VII . 1 Tennis- introduction
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent ( singles ) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles ). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent ' s court . 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 .
A 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 game ), and a 2-minute 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 racket , 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 .
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