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Q: Is there an easy way to remember the order of serving in doubles? Also, may the first server begin from either court, or must he be on his own right?

- submitted by Lee Collins

A: In doubles, the right to choose the initial order of serving, receiving and ends is decided by lot, which is also the case in singles. The winner may choose to serve or to receive first, or to start at a particular end. When one player or pair has chosen one of the above, the other player or pair has the other choice.

Unlike in singles, where the server can begin from any part of the court, in doubles the server serves from the right side of the court. The ball has to first bounce off that side, and land on the right side of the court of the receiving team. When the ball lands on the white line dividing the court, the serve is considered good.

In each game of a doubles match, the pair having the right to serve first can freely choose which of them will serve, and in the first game of a match the receiving pair can freely decide which of them will receive first. In subsequent games, the pair which had served first in the immediately preceding game will be now receiving first, and the pair which was receiving first in the immediately preceding game will serve first.

I have witnessed a lot of arguments among inexperienced players about the order of serving in the second and subsequent games. Many players, for example, think that the player who received first must be the server in the subsequent game, which simply is not true. Those players simply can not, somehow, understand that IN EACH GAME of a doubles match, the pair having the right to serve first can freely choose which of them will serve. Some players find the wording of Rule 2.13.4 that addresses the order of RECEIVING IN SUBSEQUENT GAMES a little confusing. To quote: “...in subsequent games of the match, the first server having been chosen, the first receiver shall be the player who served to him in the preceding game”.

For those, I have an easy way to solve the problem, as long as they can recall who served first in the immediately preceding game. For example, in a match of team AX against team BY, if A served to B in the preceding game, than in the subsequent game (where the serving team BY can freely decide which of them will serve first!), if B is the server, player A must be the receiver. If the BY team decides that Y will be the server, player X must be the receiver.

Is it still confusing? If so, try this: I served to you in the first game, you serve to me in the second game. If I served to you in the first game, and your team-mate will be the server in the second game, then my team-mate will have to be the receiver.

- answered by Paul Kovac - your friendly on-line USATT umpire