🎾 How to play Tennis (online)
By Miguel Arechaga
Our Tennis game pits you against the computer on a top-down court, with this sport's real scoring: 15, 30, 40, advantage, games, and sets. It's easy to pick up and hard to put down. Here we explain the controls, how to put spin on the ball, and a few tips to win.
How to play
You control the bottom racket and must return the ball before it passes your baseline. If your opponent (the CPU) doesn't reach the ball, you win the point. Just like in real tennis, points go from 15 to 30 to 40, and at 40-40 you need to win by two, called advantage, to close out the game.
Controls
- Move the racket: with the mouse or your finger (the racket follows your position). In 2-player mode on the same device, each player touches their half of the screen (top or bottom).
- Spin: hit the ball with the center to return it straight, or with the edges of the racket to angle it toward the corners.
- Start / serve: tap the court or press Play; the serve fires automatically after a moment.
Tennis scoring
- The points in a game go: 0, 15, 30, 40, and game.
- If both reach 40 (tied), it's deuce: you need to win by two points in a row; the first one is called advantage (Ad).
- Whoever reaches 4 points with a 2-point lead wins the game.
- Whoever wins 6 games with a 2-game lead wins the set (and at 7 the set closes out in case of a tie).
Tips to win
- Play the corners: using edge spin forces the computer to travel a long way; it'll struggle to return.
- Return to the center after every shot: that way you cover both sides for the next ball.
- Change the rhythm: alternate straight and angled shots so your opponent can't anticipate.
- Raise the difficulty once you get the hang of it: the CPU moves faster and the challenge grows.
Why it's addictive
Tennis blends reflexes, positioning, and the tension of long rallies, with that unmistakable "deuce" thrill. If you like paddle and reflex games, you'll also enjoy Pong and Brick Breaker.
Play online with 2 players
You can play Tennis against another person in several ways: press "🌐 Online" and create a room to share a 4-letter code with whoever you want to challenge, use "🔍 Find opponent" to have the system instantly match you with another available player, or add a friend by their username from the 👥 Friends panel (while signed in) and press "Challenge" next to their name to invite them directly to a match. You can also both play on the same device with "👥 2 Players": each of you touches your half of the screen, top or bottom, to control your racket.
🏆 Wins ranking
All your online Tennis matches are recorded on your account: every win (and every loss) adds to your history. Go to Ranking, the 🎮 2 Players tab, choose "Tennis" from the dropdown, and check your position against other players, synced across all your devices. For your result to count you need a free account on MundoSudoku (just a username and password, no email required): you can play without one, but without signing in your score isn't saved to the ranking.
