{"id":2376,"date":"2024-07-23T12:57:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T12:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mytennislessons.com\/blog\/?p=2376"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:24:41","slug":"who-serves-first-in-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mytennislessons.com\/blog\/who-serves-first-in-tennis\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Serves First In Tennis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A serve marks the start of a point, game, set, or match in tennis. Strong serves can make or break a game. If you serve first, you might have a big advantage against your opponent. Luck decides who serves first for the first set, with different methods used at different levels to decide the first server. Thankfully, there are ways you can play to your strengths if you win or lose the toss. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTable Of Contents\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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  1. Coin Toss<\/a>
  2. Racquet Spin<\/a>
  3. Rock-paper-scissors<\/a>
  4. Casual Tennis<\/a>
  5. Why Serve First?<\/a>
  6. Why Receive Serve First?<\/a><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n

    Coin Toss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    At the level of tennis with umpires and officials, coin tosses are the deciding method to see who serves first. ITF Rules ensure that this coin toss happens before the warm-up. This is done so players can warm-up specifically thinking about that given side\u2019s conditions. Also if a player knows they are receiving or serving, they can zero in on this during the warm-up. One player will be selected randomly to call heads or tails. The umpire will toss the coin, and voila! If the player accurately predicts the side of the coin, then they get to choose to serve or receive. Rarely, players will defer this choice to their opponent. If the winner of the toss chooses to serve or receive, the other player picks the side they wish to start on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Racquet Spin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Who carries coins around anymore though? Racquet spins have replaced the coin toss in almost all levels of tennis besides professional. How does the racquet spin work? One player decides to use the butt of the racquet to make the choice. With a Wilson racquet, this might look like one player asking, \u201cM or W?\u201d. Prince racquets, \u201cP or D\u201d. Head or Nike racquets, \u201cPeak or valley\u201d. Babolat racquets, get creative.  The other player will pick.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    The spinning player will spin the racquet on the court, spinning the head of the racquet on the ground. When the racquet falls down, the \u201cwinning\u201d letter is the one facing upright. For other racquet brands, the spinning player might call, \u201cup or down\u201d. Some players invest in fancy stickers that have fun items for up-or-down. These stickers stick to the butt of the racquet and have fun themes. Once the racquet spin occurs, the following decision works the same way as the coin toss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rock-paper-scissors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t want to do the racquet spin and want to decide the first server in a more fun way? Rock-paper-scissors! With beginner players and younger athletes, sometimes the classic rock-paper-scissors is used. Sometimes it\u2019s best of 3, or just 1, but make sure you clarify before so that there isn\u2019t any confusion with your opponent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Casual Tennis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    At a more casual tennis level, sometimes players do not care. If you\u2019re just playing with a friend, they might say, \u201cyou serve first.\u201d This isn\u2019t official, but sometimes, it just eases the serving decision. Oftentimes, you\u2019ll hear \u201cfirst one in\u201d with casual tennis, which means, the point doesn\u2019t count til the serving player gets a serve in. This means even if the player would technically double fault, you keep waiting for a service to go in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To review, here are the options for if you win the toss:<\/p>\n\n\n\n