A person who is unfamiliar to tennis may believe that the sport is very simple to play since the ball essentially just needs to go from one player to the other with the use of a racket. But if he wants to find out how to play tennis and enjoy the fun of playing, he would find out that it is rather complicated due to the strokes and techniques necessary to make it difficult for his opponent to hit the ball back. The game, however has simple basic rules that players must follow.

Basic rules of tennis (applies to both singles and doubles):

1. At the start of the game players stay on opposite sides of the court and determine which player/s serve first, receive or prefer the side of the court by tossing a coin or twirling a racket. The winner of the toss or swirl has the choice of serving or receiving the ball first while the loser chooses which side of the court to start.

2. The server begins to deliver the ball to start the point while the receiver stands opposite and cross-court from the server. He (the server) stands behind the baseline on the deuce court inside the borders of the singles court when playing singles and inside the double sidelines when playing doubles. Even points are played from the deuce court (the service court on the player's right) and the odd number points are played from the advantage court (the service court on the left).

3. The server should not serve until the receiver is set. Serves are made from server's deuce court to opponent's service box, or from the advantage court to advantage box. The server loses a point if the target is missed twice. If the ball hits the net but goes to the correct service box, then the server is given another serve. The server should not step on the baseline before contact is made otherwise the serve shall be deemed a fault.

4. The receiver is believed set if an effort is made to return the server's ball. The receiver is allowed to place where he likes however must permit the ball to bounce in the service box first, if he hits the ball before it bounces, the server wins the point. It is deemed a fault if the ball does not land in the service box and a second serve is given.

5. If the server wins the first point, he gets a score of 15. The second point is called 30. The third point is called 40. The game is won when the score is 40-0, also called LOVE in tennis, meaning zero. The score 40-40 is identified as deuce, one player must win by two points. If the server wins the next point, he wins the game, this is called Advantage-In. It is called Advantage-Out if the receiver has a chance to win the game on the next point.

6. The opposition serves the next game. To win a set you have to win six games, but you also have to get two or more games than your opponent. If you get 6-6 first, you play a tiebreaker. The first player to get seven points or more wins the tiebreaker and the set.

7. When a player hits a ball that goes to the net or lands outside the boundaries of the court that player loses a point. A point is also lost if he touches the net, bounces the ball over the net, drops his racket as he's hitting the ball, the ball touches him or his partner, hits a part of the surroundings, or he deliberately attempts to distract the opposition.

8. The original point or game will stand in the event of a player serving out of turn or serves to the incorrect person or court. A ball landing on the line is still good. If the ball rolls on the court or there is a disruption from somebody besides the players on the court, a let is called.

So if you are new to tennis, you may think that the sport is simple enough that you can jump right unto it because the ball basically just needs to go from one player to the other with the use of a racket. The rules on how to play tennis are simple however the game becomes a bit complicated due to the strokes and techniques that are necessary to make it difficult for opponents to hit the ball back.