Hacker

Slang for an ordinary tennis player. The term was first used, with lunatic modesty, by Fred Stolle, referring to himself after he surprisingly won the United States championship in 1966 after not having been considered enough of a threat even to have been seeded in the draw. Bud Collins frequently uses the word on television when he's talking about a player who has no pretensions to being of exceptional caliber. Like you or me.

Gut

Processed animal intestines, preferably from lambs; the finest (and most expensive) stringing for a tennis racquet. However, unless you're a ranking player and feel that you benefit from the small fractional edge in power that gut stringing may afford you, the chances are not only you will be perfectly happy with nylon stringing, but won't know the difference.

Grip

1.      The name for the part of the racquet that is grasped by the hand. A small grip is about 41/8 inches around; a medium one, 4 1/4 to 4 5/8; and the large grip is 4 ¾ or bigger.

2.      With the addition of a defining word (backhand, Continental, Eastern, Western), the fashion with which one grasps the racquet.

Grass

The prettiest and most pleasant surface upon which to play. But who ever gets much of a chance to do so except those who live in a climate like England's, where the regular light rains are ideal for maintaining grass courts but only from mid-May to September at that? Most Americans have never seen a grass court except when watching Wimbledon on television.

Grand Slam

The complete sweep in one calendar year of all of the four major championships: Wimbledon, the United States, the French, and the Australian. Only two men have ever achieved this, Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver, who did it twice, in 1962 and 1969. Among the women, Maureen Connoly turned the trick in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970.

Game

A unit of play in which one player serves until a winner is determined, as follows: Four points won by a player wins him a game unless, before the fourth point is won, his opponent has tied him at three points each (deuce). Now one player or the other must win two points in a row before the game can be won.  Otherwise the score reverts to deuce and the attempt to win two points in a row continues until it finally happens. That may be almost immediately, or it may take what seems like forever at the time. (In the 1987 French Open, for example, in a game between Ivan Lendl and Sweden's Joakim Nystrom, the score went back and forth from deuce to advantage to deuce for just under half an hour before the issue was settled). Six games wins a set, except when it doesn't (see “set” and “tie breaker”).

Forty

The term for having won three points in a game.

Forest Hills

The Long Island site of the West Side Tennis Club, historic former home of the United States Championships, and the current home of the WCT Tournament of Champions.

Forehand

A shot hit on a player's right side by a right-handed player, and on the left side by a southpaw. It is almost invariably performed with one hand, although Pancho Segura and John Bromwich used two hands with startling success.

Forcing shot

A shot made with such severity that it will win outright or else produce a weak return that the forcer can put away easily.

Footwork

Moving efficiently around the court. Learning good footwork is as important as learning good technique in stroking. The combination of footwork and anticipation, both of which can be taught initially but can only become truly absorbed through practice and experience, is a foundation of playing sound tennis.

Follow through

To extend past the moment of impact with one's arm and racquet head. No stroke should stop right after the ball is hit off the strings, even though the ball is then under way, for unless a player learns to follow through on his stroke, he will not be hitting effectively. It's essential on all strokes but it's particularly vital when serving, for it not only escalates power but also impels the server forward toward the net.

Flushing Meadows

The Long Island site of the Louis Armstrong Stadium, present home of the United States Open championships.

Flat serve

A serve that is simply smashed straight ahead, without spin. When a server wants to power a serve as hard as he can, as in the case of trying for an ace with a cannonball, he resorts to a flat serve. It's rather like driving a stake high up into a wall with a mallet.

Flake

A rather crazy performer. A flake's antics are more likely to elicit amusement than indignation, as far as most bystanders are concerned. The prime example of a flake was Frank Kovacs. Bobby Riggs during his ballyhoo career as senior player might be another. Some players like Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe have flaky characteristics, but they are less attractive than flakes.

First in

A deplorable (and illegal) practice among certain casual (and neurotic) weekend players, which allows each server, on the first point of his first service game, to commit as many faults as he will, and the point doesn't get under way until he does deliver a ball properly into the service box.

Firm wrist

What should be maintained for severe strokes, such as forehand and backhand drives. This is a hard thing for a squash player, turning to tennis, to remember, although there are some shots in tennis that are “wristy.”

Final

The match for the championship of a tournament between the two survivors from their respective halves of the draw.

Fifteen

The term for the first point of a game won by a player. The origins of this unreasonable designation of a single point are unknown, and that's probably because it's so silly that nobody has ever wanted to claim credit for it. The same is true of thirty, as meaning two points, and forty as signifying three points. Why they are not simply called one, two, and three, respectively, passeth all understanding.

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.