Important Tips Before Playing Your First Competitive Tennis Match

In January of this year I decided I was going to go from a recreational tennis player to a competitive tennis player. I started practicing every day, I bought a new racquet, and I started scouting tournaments that I can enter during the summer.

I was nervous about playing competitively, but at 29 years old, I was even more nervous about looking like I didn't know what I was doing. I sought out my friend who is tennis coach at the local community college to walk me through a match so I knew what to expect. He taught me several helpful things that really reduced my pre-match anxiety level.

Bring a new can of tennis balls

Some tournaments provide tennis balls as part of the entry fee, but many smaller tournaments require you to bring your own balls. Open up one of the news cans for the match, and the winner takes the unopened can to the next round.

Arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the match

It's important to arrive to the match early enough to allow time to warm-up with your opponent. A ten minute warm-up should be sufficient to get you ready for the match.

The Warm up procedure

There is standard warm up procedure for tennis. You start from the baseline hitting ground strokes to each other. After a few minutes one of the players will move up to the net to hit volleys while the other player stays at the baseline. After about ten volleys the player will point up in the air indicating that they want some lobs to hit over-heads. After about ten overheads the players switch positions and go through the process again.

Next each player takes turns hitting serves. One player will serve three times and then the other player will serve three until each player has hit a total of twelve serves (six from each side). Do not try to return the serves. Simply stop them with your racquet and hold them until it is your turn to serve.

Determining serve

After the warm up is completed the players meet up at the net. On the base of most racquet handles is a letter. I have a Wilson racquet that has the letter W printed on it. One of the players will ask the other player "up or down." Then the player will spin the racquet to see if the letter on the handle ends up or down when the racquet comes to rest. Whoever wins the spin gets to decide who serves, and the player who loses gets to decide which end of the court that they want to start on.

Knowing when to switch sides

After the first game is completed players will switch ends of the court. Players will continue to switch ends every other game thereafter until the set is completed. Players also switch ends after each set.

There is no break in play after the first change-over, but there is a two minute break in each change-over thereafter.

Understanding the tie-break

If you happen to end up playing a tie-break to decide a set or match there are a few things you need to know. The player who's turn it is to serve starts out serving in the tie-break. After that each player gets to serve twice in a row until the tie-break is over. Players switch ends after every six total points played in the tie-break.

Hopefully knowing these tips will arm you with enough information to go into your tennis match without undue anxiety. I wish you good luck, and great tennis!