Federation Cup

The trophy competed for annually among teams representing many nations, that is the women's equivalent of the Davis Cup. Unlike that event, it is run off over a week's time at one site.

Fault

A serve that is ruled not a valid one because (a) it does not land in the proper box, or (b) it is hit into the net, or (c) the server commits a foot fault. Two faults in a row on the same point constitute a double fault, and they lose that point for the server.

Eastern grip

The grip of the racquet handle commonly employed for forehand strokes. It's doubtful if any teacher has ever tried to explain the forehand grip any other way than to hold the racquet by its head, with the head held so that it's perpendicular to the ground and with the handle extended towards the pupil.”Shake hands with it,” the coach will tell the pupil, and when he does he has mastered the Eastern grip.

Drop shot

A shot that barely clears the net and dies quickly as the result of backspin imparted to it. The drop shot is usually hit from a position close to the net, since, being the most delicate of shots, it's easier to execute safely from there. It can be hit either off a bounce or as a volley, the latter being a true skill shot. Drop shots should be made unexpectedly and must be executed well, otherwise they simply open the door for the other player to scurry and reach an easy, soft ball and murder it. If a drop shot isn't an outright, uncontested winner, it's likely to be a loser.

Drive

A tennis stroke, hit from the back-court with substantial force. There are forehand drives and backhand drives.

Draw

The list of competitors in a tournament, indicating who will play against whom. A draw sheet is prepared not only to indicate the pairings for the first round of play, but who of those who emerge will play whom in later rounds, all the way to the finals, if they survive. If everything is to come out neatly, a normal field should have 8 or 16 or 32 or 64 or 128 players, but it's unusual to achieve that exactitude. That is why the bye was born.

Double hit

A return, similar to the carry, or sling, in being inadvertent and likely to produce an unintentional, crazy shot that confounds an opponent. Like the carry, it was illegal for years and lost the hitter the point, but like its relative it is now alright, for the same reason as given under “carry.” The double hit does entail one exception, however, when it is still illegal and so losses the point. That is when the second hit is not inadvertent, but intentional, and that is an easy distinction for an umpire to see and to call.

Double fault

The failure to deliver the ball into the service box in the two attempts that are permitted. If a server does not put his first service properly into play, a fault is called, but he is allowed a second serve on which to try again. (He may have even more, as explained under “let.”) If he fails on his second service he has committed a double fault and he has lost the point.

Doubles

Play in which two players on one team oppose two players on the other. The doubles court is the same length as the singles court, but it is 5 feet wider by virtue of the addition of the two alleys. Doubles involves team play and strategy, and calls for more tactical knowledge than singles, but it is not as strenuous. The result is that most young players prefer to stick to singles, but there invariably comes a time in every tennis player's life when he or she discovers the Joy of Doubles. Some specialists do so from the very beginning of their careers.

Dink

A slang term for chip.

Deuce Court

The right-hand area of the court, as opposed to ad court.

Deuce

The score that is first reached in any game when each player has won three points - in other words, the score is 40-40. For some arcane reason, it is not correct to call 30-30 "deuce," even though the game situation at that stage is exactly the same as it is at deuce. And when we say that deuce is reached "first" at 40-40, it is because it well may not be the only time in the game. One player or the other must win two points in succession after deuce in order to win the game, and if that doesn't happen, and the next two points are split, the score goes back to deuce and the combatants try, try again. It's never been known to go on forever, but it can go on quite a number of times.

Davis Cup

The trophy, donated originally in 1900 by Dwight F. Davis for a dual match between the United States and England, now played for annually by countries all over the world. Matches are held throughout the year, with the final showdown taking place each December. Until 1927 only three nations had ever won it, the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, but the French took over for several years after that and today any of a considerable number of nations, some of them seeming quite unlikely, is apt to topple the former undisputed giants.

Cyclops

The mythological Greek race of one-eyed giants. In recent years, in major tournaments, a new device has been installed that, by means of an electric eye, emits a sharp beep when a serve hits the surface of the court just past the receiver’s box, thus relieving the linesman or the umpire of having to make a difficult call of whether or not the service was a fault. The irrepressible Bud Collins dubbed the electric eye “Cyclops.”

Cross-court

A shot that is hit along the diagonal from corner to corner, whether made from the forehand or the backhand side. In other words, not a straight shot down the center or along the sidelines. The cross-court shot is a basic one that is used constantly, and is a particularly important one for a receiver to execute in a doubles match, where every effort must be made to keep one’s return away from the server’s partner at net. A well-angled cross-court return is the usual best tactic.

Control

Consistency, steadiness of play. Many more points are won eventually because one player makes an error than are won by hitting a shot that’s unreturnable. So a control player – one who makes less errors than his opponent even though the opponent makes more eye-catching brilliant shots – is a good bet to come out on top. This is particularly true at club-level tennis, but it’s often particularly true at the highest levels of play as well.

Continental Grip

An all-purpose grip of the racquet handle. It is halfway between the Eastern forehand grip and the backhand grip. It has an advantage over any other grip in that it can be used all the time and for any shot, and many superlative players adopted it exclusively for that reason. An outstanding example was Henri Cochet, one of France’s Four Musketeers, who ended Tilden’s and the United States domination of tennis in 1927. Most good players adopt the Continental for serving, since it helps impart spin, and for playing at the net, where play is so quick back and forth that it’s obviously useful not to have to change one’s grip. In fact, the only real disadvantage to using the Continental grip all the time is that one can’t hit forehand and drives with it with quite the force that one can with the Eastern and backhand grips, respectively.

Concentration

Closely fixed attention to a matter. The importance of concentrating on every point is the first, fundamental lesson that tennis players are taught by professionals. It is as basic as learning the alphabet in school. There is a story that one unfortunate, being berated by his teacher between sets for his lack of concentration upon his own and his opponent’s play, replied that he he had been so intense concentrating upon concentration that he forgot everything else.

Closed Stance

The traditional position of the body, sideways to the net, while making a shot. The player turns his side toward the net while in the act of hitting a shot, either from the forehand or the backhand side. This involves more than a twist of the torso: one leg should swing around and be so placed that the body doesn’t face the net, but is sideways to it. In modern times, with so many hard-composition, lightning-fast surfaces, even great players can’t follow traditional form all the time, and often hit from an open stance. Many have found they do better hitting from an open stance under any circumstances and do it all the time, but they are defying the teachings of the good book in doing.

Clay

A form of earth, used to surface some tennis courts. Years ago almost all tennis players grew up on clay court surfaces because clay was available and practical to install. It is still the surface upon which most nations play the game and one of the four major tournaments, the French Open at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, is played on red clay. There have been many players who don’t make much of a dent in major tournaments played on a harder and faster surfaces, but who are almost unbeatable in clay.