Let Second Serve
How to understand the tennis expression “Let second serve”?
What is meant by “Let second serve” in tennis?
A let in tennis is called when a server strikes the net with the ball on their service, and the ball lands in the opponent’s service box legally (i.e., in the service zone).
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The distinction from a fault is that for a fault, the ball either:
- strikes the net and doesn’t cross into the opponent’s court, remaining in the servers court;
- strikes the net, crosses into the opponent’s court, but bounces outside of the serve box.
This is why a fault leads to a loss of the first serve or a point if on the second serve (a double fault). Whereas a let leads to simply repeating the serve, whether it’s the first or the second serve. A let in tennis serve will usually be followed by the umpire calling “let, first (or second) service”.