Your first match - how a doubles game goes

Here is the flow of your first doubles match, step by step. You can find the detailed rules at each link.

1Before you start

• Decide which team serves first and which side of the court each team uses. In a match with a referee, a fair method such as a coin toss decides who chooses first (17.C.4)
• All four players take their positions. The positions depend on each team's score (5.B.3) → Where to stand when serving and receiving

2The first serve

• The server calls the score "0-0-2," then serves (6.B.2) → The score call (three numbers)
• The first server serves from behind the right service court, diagonally across (5.B.3, 7.E) → Serve diagonally

3The rally

• The serve and the return must each bounce once before they are hit (10.A) → Two-Bounce Rule
• When either team commits a fault, the rally is over (9.B) → Common faults at a glance

4After the rally

• The serving team won → the serving team scores 1 point. The server and partner switch left and right, and the same server serves again (4.A, 5.B.3, 5.B.5) → After scoring, only the serving team switches sides
• The receiving team won → no point is scored. The serve passes to the partner. When both partners have lost, the serve goes to the other team (a side out) (5.B.5, 5.B.6) → Serving order in doubles
• For the team that served first in the game only, there is a side out as soon as one player loses (5.B, 5.B.2)

5The end of the game

• Normally a game goes to 11 points and continues until one team leads by 2 (Section 1, 4.B, 15.C) → A game is played to 11, win by 2

Tips for enjoying the match