CONTENTS


Preface: (5-8)

Chapter-1: Introduction (9-24)
Chapter-2: Tournaments (25-72)


Section-I: Men Career Money Leaders


Chapter-3: Roger Federer (75-108)
Chapter-4: Pete Sampras (109- 124)
Chapter-5: Rafael Nadal (125-148)
Chapter-6: Andre Agassi (149-166)
Chapter-7: Boris Becker (167-174)
Chapter-8: Yevgeny Kafelnikov (175- 178)
Chapter-9: Ivan Lendl (179- 186)
Chapter-10: Stefan Edberg (187-190)
Chapter-11: Goran Ivanisevic (191-196)
Chapter-12: Michael Chang (197-202)
Chapter-13: Lleyton Hewitt (203- 216)
Chapter-14: Andy Roddick (217- 236)
Chapter-15: Novak Djokovic (237- 250)
Chapter-16: Gustavo Kuerten (251- 260)
Chapter-17: Jonas Bjorkman (261- 264)

Section-II: Women Career Money Leaders


Chapter-18: Serena Williams (267- 294)
Chapter-19: Venus Williams (295- 322)
Chapter-20: Lindsay Davenport (323- 338)
Chapter-21: Steffi Graf (339- 354)
Chapter-22: Martina Navratilova (355- 364)
Chapter-23: Justine Henin (365- 384)
Chapter-24: Martina Hingis (385-396)
Chapter-25: Kim Clijsters (397- 412)
Chapter-26: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (413- 418)
Chapter-27: Amelie Mauresmo (419- 428)
Chapter-28: Monica Seles (429-436)
Chapter-29: Svetlana Kuznetsova (437- 452)
Chapter-30: Elena Dementieva (453-470)
Chapter-31: Maria Sharapova (471-488)
Chapter-32: Conchita Martinez (489-494)
Chapter-33: Jana Novotna (495-500)
Chapter-34: Jelena Jankovic (501-518)
Chapter-35: Jennifer Capriati (519- 532)
Chapter-36: Dinara Safina (533- 544)
Chapter-37: Mary Pierce (545-552)




PREFACE


The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as “lawn tennis” which has heavy connections to the ancient game of real tennis. After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world.
Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The rules of tennis have not changed much since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1960 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and then the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s.
A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the line (or chair) umpire's call of a point. Players have unlimited opportunity to challenge, but once three incorrect challenges are made in a set, they cannot challenge again until the next set. If the set goes to a tie break, players are given one additional opportunity to challenge the call. This electronic review, currently called Hawk-Eye, is available at a limited number of high-level ATP tournaments.
Tennis is enjoyed by millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the “Majors”): the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open played also on hard courts.
Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men's singles, women's singles, and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net. Tournaments may be arranged for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Examples of this include the Orange Bowl and Les Petits As. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities, such as wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis. In the four Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 people for each gender. Players may also be matched by their skill level. According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations. The ITF's involvement in competitions extends from top professional events such as the Olympics and four Grand Slams - Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open - to the entry-level ITF Men's Satellite and Futures Circuit and the ITF Women's Circuit. There are also ITF Circuits and team events for juniors, seniors, wheelchair players and beach tennis players.
The ITF organises annual international team competitions - Davis Cup by BNP Paribas for men and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas for women - which give players the chance to represent their country. This is a rare and valued occurrence in a sport that is predominantly individual. The annual Hyundai Hopman Cup, which the ITF also owns, offers competitors the opportunity to enjoy mixed team tennis at the start of the season in Perth, Australia. The ITF also sanctions the Nations Senior Cup, which was first held in 1999.
The four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. Both the Australian Open and the US Open are played on hard courts, while the French Open is played on clay, and the Wimbledon is played on grass.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was formed in 1972 to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the principal worldwide tennis tour for men, the ATP Tour, which was renamed in January 2009 and is now known as the ATP World Tour. It is an evolution of the tour competitions previously known as World Championship Tennis. The ATP organises the men’s professional tour - ATP World Tour - excluding the four Grand Slams. These are: ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 series, ATP World Tour 250 series, ATP Challenger Series, and Futures tournaments. Its flagship event is the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the season-ending finale staged at The O2 in London.
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA), formed in 1973, is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It organizes the WTA Tour, the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, which has for sponsorship reasons been known since 2005 as The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
The ATP has used a computerised system for determining the rankings since August 1973. Since the introduction of the ATP rankings the method used to calculate a player's ranking points has changed several times. As of 2009, it is calculated by totalling the points from the four Grand Slam tournaments and eight mandatory ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. It also includes points from the player's best four eligible ATP World Tour 500 series tournaments and their best two results from ATP World Tour 250 series, ATP Challenger Series, and Futures Series. The ranking points of players who qualify for the year-end ATP World Tour Finals will additionally include points gained at that tournament. The pattern of WTP ranking is similar to ATP.
Since the ATP began a ranking system for the first time in 1973, 24 men have been ranked world number 1. WTA began producing computerized rankings on November 3, 1975, since then 19 women have reached the highest singles ranking.
But taking view of general mass popularity it is not possible to cover all. Naturally women players gather more eye-balls than men. So in this book --Tennis: All Time Career Money Leaders—features only 15 top men, but 20 women, who earned higest prize money in their careers.
The section- Men Career Money Leaders include: Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten and Jonas Bjorkman.
The section- Women Career Money Leaders includes: Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Justine Henin, Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Amelie Mauresmo, Monica Seles, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, Conchita Martinez, Jana Novotna, Jelena Jankovic, Jennifer Capriati, Dinara Safina and Mary Pierce.
I have included two more chapetes: Introduction and Tournaments—to have an overall perspective of Tennis game throughout the history. So this book is the window of the International Tennis and it’s most popular and prize money earning players. Sorry to say, so many of great players of Tennis players are not included in this book, due to the ranking limits.
I hope this book would provide the best useful information and a better reading delight to the esteemed readers of all walks of life. I have compiled and edited this book from different new sources, which are mentioned in the course of the relevant text. I am obliged and thankful to all of them, particularly Wikipedia, ATP and WTA.

