Double fault
The loss of a point in tennis when the server misses with both service attempts.
Definition
In tennis and similar racquet sports, the server is allowed two attempts to put the ball into play with a legal serve. If both the first and second serves fail to land in the correct service box, the server commits a double fault and immediately loses the point.
A double fault is one of the few ways to concede a point without the opponent having to play a shot, which is why players often use a safer second serve to avoid it.
Where you’ll hear “double fault”
Sports that use this term:
Tennis
A singles or doubles racquet sport that blends agility, strategy and stamina on court.
Padel
A sociable, doubles-first racquet sport played in an enclosed court where the walls stay in play.
POP Tennis
A friendly, easy-to-learn racquet sport on a smaller court with solid paddles and a lower net.
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Rules
- Tennis serving rulesThe rules governing how a tennis point begins, including where the server stands and where the serve must land.
- Foot faultA serving fault called when the server's foot touches the baseline or court before striking the ball.
- The padel servePadel's underarm serve, set out exactly — the bounce before the strike, the waist-height limit, where the server's feet must be, and the wire-mesh fault that has no tennis equivalent.
- LetA call that stops a point and has it replayed without penalty, used across several racket sports.
- Two-bounce ruleA pickleball rule requiring both the serve and the return to bounce once before players may hit the ball out of the air.
Scoring systems
- Tennis scoringTennis is scored in points, games and sets, using the distinctive 15–30–40 point sequence and a win-by-two margin at every level.
- Table tennis scoring and service orderHow games and matches are won — 11 points with a two-point margin, service changing every two points, and the expedite system that stops a game lasting forever.
Techniques
- Tennis ServeThe overhead stroke that starts every point, hit from behind the baseline into the diagonally opposite service box.
- Flat, slice and kick servesThe three serves and what actually separates them — the contact point on the ball and the toss that makes it possible — plus what each one does to the ball after it bounces.
- The slice in tennisThe underspin stroke that changes a rally's height and pace — how slice keeps the ball low, when it is defensive and when it is an attack, and what it does on different surfaces.
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- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
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- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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