Tennis, explained.
The four majors and the tours behind them: surfaces, scoring, ranking mathematics and the physics of a modern racquet.
32 articlesGuideExplainerAnalysisEconomics
- GuideWimbledon rules and traditions: what the club insists on18 minThe all-white regulation, the seeding, the Queue, the roof and curfew, the final-set tiebreak and the prize money, set out as the rules they actually are.
- GuideUS Open tennis format explained: sessions, roofs, heat18 minThe US Open format from the inside: two ticketed sessions a day, two retractable roofs, the heat rule, the tie-break it invented and the mixed doubles.
- ExplainerTennis wildcard entry explained: who gets one and why18 minHow tennis wildcards are awarded, how many each draw holds, the reciprocal deals between federations, and why a protected ranking is not one.
- AnalysisTennis return statistics explained: what they measure18 minWhat tennis return statistics actually count, how the deuce and advantage sides differ, and why return games won beats return points won.
- AnalysisTennis rally length analysis: how short points really are18 minHow rally length is distributed in professional tennis, why the 0-4 shot band dominates, how surface and gender shift it, and what to train for it.
- ExplainerTennis racquet string tension explained: power and control19 minWhat string tension changes in the collision, why looser strings hit harder, how materials interact with the number, and why tension falls straight away.
- ExplainerTennis qualifying draw explained: sizes, rounds, points18 minHow a tennis qualifying draw is sized and seeded, where the cut-off falls, how lucky losers are drawn, and what qualifying pays in money and points.
- EconomicsTennis prize money explained: how the pot is divided18 minHow a tennis prize pot is split down the draw, why the first-round cheque carries the tour, what a player pays out of it, and where the money is really made.
- ExplainerTennis medical timeout rules and how they are policed18 minWhat a tennis medical timeout allows, the three minute limit, why cramp is treated differently, and how heat, bathroom and attire breaks now work.
- AnalysisTennis first serve percentage: why higher is not better18 minWhy a higher first serve percentage can mean a worse serve, how the second serve sets the optimum, and the metric that actually judges a serving day.
- ExplainerTennis doubles rules explained: serving, order, tactics18 minDoubles serving and receiving order, where partners may stand, Australian and I formations, no-ad scoring, match tiebreaks and mixed doubles rules.
- ExplainerTennis code violation rules: from warning to default18 minHow the tennis code of conduct works: the warning, point and game penalty ladder, immediate default, the offence list, fines and major offences.
- ExplainerTennis challenge system rules and electronic line calling19 minThe tennis challenge system rules in full, how many challenges a player gets, and how electronic line calling replaced line judges at three Slams.
- ExplainerTennis ball types explained: ITF specs, felt and altitude19 minThe three approved ITF ball types, the high altitude ball, pressurised against pressureless, what the felt does, and how a ball degrades in play.
- ExplainerHard court tennis explained: an engineered surface18 minA hard court is a manufactured product, not a material. How the base, the cushion and the sand in the paint set its speed, and why it took over the sport.
- ExplainerGrass court tennis explained: the surface as a crop18 minWhat perennial ryegrass, an eight millimetre cut and eleven months of growing do to a tennis ball, and why almost nobody can afford to run a lawn.
- GuideFrench Open explained: clay, roofs and night sessions18 minHow Roland-Garros actually works: the five layers under the red dust, the two retractable roofs, the 8.15pm night slot and the row it started, and who gets in.
- ExplainerDavis Cup format explained: how the 2026 season works18 minHow the Davis Cup format works now: the Final 8 in Bologna, two rounds of Qualifiers, the World Group tiers, and why it keeps being rebuilt.
- ExplainerClay court tennis explained: layers, sliding and marks20 minHow a clay court is built in layers, why sliding has to be learned, the maintenance it demands, the ball mark tradition, and red against green clay.
- AnalysisBreak point conversion explained: why the stat misleads18 minWhy a low break point conversion rate usually means a player is creating more chances, what the stat can and cannot predict, and how to read it live.
- ExplainerBillie Jean King Cup format: how the 2026 season works18 minThe Billie Jean King Cup format in full: the eight-nation Finals in Shenzhen, the April Qualifiers, the November play-offs and the Regional Groups below.
- GuideAustralian Open format explained: heat, roofs and January18 minThe Australian Open format from the inside: the five-level heat stress scale, three roofed arenas, and what going on first actually costs players.
- ExplainerATP Finals qualification explained: how the top eight get in18 minHow ATP Finals qualification works: the Race against the 52-week ranking, the seven automatic places, the Grand Slam provision and the tiebreakers.
- ExplainerTennis tiebreak rules: seven points, and why that is fair21 minTennis tiebreak rules in full: the seven-point set tiebreak, the two-point margin, the serving rotation, ends changes, the ten-point match tiebreak and no-ad.
- AnalysisTennis serve speed explained: why fastest is not hardest24 minHow tennis serve speed is measured, how much of it disappears before the returner sees the ball, and why spin and placement beat the number on the screen.
- GuideTennis season calendar explained, and why nobody owns it22 minWhy the tennis season runs eleven months: the surface blocks, the mandatory events, the majors no tour controls, and the governance gap underneath all of it.
- ExplainerThe tennis let rule explained: when a point gets replayed21 minThe tennis let rule explained properly: why a net-cord serve is replayed, how hindrance works, what happens on a second serve, and where a let does not apply.
- AnalysisTennis court surfaces: the difference is two variables22 minWhat separates clay, grass and hard courts is how much pace the ball keeps off the bounce and how high it sits up. Everything else follows from that.
- ExplainerTennis scoring explained: why some points matter more20 minHow points, games, sets and matches nest inside each other, why deuce needs a two-point margin, how tiebreaks work, and why the better player can lose.
- ExplainerATP rankings explained, and where the WTA rules differ19 minHow tennis rankings are really calculated: the rolling 52-week window, the best-of-N count, what defending points means, and how the draw follows from it.
- ExplainerHow Hawk-Eye works in tennis: a prediction, not a photo21 minThe camera array, the modelled trajectory, why the mark is an ellipse, what the margin of error means, and how live calling ended the line judge's job.
- ExplainerGrand slam seeding explained, and what a seed does not buy21 minHow the majors turn a ranking list into a seeded draw: 32 seeds in 128, the placement rules, the entry cut-off that is not the seeding cut-off.