ITF Rules, Courts, Procedures, Nets, Racquets etc
General Information
Tennis elbow or Lateral Epicondylitis is a condition when the outer part of the elbow becomes painful and tender, usually as a result of a specific strain or overuse of the muscles which are attached to the bone at this part of the elbow - the wrist extensors. They are the muscles which pull the hand backwards. All the extensor muscles of the hand attach to the elbow at the outer part (the lateral epicondyle). If they are strained or over used they become inflamed, therefore they become swollen, painful and tender to touch.
Both tennis elbow and golferàs elbow typically result from repetitive arm movement. Over-using the muscles in your arm can lead to tiny tears in the tendons that attach the muscles in your forearms to the epicondyles. If you continue to do the activity without allowing the tears to heal, the tendons can become inflamed. This condition can be caused by excessive use of your arm in long sessions practicing your tennis stroke and in many other activities, including painting, raking, pitching, rowing, hammering and using a screwdriver.
If youàve increased your activity in one of these areas and feel tenderness in the elbow or pain that radiates down the arm, take some time off. Stop doing whatever is causing the symptoms. Rest allows the microtears to heal. If the symptoms are sports-related, you might examine your technique and tennis equipment.
Today almost 50% of all tennis players will suffer from this disorder at some point. Interestingly though, the term tennis elbow is also used for the disorder experienced by golfers , baseball players, home fix-it enthusiasts and gardeners, although tennis players account for only 5% of all sufferers of this condition.
The onset of pain, on the outside (lateral) of the elbow, is usually gradual with tenderness felt on or below the joint's bony prominence. Movements such as gripping, lifting and carrying tend to be troublesome.
Symptoms
Recurring pain on the outside of the upper forearm just below the bend of the elbow. Pain caused by lifting or bending the arm or holding even light objects. On occasions, pain radiates down the arm toward the wrist. Due to inflamed muscles, tendons and ligaments, sufferers experience difficulty in extending forearm. Pain that typically lasts for 6 to 12 weeks can last for months or several years.
The damage that this condition incurs consists of tiny tears in a part of the tendon and in muscle coverings. After the initial injury heals, these areas often tear again, which leads to hemorrhaging and the formation of rough, granulated tissue and calcium deposits within the surrounding tissues. Collagen, a protein, leaks out from around the injured areas, causing inflammation. The resulting pressure can cut off the blood flow and pinch the radial nerve, one of the major nerves controlling muscles in the arm and hand.
Tendons, which attach muscles to bones, do not receive the same amount of oxygen and blood that muscles do, so they heal more slowly. In fact, some cases of this condition can last for years, though the inflammation usually subsides in 6 to 12 weeks.
Many medical textbooks treat tennis elbow as a form of tendonitis, which is often the case, but if the muscles and bones of the elbow joint are also involved, then the condition is called epicondylitis. However, if you feel pain directly on the back of your elbow joint, rather than down the outside of your arm, you may have bursitis, which is caused when lubricating sacs in the joint become inflamed. If you see swelling, which is almost never a symptom of tennis elbow you may want to investigate other possible conditions, such as arthritis, infection, gout or a tumor.
Relief
Conservative elbow treatment usually works. Applying ice helps reduce swelling. An anti-inflammatory medication, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, can also help. If symptoms donàt subside in two or three weeks, call your doctor.
Flexibility and strengthening exercises are effective and will eventually allow you to return to the activity.
The best way for tennis elbow cure is to stop doing anything that provides strain to the injured arm. Rest the arm until the pain disappears, then massage to relieve stress and tension in the muscles, and exercise to strengthen the area and prevent re-injury. To prevent movement of your arm, you can buy an elbow brace, elbow support or elbow strap from a sports shop or pharmaceutical supplier, which can be helpful because it reduces the amount you can use your elbow. For the tennis enthusiast, provide warm up activity to the arm for several minutes before practice or play.
For most mild to moderate cases of this condition, aspirin or ibuprofen will help address the inflammation and the pain while you are resting the injury, and then you can follow up with exercise and massage to speed healing.
For stubborn cases of tennis elbow your doctor may advise corticosteroid injections, which dramatically reduce inflammation, but they cannot be used long-term because of potentially damaging side effects.
