In tennis, the server has two chances to put the ball into play on each point. Today’s topic is the section of the Rules of Tennis that brings the concept of two serves into the game.
If the first service is a fault, the server shall serve again without delay from behind the same half of the court from which that fault was served, unless the service was from the wrong half.
USTA Friend at Court, ITF Rules of Tennis, Section 19.
The phrase “without delay” is a reasonable pivot point into deeper examination, but that topic is the focus of the subsequent section. We will be getting into that topic in the imminent future.
It is also indicated that the second serve must be delivered without changing the side of the court that the first was delivered from. The part of the rule “unless the service was from the wrong half” leads to a interesting thread of discussion.
It implies that if a player lines up and serves to the wrong court and the error is detected between the first and the second serve, that the fault on the first serve stands and then the second serve would be delivered to the correct court.
“The Code” is a section in part 2 of the rules which is still in the distant future for this project. The Code is the player’s guide to fair play and the unwritten rules of tennis. One of the early principles expressed in The Code clearly indicates that points played in good faith are counted.
If a point is played from the wrong court, there is no replay. If during a point, a player realizes that a mistake was made at the beginning (for example, service from the wrong court), the player shall continue playing the point. Corrective action may be taken only after a point has been completed.
USTA Friend at Court, The Code, Principle 2
So if a server and receiver lined up on the wrong service court and the first serve was placed into the court where the two players were lined up, then the point would continue to the natural conclusion. The Code is clear that the point would stand in that case.
The opportunity to adjust the service court to make a correction could only occur after a fault on the first serve. If that situation should occur, by the rule discussed in this section, it would be second serve to the correct court. As a server in that situation, I would probably attempt to invoke the “without delay” part of the rule claiming that the long and protracted discourse that would be required to discuss this rule had lead to an unreasonable delay. I would ask for two serves.
I would then promptly double fault regardless of whether two serves were granted or not.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
