# if this happened in a tennis match...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 28, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310 "2001-09-28T15:08:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/1 "2001-09-28T15:08:29Z")
ok one player hits the ball, putting loads of backspin on it, and it just clears the net, bounces, and then cos of the backspin it bounces back over the net without the opponent hitting it. would play continue as normal, with the player who originally hit the backspin shot having to hit it again?
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### Author:  [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/2 "2001-09-28T15:11:45Z")
No - I don’t think so…
When the ball strikes the ground for a second time without your opponent hitting it, he has lost the point, and the ball is dead.
I don’t think it would matter that it was on the “wrong” side of the net.
[sub]awaits correction…[/sub]
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/3 "2001-09-28T15:14:35Z")
This is specifically covered in the rules. The player who hit the ball wins the point. It went into the opponent’s court in play and the opponent did not return it.
This is the one and only situation wherein a player is allowed to reach over the net to hit the ball. The opponent can touch the ball even if it goes back over the net. All he has to do is touch it with his racket. If he were smart, he would hit it into the net on the side of the guy who initially hit it, for an automatic winner. However, in reaching over to hit it, he cannot touch the net with his body, or any of his clothing, until the ball is dead.
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### Author:  [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/4 "2001-09-28T15:15:15Z")
No. Play would not continue.
If you hit the ball over the net and put enough backspin on it, so that it comes back over the net towards you without the opposing player touching the ball, it is your point the moment the ball touches the court on your side of the net.
If the opposing player touches the ball with his racquet before it touches the court on your side, the ball is still in play. The opposing player may reach over the net and touch the ball while it is on your side of the net, but he may not touch the net with his racquet or body.
Another fun rule: If you manage to hit the opposing player with your serve, it’s your point.
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/5 "2001-09-28T15:17:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Scylla \*
> \*\*Another fun rule: If you manage to hit the opposing player with your serve, it’s your point. \*\*
…unless the serve was a let (hitting the net first).
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/6 "2001-09-28T15:20:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Scylla \*
> Another fun rule: If you manage to hit the opposing player with your serve, it’s your point. \*\*
??? but… don’t they always aim for the other player??? You’d think we’d see it happen a lot more.
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### Author:  [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/7 "2001-09-28T15:21:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Scylla \*
> > \*\*Another fun rule: If you manage to hit the opposing player with your serve, it’s your point. \*\*
>
> …unless the serve was a let (hitting the net first). \*\*
Yes, but then you get to try again 🙂
Hitting the opposing player with the ball is the best way to win the point while saying “F\*\*\* you.”
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### Author:  [@sir\_viks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sir_viks)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/8 "2001-09-28T15:32:16Z")
Just curious.
Can a player return a volley, intentionally or unintentionally, with anything other than a racquet (i.e., can a deflection from a person count as a shot if it lands in play)?
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### Author:  [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/9 "2001-09-28T15:39:43Z")
viks:
No. You touch the ball with anything but the racquet, and you lose the point.
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### Author:  [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/10 "2001-09-28T16:13:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> ??? but… don’t they always aim for the other player??? You’d think we’d see it happen a lot more.
no what the guy means is aiming the serve DIRECTLY at the opponent, without the ball bouncing first.
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### Author:  [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/11 "2001-09-28T16:57:41Z")
It’s quite hard to hit an opponent with the serve in singles, but I once hit the opponent’s partner with a serve, which is a lot easier since he’s not ready to receive. He was crowding the service box and jumping up and down (the only way he could jump, I guess), trying to distract me, so I hit him in the leg and got the point. So did he.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-this-happened-in-a-tennis-match/84310/12 "2001-09-28T19:43:47Z")
Didn’t anyone besides me watch the U.S. Open this year? Agasi, hit a volley with enough backspin that it bounced on the other side of the court and came back. It’s rare, but can happen.
It was Agasi’s point, of course.
You also don’t have to hit the ball over the net for it to count. You can hit the ball around the net. This is rare, but if the angle is wide enough, I have seen skilled players hit the ball lower than the net, but around it enough to land in. It counts.