If rest, anti-inflammatory medications, and a stretching routine fail to provide elbow cure, you may have to consider surgery. Consult your physician. Even after you feel you have overcome a case of this condition continue to use your arm sparingly. Always warm up your arm for 5 to 10 minutes before starting any activity involving your elbow. And if you develop severe pain after use anyway, pack your arm in ice for 15 to 20 minutes and call your doctor.
Prevention
To prevent tennis elbow and other tennis injuries:
Each year, more than 78,000 tennis-related injuries are treated in hospitals, doctorsà offices, clinics, ambulatory surgery centers and hospital emergency rooms.
Always take time to warm up and stretch. Research studies have shown that cold muscles are more prone to injury. Warm up with jumping jacks, stationary cycling or running or walking in place for 3 to 5 minutes. Then slowly and gently stretch, holding each stretch for 30 seconds.
Try to avoid playing on hard surface courts with no "give," such as cement, asphalt, or synthetic courts. To prevent lower back injuries when playing tennis on hard surface courts, wear heel inserts to absorb the shock.
Wear tennis shoes with good support to prevent ankle injuries. For added support, wear two pairs of socks or specially padded tennis socks.
To prevent blisters on your hands, dry your racket handle frequently.
When serving or hitting an overhead, do not arch your back unnecessarily. Instead, bend your knees and raise your heels, so your upper body weight is evenly balanced.
Avoid landing on the ball of your foot, which could result in an Achilles tendon injury.
Plantar fasciitis can occur if your foot is overused. Rest is the best remedy; but wearing tennis shoes with medial arch support or a heel cup can sometimes alleviate the pain.
Be knowledgeable about first aid and be able to administer it for minor injuries, such as facial cuts, bruises, or minor tendinitis, strains, or sprains.
Be prepared for emergency situations and have a plan to reach medical personnel to treat injuries such as concussions, dislocations, elbow contusions, wrist or finger sprains, and fractures.
To prevent a relapse:
Discontinue or modify the action that is causing the strain on your elbow joint. If you must continue, be sure to warm up for 10 minutes or more before any activity involving your arm, and apply ice to it afterward. Take more frequent breaks. Try strapping a elbow strap , elbow brace, or elbow support around your forearm just below your elbow. If the support seems to help you lift objects such as heavy books, then continue with it. Be aware that such bands can cut off circulation and impede healing, so they are best used once tennis elbow has disappeared. At any rate, several weeks of break from your tennis play is much better than causing longterm injury to your arm.
Some websites
Further information and practical advice on tennis injuries can be accessed here at the website and blog of Brent Abel:
http://www.webtennis.net/rotator-7-pete.htm
http://www.webtennis.net/tennis-injuries.htm
http://webtennis.com/2010/03/24/doubles-serve-volley/
Interesting sites full of Tennis information, facts and advice:
http://www.all-about-tennis.com/index.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tennis-facts.html
Longest Tennis Matches This article details longest tennis match records. Records concerning the length of tennis matches can refer to either the length of time that a match takes up or the number of games which a tennis match lasts for. Many of the records have been affected by the introduction of the tiebreak in 1973 which has resulted in many earlier records not being broken.
All time
to be revised after last Wimbledon : )
- Longest women's match by time played: The longest women's match occurred between Vicki Nelson-Dunbar and Jean Hepner in 1984 lasting 6 hours and 31 minutes with Nelson-Dunbar winning 6-4 7-6(11). One point lasted 643 strokes and 29 minutes.
Wimbledon
French Open
Men's
- Longest match by time played: Six hours and 33 minutes, between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement. The match began on May 24 2004 but was suspended for bad light. Santoro won the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(5), 3-6, 16-14.
- Longest match by games: The 1955 semi-final between Sturgress and McGregor lasted 76 games with Sturgess winning 10-8 7-9 8-6 5-7 9-7.
- Longest match by games since the introduction of the tiebreaker in 1973:
- The 2nd round match between Agenor and Prinosil had a record 71 games. Agenor won, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 14-12.
- The 2004 match between Fabrice Santoro versus Arnaud Clement, while breaking the record for longest match in terms of time equalled the record for games. The 71-game match was won by Santoro, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14.
Women's
- Longest match by games: Before the introduction of the tiebreaker, the longest match was occurred in 1955 between Mortimer and Knode and lasted 38 games. Mortimer won, 2-6, 7-5, 10-8.