PRADEEP THAKUR
October7, 2010



Chapter: 1

INTRODUCTION

Tennis is a sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt (most of the time Optic Yellow, but can be any color or even two-tone) over a net into the opponent's court.
The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as “lawn tennis” which has heavy connections to the ancient game of real tennis. After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world.
Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The rules of tennis have not changed much since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1960 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and then the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s.
A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the line (or chair) umpire's call of a point. Players have unlimited opportunity to challenge, but once three incorrect challenges are made in a set, they cannot challenge again until the next set. If the set goes to a tie break, players are given one additional opportunity to challenge the call. This electronic review, currently called Hawk-Eye, is available at a limited number of high-level ATP tournaments.
Tennis is enjoyed by millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the “Majors”): the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open played also on hard courts.

History

Tennis as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa. The Courier of July 23, 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.
In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game — which he called sphairistike (meaning “skill at playing at ball”), and was soon known simply as “sticky” — for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales. He based the game on the newer sport of outdoor tennis or real tennis. According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of real tennis and applied them to his new game.
The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions. The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887. Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891. Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. Together these four events are called the Grand Slam (a term borrowed from bridge).
The comprehensive International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation, rules promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tiebreaker system designed by James Van Alen.
The Davis Cup, an annual competition between men's national teams, dates to 1900. The analogous competition for women's national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF.
In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.
In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the open era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).
In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.

Manner of play

Court: Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, or a hardcourt of concrete and/or asphalt. The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and its width is 27 feet (8.23 m) for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches. Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (91.4 cm) high in the center. [Photo: The dimensions of a tennis court.]
The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, patented a court much the same as the current one for his stické tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield's version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.

Lines: The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the center of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the center mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines. These are the boundaries used when doubles is being played. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines and are used as boundaries in singles play.
The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, which is considered playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the center of a player's side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve. The line dividing the service line in two is called the center line or center service line. The boxes this center line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player's position, he will have to hit the ball into one of these when serving. A ball is out only if none of it has hit the line upon its first bounce. All the lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (51 mm) in width. The baseline can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide if so desired.

Play of a single point: The players (or teams) start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player, or in doubles one of the opposing players, is the receiver. Service alternates between the two halves of the court. For each point, the server starts behind his baseline, between the center mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server.
In a legal service, the ball travels over the net (without touching it) and into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service, which is void, and the server gets to retake that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that is long, wide, or not over the net. There is also a “foot fault”, which occurs when a player's foot touches the baseline or an extension of the center mark before the ball is hit. If the second service is also faulty, this is a double fault, and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service.
A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of the player or team hitting the ball exactly once before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net, provided that it still falls in the server's court. The ball then travels back over the net and bounces in the court on the opposite side. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point.
Scoring
A tennis match is composed of a number of sets. Typically for both men's and women's matches, the first player to win two sets wins the match. At certain important tennis tournaments for men, including all four Grand Slam tournaments and the final of the Olympic Games, the first man to win three sets wins the match. A set consists of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.
A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner particular to tennis: scores of zero to three points are described as “love” (or zero), “fifteen”, “thirty”, and “forty” respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each player, and the scores are equal, the score is “deuce”. If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is “advantage” for the player in the lead. During informal games, “advantage” can also be called “ad in” or “ad out”, depending on whether the serving player or receiving player is ahead, respectively.
In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., “fifteen-love”) after each point. The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the serving player's score first. After a match, the score is always read with the winning player's score first. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.
A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.
A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a game point. Break points are of particular importance in men's professional tennis because serving is generally advantageous. The advantage to the server is much less in the women's game. A receiver who has two (score of 15-40) or three (score of love-40) consecutive chances to win the game has double break point or triple break point, respectively. As with game, set, and match points, break points are not announced.
A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game, a tiebreaker is played.
A tiebreaker, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. Only in the final sets of matches at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, and Fed Cup are tiebreakers not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two game lead. A "love" set means that the loser of the set won zero games. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score.
In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase "Game, set, match" followed by the winning person's or team's name.

