SRSport Rules
Tennis - Service sequence

Service, lets, and foot faults without the muddle.

The serve starts every point, but the ruling is not just "in or out". Officials also judge whether the server used the correct order, whether the ball clipped the net and still landed legally, whether a foot touched the wrong place before contact, and whether the point dies immediately or must be replayed.

Quick ruling: first ask whether the server was entitled to serve and stood legally. Then ask whether the ball landed in the correct box. Only after that do you decide whether the point continues, is replayed as a let, or is lost by fault.
Decision path

How the call is made

  1. Check that the correct player is serving from the correct side of the baseline and to the correct service box.
  2. Check the server's feet before striking the ball: stepping on or over the baseline, or into the wrong area, can be a foot fault.
  3. Judge whether the serve touches the net, strap, or band and whether it still lands in the correct service box.
  4. If it lands out, hits a permanent fixture before bouncing, or misses the box after a legal motion, it is a fault.
  5. If it clips the net and still lands correctly, replay that serve as a let. If it is the second serve, it stays the second serve.
What changes it

Details fans miss most

  • A let is not a free reset of the point count: it replays only that serve within the same first-serve or second-serve situation.
  • A foot fault can lose the point on second serve: it counts as a service fault, so it becomes a double fault if the server was already on a second serve.
  • Touching the net does not automatically mean fault: the serve must also be otherwise legal and land in the correct box to become a let.
  • Wrong server or wrong end issues are administrative first: once discovered, officials usually correct the order from that point, but the treatment depends on when the error is noticed.
Edge case

The ball hits the net and the receiver still returns it

If the serve was otherwise good, the point does not continue just because the receiver played on. A net-cord serve that lands correctly is a let, so the serve is replayed even if the return lands in.

Edge case

Second serve after interruption

If play stops after a first fault for a reason that does not cancel the previous fault, the server resumes with a second serve. That is why an interruption after a missed first serve does not automatically restore two serves.

Immediate loss of point

When the serve loses the point outright

  • The server delivers two faults in the same point.
  • The server misses the tossed ball and the local code in use does not allow a catch-and-restart without consequence.
  • The server strikes the ball before it should be in play under the officiating procedure being used.
  • The served ball touches a permanent fixture before landing in the correct box.