Davis Cup
How to Play a Tie Break
Put the first serve on the ad side. Determine which tennis player serves first by figuring out who would serve the next match in regular play. That player gets one service.
Give the next player two serves, beginning on the deuce side. After that, each player will get two serves at a time, each starting on the deuce side.
Score a tiebreaker match differently than a regular match. In a regular tennis match, the score goes from love to 15 to 30 to 40. In a tiebreaker match, the score progresses by one point.
Change sides each time the total score total is divisible by six points. So your first change will happen within the first six serves. The second change will happen after another six serves.
Win the tiebreaker match by reaching a score of seven or more and beating your opponent by two points. For example, if you reach a score of 6-6, you will need two more points to win.
OLYMPIC TENNIS FACTS AND TRIVIA
OLYMPIC TENNIS HISTORY:
Tennis was one of the original nine Olympic sports in the first modern games held in Athens in 1896.
The other eight sports were Athletics (a.k.a Track & Field), Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Shooting, Swimming, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
Irishman John Boland (above) became the first Olympic tennis singles champion (winning for Great Britain.)
He had planned to visit the Games as a spectator and was surprised when a Greek friend entered him into the contest without his knowledge. He also won the doubles.
Charlotte Cooper (above) was the first woman champion in any Olympic sport, winning the women's singles event in the 1900 Summer Games in Paris, the first Olympics open to female athletes. She won the mixed doubles, as well, with Reginald Doherty.
Tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games, not returning until 1984, as a 21-and-under demonstration event. The success of this event convinced the IOC to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988.
There are no mixed doubles on the current Olympic program, although it was an event in 1900, 1906, 1912, 1920, and 1924.
THE MEDAL COUNT:
Great Britain: 42.5 medals (I don't know how you win half a medal - perhaps it's because a doubles team could consist of players from different countries at one point. For example, John Boland won the doubles with a German partner in 1896.)
USA: 31
France: 18
Germany: 9.5
From: NBCOlympics.com
THE MEDALISTS:
Since tennis was reinstated in the Olympics in 1988, three of the five men's singles Gold medalists have never won a Grand Slam (Miloslav Mecir in '88, Marc Rosset in '92 and Nicolas Massu in '04) but all five women's singles Gold medalists have been multiple Slam winners
(Graf, Capriati, Davenport, Venus and Henin.)
Serena Williams has not won a Gold in singles. She won Gold with her sister in 2000.
From: tennis.com
PLAYERS WITH OLYMPIC ROOTS:
"Many players on the tennis tour have Olympic roots. Lindsay Davenport's father played volleyball in the 1968 Olympics. Leander Paes of India, a five-time Olympian, was conceived at the 1972 Munich Olympics. His father won a bronze medal in field hockey, and his mother was the captain of the Indian women's basketball team. Svetlana Kuznetsova's brother won a silver medal in cycling at the 1996 Olympics, and her father has coached six Olympic cyclists. Nadia Petrova's mother won a bronze medal in the 400-meter relay in the Montreal Olympics. Andre Agassi's father was an Olympic boxer for Iran."
Tennis Rules FAQ
Please explain how in game scoring 15 - 30 - 40 came from.
In the fifteenth century in Old French une journee meant "a sport match", as well as "a day", and the scoring system was based on the number of hours in a day, and the number of minutes in an hour. Each match consisted of 24 games, which in turn consisted of four winning rallies worth 15 points each. However, it was soon realized that when both sides were at 45 points each, it would be necessary to win two rallies as otherwise the game might be decided on luck. But the total would exceed 60 points and therefore also the number of minutes in an hour, so the score was changed to 40-all with 10 points being given for each winning rally. If there was a tie at 50 points all, the score would go back to 40-all. The game could only be won by winning two rallies in a row. It was the same with the game score. At 23 games all, it was necessary to win two games in a row, or the score would be lowered to 22-all. As matches became too long, the number of games played was lowered to 12 and later to 6. What happens if a service is made from the wrong half of the court?
All play resulting from the service will stand, but the moment the error is spotted the correct serving point should be taken up before the next service. If I notice my opponent served from wrong half of the court on his first service and it was a fault, does he have to complete the service from that half of the court?
