Every Wednesday, this site publishes a post on a topic related to the rules and regulations governing tennis. After all, if the domain name “Fiend at Court” didn’t give it away, this blog was founded with a rules-centric perspective. Today’s post resumes the series on “The Code,” which defines the traditional expectations of the sport. Before the holiday hiatus, we had just completed Principle 3. We now pick up exactly where we left off. Principle 4 addresses the procedures for service warm-ups and related on-court behavior.
Warm-up serves are taken before first serve of match. A player should take all warm-up serves before the first serve of a match.
USTA Friend at Court 2025 , The Code, Principle 4 (Partial Excerpt)
It may have been tempting to believe that Principle 3, which covered the tennis warm-up in general, fully described that phase of a match. However, the editors of The Code determined that warming up the serve warranted its own separate principle. While taking all serves before the start of a match is now a ubiquitous practice in tennis, it wasn’t always that way. That may be why we have a separate principle for it.
When I was first learning the game as a young junior in the 1970s, serves were warmed up immediately before each player’s first service game. There are clear advantages and disadvantages of structuring it that way. For example, those warm-up serves were typically hit only to the deuce court, which could make a difference under harsh sun or wind conditions. It also created a lack of continuity in the early games of the match, delaying the players from getting into the competitive flow. As a benefit, in doubles, this practice meant that everyone warmed-up their serves from the side of the court where they would be serving. Additionally, each player had the opportunity to observe their opponent’s service motion immediately before facing a live ball in competition.
The modern approach streamlines the start of matches and aligns recreational play with the warm-up procedures seen on the professional tours. However, I cannot help but note that moving all serves before the match shortens the warm-up time allotted to players. When The Code was first drafted, the standard warm-up was 10 minutes, excluding serves. While the guideline was later updated to 5-10 minutes, in officiated matches it is almost always enforced at 5. In other words, that practice subtly compressed the match warm-up time even further.
For players currently active in the sport, it is likely unsurprising that all warm-up serves are taken before the first point of a match. That normalcy is precisely the point. This language was probably added to The Code because it marked a shift in the standard practice of the time and needed to be made explicit to ensure uniformity. However, it also serves as an anchor for what follows next within this same principle. We will examine that aspect next Wednesday.
- Friend at Court: The Handbook of Tennis Rules and Regulations, USTA, 2025
- Friend at Court: The USTA Handbook of Tennis Rules and Regulations, USTA, 2001. (Hardcopy.)
For readers who may be new to the organized tennis landscape, the Friend at Court is the USTA’s compendium of all rules governing sanctioned play in the United States. It includes the ITF Rules of Tennis, USTA Regulations, and additional guidance specific to competition in this country. The Code is nested within the Friend at Court. That section outlines the “unwritten” traditions, expectations, and standards of conduct that guide player behavior. The Code is the ethical framework that shapes how recreational and competitive players conduct themselves every time they step onto the court.
