LISTEN: Tennis for beginners: Expert explains the basics of the game

CapeTalk’s Pippa Hudson speaks with Bruce Davidson, owner of The BLD Group which specialises in sports management and media.

Listen below:

At some point in our lives most of us will have either played, watched, or heard about a game of tennis.

However, that does not mean we will have a full understanding of the sport.

Davidson joins Pippa in studio to answer some of our listeners’ questions about this much-loved sport.

Davidson is passionate about promoting tennis, particularly women’s tennis, in South Africa.

“Women really need to be given a stronger platform.”

- Bruce Davidson, The BLD Group owner

One question many listeners have about the sport is how the scoring system works.

Points in tennis are counted as love (0), 15, 30, 40, with the next point after that winning the game.

“Where these numbers came from, even now it is speculation.”

- Bruce Davidson, The BLD Group owner

A game must be won by two points, so if both players are on 40 the game will go on until one wins by a two-point lead. This is called a deuce.

To win a set you must win six games, winning by at least two.

In regular tennis the first to win two sets wins the match.

Tennis can also be played on different surfaces, namely hard, clay, or grass, which affect the speed of the game and how the ball bounces.

Hard courts are the most common type of court offering a balanced game.

Clay courts are the slowest and grass are the fastest.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.

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