Foot faults and service faults

18. Foot faults

During the service action, slight foot movements are allowed, but the server must not walk or run to change position. Breaking any of the foot-position restrictions is a foot fault.

• Neither foot may touch the baseline or the court during the service motion.
• Neither foot may touch the area beyond the imaginary extension of the relevant sideline.
• Neither foot may touch the imaginary extension of the centre mark.

18. Serving position examples

In singles, the server cannot stand behind the strip between the singles and doubles sidelines to serve. That position is allowed in doubles.

The server may have 1 or both feet off the ground during the serve.

19. Service faults

A serve is a fault if the server breaks the service-delivery requirements in Rule 16, the serving-position and destination requirements in Rule 17, or the foot-fault requirements in Rule 18.

• Trying to hit the serve but missing the ball is a fault.
• Before its 1st bounce, a served ball must not hit a permanent fixture, singles stick or net post.
• A served ball that touches the server, the server’s partner, or anything either wears or carries is a fault.

19. Tosses and singles sticks

A server who tosses the ball but decides not to hit it may catch it with a hand or the racket, or let it bounce. Abandoning that toss is not a fault.

In singles on a court using net posts and singles sticks, a serve that hits a singles stick is a fault even if it then lands in the correct service court.

20. The 2nd serve

After a fault on the 1st serve, serve again without delay from behind the same half of the court. If the fault was served from the wrong half, use the correct half instead.