Three-player tennis
Rules
“Three-player tennis” is a fun way to play tennis with three people. These are the key points:
- There are three players.
- In each game, one player is alone and the other two are a doubles team.
- The doubles/singles team and the serve rotate every game.
- The player who is alone playes within singles bounds, and the doubles team plays within doubles bounds.
- The game scoring is usual (love, 15, 30, 40, game).
- Each set is played to 12 points.
- Each player has their own score of games won.
- Winning a game on the doubles team gives one point each, and winning a game while alone gives two points.
Supposing that the players are A, B, and C, here is a cycle we suggest. The vertical line character separates the teams, and the bolded player serves.
- A | B, C
- B | C, A
- C | A, B
- A | B, C
- B | A, C
- C | B, A
- A | B, C
- B | C, A
- C | A, B
- A | B, C
- B | A, C
- C | B, A
Here is an alternate cycle:
- A | B, C
- B | C, A
- C | A, B
- A | B, C
- B | C, A
- C | A, B
- A | B, C
- B | A, C
- C | B, A
- A | B, C
- B | A, C
- C | B, A
You can come up with your own cycle as well. We think a good cycle should be easy to remember, and should minimize repetitions.
About
Three-player tennis was created in late 2024 by me and my friends Katie and João Vitor. We just wanted to play tennis with three people.
