Fiend at Court Unplugged
The method of deciding the choice of ends and server was a detail that brought me to a full stop during last year’s march through the ITF Rules of Tennis. I was surprised that a particular method of deciding the choice is codified directly into the rules.
The choice of ends and the choice to be server or receiver in the first game shall be decided by toss before the warm-up starts.
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 9
In modern matches, the most common method of making the determination is through a tennis ritual known as the “Racquet Spin.” A racquet spin is executed by one player placing the head of their racquet on the court and then spinning it like a top. While the racquet is still spinning the other player calls the orientation the logo on the butt when the racquet comes at rest on the court.
In first pass through the rules I observed that the racquet spin is not a toss. The rule is oddly specific as to the method of the decision. During USTA officiated matches, the universal method for making the determination is a coin flip. That method is fully aligned with the rules since the coin is actually tossed to execute the flip.
That’s The Way The Racquet Spins… Or is Tossed
In a happy coincidence, there is a historical picture of a tennis racquet toss printed in the book that I am currently reading. I started writing about A Terrible Splendor yesterday in “Another Greatest Tennis Match of All Time.” Early in the book a literal racquet toss is described.
As Don Budge and Gottfried Von Cramm strolled onto the court for their 1937 Davis Cup match, Von Cramm casually tossed his racquet in front of them. The calling options proffered to Budge were “Rough or Smooth?” Budge called rough.
On the wooden racquets of that era, a red nylon string was woven and looped through the vertical strings near the throat of the racquet. The side where the loops protruded was “rough.” The difference could be discerned by running a finger across the red nylon thread. The racquet had landed on the smooth side. Von Cramm elected to serve.
Finishing Shots
In the first pass through the rules, I assumed that Rule 9 specifies a coin toss. I now think it is more likely that the method envisioned was more likely the one described and depicted in A Terrible Splendor.
The more you know.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
The first discussion of deciding the choice of ends and serves came in “Tennis Gambling: Choice of Ends & Service” which was first published March 16, 2020.