He should move to the correct half of the court immediately, but has only one service left on that point. If my opponent serves and then I realize it is my turn to serve what happens?
The fault should be rectified immediately, but all points scored before the error was noticed shall count. However, if the error is noted after your opponent has served a fault, the fault does not carry over to you when you become the server. What about doubles? Surely it must happen often that the wrong player serves? What happens then?
Well, it doesn't happen at the top level, but it does happen in the local park. Once the error is discovered the correct sequence should be reverted to and all points scored during the error shall count. The same applies if the receivers take the service in the wrong order. If players go to the wrong ends after changing service when should the error be rectified?
As soon as it is noticed. All points scored up to that time shall count however. During an indoor game, the ball from a service hits a rafter and then bounces into the correct service court. Is the service good or not?
It would be a fault. Any ball that hits a permanent fixture from the service is a fault. Permanent fixtures include such things as stands, permanent seating and their occupants ... which could well be a judge! If the server throws the ball up and then fails to hit it, is it a fault?
Yes. Just like in golf, it is a 'fresh air' shot, and counts. If the server decides to abort the serve after throwing the ball up, is it a fault?
No. Is a let called if the ball hits the top of the net and goes into the correct court during a normal rally?
No. If can only be called a let at the service. Can I catch the ball on my racket?
Yes, you most probably can. But if you do the point goes to your opponent! What happens if a ball becomes damaged during a rally?
A let should be called and the point should be replayed. If I play a shot then deliberately hit my racket on to the ground and distort the shape of it before returning the ball for a winning shot do I still get the point?
No. You are not allowed to deliberately and materially change the shape of your racket during the playing of a point. Mind you, if you have time to damage your racket, and then play a winning shot you must be some player ... What happens if my racket becomes damaged during a rally?
You will have to wait until the end of the point to change it. If I play a shot that hits the ground within the confines of the court and then hits the stop-netting at the back of the court before my opponent can reach it, is it a winning point?
Yes. The same applies if the ball hits any other permanent fixture, provided you hit a good ball into the opposing court first. If I return a ball and it hits the net post and then does into the opposing court, does it count or is a let called?
It counts as a legitimate point. What would happen if my opponent played a shot, it bounced in my half of the court and then the wind took it back over to his side of the net?
You would be allowed to play the ball provided you did not touch the net with your body, clothing or racket. What happens if my racket accidentally slips out of my hand and hits the net, do I lose the point?
Yes, provided the ball is in play at the time. Mind you, you were warned to take some talcum powder on to the court with you weren't you? Does a player have to be standing in the court to make a shot?
No. He can be anywhere, except in his opponent's area of the court. If I play a volley close to the net, hit the ball in my half of the court, but then allow my racket to follow-through and go over the net, am I penalized?
No, but again you must make sure you don't touch the net. Does a ball that hits another ball lying on the court have to be played as a let?
No, the shot counts. Mind you, if it happened at Wimbledon the umpire would certainly have a few choice words to say to the ball-boy! If I am hindered from playing my shot is a let called?
Yes, unless you are hindered by a permanent fixture. Let's say a pigeon flies across your sight just as you're about to play, that is certainly outside interference. What exactly are 'permanent fixtures'?
The laws of the game describe a permanent fixture thus: 'The net, posts, singles sticks, cord or metal cables, strap and band. Also, where there are any: the back and side stops, the stands, fixed or movable seats and chairs around the court, and their occupants, all other fixtures above and around the court, and the umpire, net-cord judge, foot-fault judge, linesmen and ball-boys (or girls) when in their respective places.' Can the server's feet be off the ground at the time of the service?
Yes, but at the moment of striking the ball his foot (or feet) must not touch the baseline or court the other side of the baseline. Where does the receiver have to stand when taking the service?
Anywhere, provided it is in his own half of the court. How close you stand to the net depends on the strength of your opponent's serve. How is the 1.5 minute break in between games timed?
The time is taken from the moment the ball goes out of play at the end of the game to the time the ball is struck for the first point of the next game. Is there a time limit on the amount of time a server can take in between the end of one point and serving to start the next?
In major international events this is normally 30 seconds. How often are the balls changed during the tie-break game?
Not at all. The tie-break game is counted as one game for the purpose of the ball change. If the balls, however, are due to be changed at the beginning of the tie-break, the change is delayed until it is completed.
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