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moonball n.— «From the extreme to the subtle, there was Torben Ulrich, the bearded Danish eccentric who found himself playing Bill Hoepner in the 1953 Pacific Coast Tournament at the Berkeley Tennis Club. Hoepner was intensely annoying...
hooking n.— «There was bickering among players across the net at several matches with players from one team accusing players from the other team of deliberately making incorrect calls—“hooking” in tennis parlance.» —“Aragon holds on...
dead rubber n.— «In Davis Cup parlance, it’s called a “dead rubber,” which has nothing to do with the soles of the players’ sneakers. Andy Roddick having spanked Razvan Sabau in straight sets, giving the Americans an insurmountable 3-1...
double bagel n.— «Two-time defending champion Roger Federer warmed up for his third consecutive Tennis Masters Cup final with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Gaston Gaudio.…Gaudio, seeded seventh, said he’d never lost by such a score. A...
foot fault n. in jurisprudence, a minor criminal or procedural violation; a legal misstep. Etymological Note: This is a direct borrowing from net-based sports, such as tennis, badminton, and volleyball, where a foot fault is the placement of a foot...