Must-Know Tennis Terms in French

Whether you love playing tennis or watching the major international tournaments, you need to know tennis terminology  to fully appreciate the games. Why in French? Well, if youre witnessing the prestigious French Open,  created in 1891 and now  held annually  over late May and early June at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, you wont miss a play or aside if you understand the players and commentators. Or maybe you want to read tennis analysis in a major French publication. If you know the lingo, you win again. The French Open and the Grand Slam Where does the French Open fit into the scheme of major international tournaments? Most importantly, its the  second major  tennis tournament comprising the global Grand Chelem (Grand Slam)  each year; the other three, in chronological order, are the  Australian Open, the  U.S. Open,  and  Wimbledon.  The  Grand Slam  tournaments, called  majors, are the worlds four most important tennis  events, each held over two grueling weeks and each offering the most prize money, attention, ranking points, and more. Tennis Singles Stars As of 2017, the winningest mens Grand Slam player of all time is Roger Federer of Switzerland who has won 19 majors: the Australian Open five times, the French Open once, Wimbledon eight times, and the US Open five times. Spains Rafael Nadal comes in second with 15 title wins, and American Pete Sampras is third with 14. Australian Margaret Court, now in her 70s, still holds the distinction of the most majors singles titles with 24: 11 wins at Australian Opens, five at the French Open, three at Wimbledon, and five at the US Open. American Serena Williams follows at 23. Steffi  Graf  of Germany  won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, and  in 1988, this phenomenal player  became the first and only tennis player (male or female) to achieve the  Golden Slam  by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. She is also the only tennis player to have won each Grand Slam event at least four times. With records like this, its easy to see why tennis can be an exciting sport for both players and spectators. To understand the action, here, for your edification and enjoyment, are the top tennis terms in the French language. The World of Tennis, in French le tennis   tennis(le tournoi de) Roland-Garros, les Internationaux de France   French Open(le tournoi de tennis de) Wimbledon   Wimbledonun Grand Chelem a  Grand Slamsimple messieurs   mens singlessimple dames   womens singlesdouble messieurs   mens doublesdouble dames   womens doubles The People of Tennis   un arbitre a  refereeune invitation a  wild cardun joueur de tennis a  tennis playerun juge de ligne a  line judgele serveur the  serverle ramasseur de balles the  Ã‚  ball boyla tà ªte de sà ©rie the  seed, seeded playerla tà ªte de sà ©rie numà ©ro un the  top seed, number one seedla tà ªte de sà ©rie numà ©ro deux the  number two seed Tennis Courts and Equipment la balle de tennis the  tennis ballle carrà © de service the  service boxle choix de cà ´tà ©s the  choice of sidesle choix de service  Ã‚  the choice of servicele couloir  Ã‚  the alley, the tramlinesle court the  courtun court de terre battue a  clay courtun court en dur   a hard courtun court en gazon a  grass courtle filet the  netla ligne de fond the  baselinela ligne de service the  service linela raquette the tennis racket Tennis Serves and Shots un ace an  aceun amorti a  drop shotla balle de service a  service ballun coup a  strokele coup droit the  forehandla deuxià ¨me balle the  second serveune double faute a  double faultun effet a  spinune faute a  fault, error, outun let a  letle lift a  topspinun lob a  lobun revers a  backhandun revers à   deux mains a  two-handed backhandle service the  serve,  serviceun  slice a  sliceun smash a  smashune volà ©e a  volley Tennis Scoring rien, zà ©ro   lovequinze   fifteentrente   thirtyquarante   fortyA / quinze A   all / fifteen allpartout / quinze partout   all / fifteen allà ©galità ©   deuceavantage service   ad-in, advantage inavantage dehors   ad-out, advantage outla balle de break   break pointla balle de jeu   game pointla balle de match   match pointla balle de set   set pointune dà ©cision   callle jeu   gameun jeu dà ©cisif   tie-breakerjeu, set, match   game, set, matchle match the  matchout   outle set, la manche   setsur la ligne   on the line The Action donner de leffet (à   une balle)   to put spin (on a ball)à ªtre au service   to have the service, to be servingfrapper   to hitjouer   to playprendre le service de quelquun   to break someones serveservir   to servetenir le score   to keep the score