Rules variations

• No-ad: The first player or doubles team to win four points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is ahead by two points. When the game score reaches three points each, the receiver chooses which side of the court (advantage court or deuce court) the service is to be delivered on the seventh and game-deciding point.
• Pro set: Instead of playing multiple sets, players may play one “pro set”. A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tiebreaker is usually played when the score is 8-8 (or 10-10). These are often played with no-ad scoring.
• Match tiebreak: This is sometimes played instead of a third set. This is played like a regular tiebreak, but the winner must win ten points instead of seven. Match tiebreaks are used in the Hopman Cup for mixed doubles, on the ATP and WTA tours for doubles and as a player's choice in USTA league play.

Another tennis format is called:” Kiwi doubles” / “Canadian doubles”/ “cut-throat”. This involves three players, with one person playing a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same as a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body.
“Australian doubles”, another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the "Kiwi" style, only in this version; players rotate court position after each game. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve.
Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as “one-up, one-down”), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only.

Surface

There are four main types of court surface, each different in the speed and bounce of the ball:

• Clay: Examples are red clay (used at the French Open and many other tournaments, especially in Europe and Latin America) and green clay (an example of which is Har-Tru and used mainly in the U.S.). Clay courts normally have a slower paced ball and a fairly true bounce with more spin.
• Hard: Examples are acrylic (e.g. Plexicushion used at the Australian Open, DecoTurf used at the US Open), asphalt, and concrete. Hardcourts typically have a faster-paced ball with a very true bounce.
• Grass: Used at Wimbledon. Grass courts usually have a faster-paced ball, and a more erratic bounce. Wimbledon has slowed its courts over the years. (see the cited main article, Grass courts).
• Indoor: Examples are carpet and very rarely, wood. Carpet courts typically have a very fast-paced ball with a true but low bounce.

Officials

In tennis, an official is a person who ensures that a match or tournament is conducted according to the International Tennis Federation Rules of Tennis and other competition regulations. At the highest levels of the sport, a team of up to ten officials may be on court at any given time. These officials are broken up into categories based on their responsibility during the match. Contrastingly, many tennis matches are conducted with no officials present.
Tennis officials are certified by their respective national association. The ITF also certifies officials in the categories of chair umpire, referee and chief umpire. Each ITF certification or “badge” is broken into four certification levels. The first, white badge, is considered sufficient for officiating at the highest levels of tennis within the officials own nation and is not divided into categories. The following three, bronze (chair umpire only), silver, and gold badge, are considered international certifications. These international officials are those seen at the highest levels of play like the Grand Slams, ATP and WTA Tours, and the Fed and Davis Cups.

Chair Umpire: The Chair Umpire is the final authority on all questions of fact during the match. Questions of fact include whether or not a ball was in, the calling of a service let or the calling of foot-fault. In matches where line umpires are also assigned, the chair umpire has the right to overrule if they are sure that a clear mistake has been made.
The chair umpire is often situated in a tall chair at the center of the court, behind a net post. The players' benches are to either side of the chair. From this position, the chair umpire calls the score of the match to the players and spectators between points. At the conclusion of a point, game, or set, the chair umpire times the players to insure they follow ITF regulations on pace of play. The chair umpire is responsible for completing a scorecard, the official historical record of the match.
Other than calling and keeping score, the chair umpire is entitled to assess penalties for the violation of the player's code of conduct. The codes of conduct, as well as penalties, vary by competition authority. In the United States under the USTA Point Penalty System, the chair umpire can penalize players for delay, visible or audible profanity, racket and ball abuse, verbal or physical abuse of a player or umpire, and other unsportsmanlike conduct.

