I have a reverence for the Order of Service, almost regarding it a basic sacrament of tennis. It provides a rhythm and cycle to tennis not unlike the ebb and flow of the tides. In practice matches, I will agree to change sides every four games, under certain conditions, to speed up play. I would be morally offended if anyone ever asked to modify the Order of Service. It is an immutable law of tennis.
The Order of Service is covered in the USTA Friend at Court/ITF Rules of Tennis Section 14. This rule defines the sequence of who serves and receives in each game. The section is almost off putting in excessive wordiness, given my reverence for the rule.
The section starts out innocuously enough.
At the end of each standard game, the receiver shall become the server and the server shall become the receiver for the next game.
USTA Friend at Court/ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 14
The usage of the word “standard” is to distinguish that this rule description is not applicable to the tie-break game. Anyone who is up to date on this project may recall that the tie-break game is specified in section 5, which I wrote about previously in “Standard Score in a Game.” There was extensive discussion of Order of Service, in the context of the tie-break game, in that series of posts.
Odd artifacts in the Rules of Tennis, such as Order of Service descriptions in more than one location, are a result of the insertion of updates. The tie-break game was added to the game long after the rules were originally codified. I appreciate the challenge of updating the rules to reflect modernization in the game. At the same time, I wonder if there might have been a more logical insertion point. It would be helpful if this section contained an indication or reference to the other sections where Order of Service is discussed, but it doesn’t.
The first line of Rule 14 essentially says that the serving side and the receiving side alternates at the conclusion of every game. The second paragraph of this rule is… excessively wordy.
In doubles, the team due to serve in the first game of each set shall decide which player shall serve for that game. Similarly, before the second game starts, their opponents shall decide which player shall serve for that game. The partner of the player who served in the first game shall serve in the third game and the partner of the player who served in the second game shall serve in the fourth game. This rotation shall continue until the end of the set.
USTA Friend at Court/ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 14
The frequency of the word “shall” hints that the author of this section also reveres the Order of Service. It simply is the way things shall be. At the same time, I have to wonder why the rule doesn’t simply say that in doubles the partners on the team serve alternating games when they are the service team.
Inhale, exhale. The tide rolls in, the tide flows away. I serve, you serve. There is balance in the universe.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
