What Happens When a Tennis Ball Hits a Player Explainer
During a tennis rally, a player loses the point if the live ball touches the player or anything the player is wearing or carrying, other than the racket held in the hand. A ball that clips a shoe, shirt, cap, or dropped object therefore ends the point immediately.
It does not matter whether the player stands inside or outside the court. A player cannot avoid a likely-out ball by catching it or letting it strike the body before it lands. Until the ball actually bounces out or otherwise becomes dead, it remains capable of deciding the point.
Service has a narrow distinction. If a serve touches the receiver or the receiver's partner before hitting the ground, the server wins the point unless the service was already a let. The same result applies even when the ball would probably have missed the service box.
A racket touch is legal only when the racket is in the player's hand and the return otherwise complies with the rules. Officials identify whether the ball was still live, what it touched first, and whether a let or fault had already ended the action. The rule keeps players from substituting their bodies for the racket.
The player loses the point because the ball was still live before it bounced out.
Yes. Clothing and carried objects are treated as part of the player for this rule.
The server wins the point unless a let had already been called.
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