Line Umpire: The Line Umpire calls all shots relating to the assigned lines. Line umpires work on court as part of a team of between one and nine line umpires. Each line umpire is assigned by the chair umpire to one line or, in the case of a short handed crew, a position in a system. For example, a line umpire on the receiver's side may have to cover the center service line then, following the serve, move to one of the sidelines. Line umpires are a requirement for professional tennis games.
The line umpire signals a ball out by making a verbal “out” call followed by the extension of the arm shoulder high in the direction the ball was out. A ball is signaled “safe”; or “good” by holding both hands together knee high in front of the body.
A line umpire who is unsighted and thus unable to call a shot (usually because a player obstructs his/her view) signals this by holding his/her hands beside his/her head, the upper side pointing in the same directing as the eyes; that call is then the chair umpire's responsibility.

Referee: The Referee is the official who is responsible for assuring that the competition is fair and played under the ITF Rules of Tennis." The referee supervises all aspects of play at a tournament including the conduct of players, coaches, spectators, and administrative crew. The referee must be present whenever matches are being played.
The referee also is the final authority on all questions of tennis law. Any player may appeal the chair umpire's interpretation of tennis law to the tournament referee or deputy referee. In making the decision on an appeal the referee must consider the rulings of fact of the chair umpire, as well as statements of the players and line umpires. The referee's decision is final.
The referee is also responsible for making the tournament draw in accordance with competition regulations. The making of the draw includes determining seeds and placing players and byes. The referee must then work with tournament organizers to schedule matches. This process has been made much easier in recent years with the introduction of computer programs that complete draw sheets and schedules based on online player entries and court availability.
During play of a tournament the referee is the sole authority on the suspension of play due to weather and other concerns. The referee is usually only seen on court during the administration of a medical timeout. Due to the complex regulations dictating medical timeouts the referee accompanies the medical trainer onto court. The referee is present to explain procedures and regulations to the player and trainer, and to time the timeout to insure no extra time is given, as this would be construed as an unfair advantage.

Chief Umpire: The Chief Umpire of a tournament appoints and replaces or reassigns, when necessary, Chair Umpires, (and) Line Umpires. Chief umpires are used primarily in large professional tournaments and are responsible for the recruitment and hiring of officials for the tournament. During the tournament the chief umpire assigns umpires to courts, subject to overrule by the referee. The chief umpire also collects scorecards from chair umpires at the conclusion of the match and thus may furnish the media with any factual information they may request.

Juniors

In tennis, a junior is a player under the age of 18 who is still legally protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite, Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors, however, such as Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Gaël Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments.
In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and doubles) into one combined tally. Junior tournaments do not offer prize money except for the Grand Slams, which are the most prestigious junior events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points, culminating with Grade A.
Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions as well. To succeed in tennis often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and nurture a junior’s growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions.

Match play

Tennis match is intended to be continuous. Because stamina is a relevant factor, arbitrary delays are not permitted. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20 seconds after the end of the previous point. This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (after every odd-numbered games), and a 120 second break is permitted between sets. Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond the players' control, such as rain, damaged footwear, damaged racquet, or the need to retrieve an errant ball. Should a player be determined to be stalling repeatedly, the chair umpire may initially give a warning followed by subsequent penalties of “point”, “game”, and default of the match for the player who is consistently taking longer than the allowed time limit.
In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score as at the time of the delay, and the players at the same end of the court when rain halted play, or at the same position (north or south) if play is resumed on a different court.
Balls wear out quickly in serious play and, therefore, in ATP and WTA tournaments, they are changed after every nine games with the first change occurring after only seven games, because the first set of balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up. However, in ITF tournaments like Fed Cup, the balls are changed in a 9-11 style. Continuity of the balls’ condition is considered part of the game, so if a re-warm-up is required after an extended break in play (usually due to rain), then the re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match balls is resumed only when play resumes. It has recently been proposed to allow coaching on court during a match on a limited basis.

Shots

A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob.

Serve: A serve (or, more formally, a “service”) in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit under- or overhand.
Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve, and kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter's point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.
Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an “ace”. If the receiver manages to touch it but fails to successfully return it, it is called a “service winner”.

Grips: Players use various grips during play, including the continental, eastern, and western grips. Different grips generally are used for different types of spin and shots.

Forehand: For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various grips for executing the forehand, and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the western.
For a number of years, the small, apparently frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players.
No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to devastating effect against larger, more powerful players. Currently, France's Fabrice Santoro uses a two-handed forehand. Some females such as Monica Seles and France's Marion Bartoli also use a two-handed forehand.

Backhand: For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip.
The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich, but they were lonely exceptions. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, and later Mats Wilander and Andre Agassi used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world's best players, including Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. Andy Roddick uses the extreme western grip to create massive amounts of top spin. It is difficult to do this and could possibly cause injury if done incorrectly.
Two hands give the player more power, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. The player long considered have having the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, having a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a very accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.

Other shots: A volley is made in the air before the ball bounces, generally near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent's court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net. The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation time away from the opponent.