Lawn Tennis

Lawn Tennis is a globally admired racket based sport, played in formats of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles respectively. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The governing body of this sport is the International Tennis federation, constituting members of 210 national tennis associations of individual countries. Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is a body that ranks players for admittance and seeding into various international tournaments, based upon their past performances, calculated for the 52 weeks prior to it, using a method-based criterion of qualification.

Equipment: Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only a racket and balls.

• Rackets: Under modern rules of tennis, the rackets must adhere to the following guidelines; The hitting area, composed of the strings, must be flat and generally uniform. The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches (74 cm) in length and 12.5 inches (32 cm) in width. The entire racket must be of a fixed shape, size, weight, and weight distribution. There may not be any energy source built into the rackets. The rackets must not provide any kind of communication, instruction or advice to the player during the match.
• Balls: Modern tennis balls are made of hollow vulcanized rubber with a felt coating. Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce to be approved for regulation play. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41–68.58 mm (2.575–2.700 in). Balls must weigh between 56.0 and 59.4 g (1.98 and 2.10 oz).

Junior tennis: In tennis, a junior is a player under 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. Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions. 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.

Tournaments: 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 organized for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Example of this includes the Orange Bowl and Les Petits As junior tournaments. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities, such as wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis.

Grand Slam tournaments: The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis events in the world. They are held annually and comprise, in chronological order, the Australian Open (Played upon hard court), the French Open (Played on clay surface), Wimbledon (Played on grass court), and the US Open (Played on hard court surface). Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ITF's national associations, Tennis Australia (Australian Open), the Fédération Française de Tennis (French Open), the Lawn Tennis Association(Wimbledon) and the United States Tennis Association (US Open) are delegated the responsibility to organize these events. Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that have mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam tournaments are held in conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments and junior tennis competitions

Men's tournament structure:

1. Masters 1000: The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a group of nine tournaments that form the second-highest echelon in men's tennis. Each event is held annually, and a win at one of these events is worth 1000 ranking points.
2. 250 and 500 Series: The third and fourth tier of men's tennis tournaments are formed by the ATP World Tour 500 series, consisting of 11 tournaments, and the ATP World Tour 250 series with 40 tournaments. Like the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, these events offer various amounts of prize money and the numbers refer to the amount of ranking points earned by the winner of a tournament. It is mandatory for leading players to enter at least four 500 events, including at least one after the US Open.
3. Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments: The Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament administered by the ATP. It is composed of about 150 events and, as a result, features a more diverse range of countries hosting events. The majority of players use the Challenger Series at the beginning of their career to work their way up the rankings. Below the Challenger Tour are the Futures tournaments, events on the ITF Men's Circuit.

Women's tournament structure

1. Premier events: Premier events for women form the most prestigious level of events on the Women's Tennis Association Tour after the Grand Slam tournaments. These events offer the largest rewards in terms of points and prize money. Within the Premier category are Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and Premier tournaments.
2. International events: International tournaments are the second main tier of the WTA tour and consist of 31 tournaments

Tennis in India: Tennis enjoys a considerable following in India, although it is limited to urban areas but still it is counted among the most popular sports in India. India has produced a number of tennis players, who have achieved international recognition and have made their presence in some of the top tennis tournaments and grand slams. All India Tennis Association (AITA) established in 1920, is the governing body of tennis in India and is a member of the Asian Tennis Federation. All India Tennis Association operates all of the Indian national representative tennis sides, including the India Davis Cup team, the India Fed Cup team and youth sides as well. AITA is also responsible for organising and hosting tennis tournaments within India and scheduling the home international fixtures.

AITA conducts the following types of tournaments:

1. Talent Series
2. Championship Series
3. Super Series
4. National Series
5. Two Nationals - Hard Court and Clay

For AITA's tournament schedule visit: Tournament schedule

The notable domestic tournaments of repute are:

1. Indian Open
2. Chennai Open
3. Indore Open ATP Challenger
4. Royal Indian Open

Tennis at the Summer Olympics: Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics due to disputes between the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee over allowing amateur players to compete. After two appearances as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984, it returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics and has been played at every edition of the Games since then.