Hey Tennis Friend, are you wondering about some useful tennis-related words and expressions? I was in the same shoes too: playing with friends from all around the world, eager to express myself.
Look, I collected the most important tennis vocabulary for you in English and Spanish.
To make your learning more comfortable, at the end of the article you can save and download (maybe even print) this tennis vocabulary as a compact PDF package.
Let’s dive right into it, starting with the different types of tennis courts as well as their components.
THE COURT (LA PISTA)
court | la pista, la cancha |
clay court | (la pista de) tierra batida |
grass court | la pista de hierba |
hard court | (la pista) rapida |
| |
line | la linea |
baseline | la linea de fondo |
center line | la linea central |
service line | la linea de servicio |
side line | la linea lateral |
service box | la zona/el cuadro de saque |
alley | la banda para dobles, el pasillo lateral |
hawk eye | el ojo dehalcón |
ball machine | la máquina lanzapelotas |
If you are already comfortable with the different court surfaces and elements why not learn the vocabulary of scoring? Be careful, tennis has an unusual, yet beautiful scoring system.
SCORING (LA PUNTUACIÓN)
15 | quince |
15 all | quince iguales |
15 - 0 | quince nada/cero |
30 | treinta |
40 | cuarenta |
deuce | deuce, iguales |
advantage | ventaja |
server’s advantage | ventaje al saque |
returner’s advantage | ventaja al resto |
advantage for me | ventaja mía |
advantage for you | ventaja tuya |
game | juego |
set | set |
match | partido |
breakpoint | breakpoint |
set point | punto para ganar el set |
match point | punto partido |
tie | empate |
tie break | tie break |
| |
out | fuera, out |
too long (shot) | larga |
first serve | primero saque/servicio |
second serve | segundo servicio/saque |
double fault | doble falta |
foot fault | falta de pie |
new balls | pelotas nuevas |
forced error | error forzado |
unforced error | error no forzado |
replaying the point | jugar de nuevo punto |
Oh, wow, that sort of scoring must be challenging to memorize if you are new to tennis. Don’t worry, as soon as you will play tennis matches and put your learnings into practice, it will be much easier to remember all.
With that, let’s have a look at all the different actions (verbs and nouns) a tennis player can execute!
ACTIONS (ACCIÓNES)
to win | ganar |
to lose | perder |
to hit | golpear |
to serve | sacar |
injury | la lesión |
to bounce | botar |
warm-up (period) | (el periodo del) calentamiento |
sparring | pelotear |
| |
forehand | la derecha, el drive |
backhand | el revés |
one handed backhand | el revés a una mano |
serve | el saque |
volley | la volea |
topspin | el topspin |
to return | restar, devolver |
rally | el rally |
ace | el as |
smash | el remate, el smash |
slice | el corte |
drop shot | la dejada |
lob | el globo, la pelota alta |
toss | la sacuda |
passing shot | el golpe paralelo |
cross shot | el golpe cruzado |
flat | plano |
Serve, return, volley, smash, slice, etc. - an endless list of ways you can put the ball back on your opponent’s court. In order to be able to execute such actions, you will need some tennis equipment, such as a racket and some balls. Easy, right? And how about a grip, strings, and vibration dampeners?
EQUIPMENT (ACCESORIOS)
ball | la pelota |
racquet | la raqueta |
headsize | la medida de la cabeza |
frame of the racquet | el marco de la raqueta |
strings | los cordajes |
grip | el grip |
bag | la bolsa, el raquetero |
vibration dampeners | los antivibradores |
| |
tennis shoes | los zapatos de tenis |
t-shirt | la camiseta, el polo |
wristband | la muñequera |
skirt | el falda |
shorts | los pantalones cortos |
socks | los calcetines |
cap | la gorra |
towel | la toalla |
Feeling more and more confident with the tennis vocabulary at your training and practice matches? So why not try yourself at a little more serious setup: a tournament? For that, these terms will come in handy.
TOURNAMENTS (LOS TORNEOS)
tournament | el torneo, la competición |
championship | el campeonato |
cup | la copa |
league | la liga |
champion | el/la campeon/a |
tennis player | el/la tenista |
opponent | el/la oponente |
coach | el/la entrenador/a |
ball boy/ball girl | el/la pelotero/a, el/la recogepelotas |
umpire | el/la juez/a de silla, el/la árbitro/a |
foot fault judge | el/la juez/a de faltas de pie |
net judge | el/la juez/a de red |
rule | la regla |
spectator | el/la espectador/a |
trophy | el trofeo |
speed | la velocidad |
server | el servidor, el/la que saca |
returner | el/la restador/a, el/la que recibe el saque |
| |
men's singles | individuales hombres |
women's singles | individuales mujeres |
men’s doubles | dobles hombres |
women's doubles | dobles mujeres |
Davis Cup | Copa Davis |
French Open | Abierto de Francia |
Congratulations, my Tennis Friend: if you reached this point, you already have a great vocabulary of tennis regarding every aspect of this beautiful game.
Now, no one will trick you with scoring and you are ready to use your freshly learned vocab at competitions, both as a player or a spectator.
I left a small extra for the end: some useful expressions for the tennis court.
Take a look and start using them from your next game on!
USEFUL EXPRESSIONS (EXPRESIONES ÚTILES)
Enjoy the match! | ¡Buen partido! |
Well played! | ¡Bien jugado! |
What a pity! | ¡Que lástima! |
Nice serve! | ¡Bien sacado! |
Well done! | ¡Bien hecho! |
Bravo! | ¡Bravo! |
Quiet please! | ¡Silencio, por favor! |
bagel (winning a set 6-0) | ganar un set en blanco |
This is the end of the Tennis Vocabulary, my Friend! Now, time to put them into practice.
If you want to quickly download the complete Tennis Vocabulary List in PDF, just click below:
I hope you enjoyed reading and learning about these useful terms for our favorite sport.
Do you know more tennis-related terms? Write them as a comment!
I’ll be happy to learn from you and add them to the list!
¡Buen partido!