tennis that is completely within the server’s control. The service motion starts with a toss of the ball.
The ITF Rules of Tennis serves up another organizational curiosity with the title of two consecutive sections. “The Service” is the subject at hand. The subsequent section is “Serving.” Inquiring minds who want to know what the difference is will have to read on.
This project was started long before the bow-wave of the COVID-19 crisis swept the nation. As I write this morning, I am living under a “shelter-in-place” mandate from my local government. Life is very different than it was a month ago when I wrote my last reflection.