Pro Tennis Tour manual

THE ORIGINS OF TENNIS

Some believe that tennis was practiced all the way back in the times of Homer and Ovid. There are also accounts of a similar game played by the Toltec Indians of Mexico. Frescos in Egypt, Spain, and Renaissance Italy depict a game much like that of tennis. In addition, several books in the 16th century were written about games akin to tennis. But of all the educated guesses, one of the more popular belief is that tennis has its origins in the late 19th century in Great Britain.

Present day tennis most likely has its origins in the "Jeu de Paume", which was practiced at the King's Court in the 13th century. Tennis spread throughout Europe, finding great support in Great Britain. At the foot of the Windsor Castle ramparts, and in the majority of royal British residences, a "tennys courte" could always be found. This trend was credited to Henry VII, who had four courts built on the land surrounding Whitahall Palace. The word "tenez", which was cried out by the player upon serving the ball to his opponent, eventually gained acceptance throughout Europe and became the deciding factor in the unification of the "Jeu de Paume".

The First Tournament at Wimbledon

The gentleman of the All England Croquet Club of Wimbledon, founded in 1869, decided to offer tennis to their members. In 1877, after having expelled the croquet players from the managing committee, the directors of the club decided to organize a tennis competition open to all its members. The Field magazine sponsored the event, with the prize of a silver cup worth 25 guineas. Twenty-two competitors signed up.

Spencer Gore, who was already a master in the art of intimidation, won the first Wimbledon tournament.

In 1883, the dimension of the tennis court were established and have not changed since then. The first international match at Wimbledon took place in July 1883 when the Clark brothers, representing the U.S., competed against the Renshaw twins, representing Great Britain.

The Origins of the Scoring System

Jean Gosselin, a grammarian, wrote in 1579 that the winning score of 60 came from a sexageismal system widlely used in the 14th and 15th centuries for the weight and values of coins. Sixty was a reference number, just as 100 is in the metric system. One-sixth of a circle is 60 degrees, with each degree comprised of 60 minutes, and each minute 60 seconds. In order to win the game, the player used the dial of a clock as a reference: 15, 30 and 45 (45 was soon simplified to 40 for linguistic reasons).

A tie score upon attaining the third point was expressed as a "a deux", signifying that the winner would have to win the set by two points. In English, "a duex" became "deuce". As for the word "love", which represents a score of zero, there exist several explanations. Some believe it comes from the French word "l'oeuf", which has more or less the same shape as a zero. Another popular belief is that this expression came from the transformation of the word "love", synonymous with "nothing"; hence the popular expressions, "for the love of the game".

USING PRO TENNIS TOUR

Pro Tennis Tour lets you enter the world of a professional tennis player. Pack your favorite whites and trusty racket and then travel to the great Grandslam events: Wimbledon, French Open, U.S. Open and the Australian Open.

You enter as a 32nd ranked player. Through determination and practice, you can fight your way up the ranks. Like the pros, you work the courts and establish a game style all your own.

LOADING PRO TENNIS TOUR

After a few minutes, the name and date of a tournament appear on the screen. You must therefore type in the surname of the winner of this tournament, on the keyboard. To do this, consult the appendices of the manual. You must only enter the surname of the player (do not enter either the initial of the first name or the full stop). When the surname has been entered, you must confirm it by pressing the RETURN key. Then you will see the presentation page appear, followed by the Main Menu.
CAREFUL: Your joystick must be connected to Port 2.

PLAYING PRO TENNIS TOUR

Choosing an option in the Main Menu:

You simply use the joystick to choose one of the menu's options (the chosen option will be encircled). To confirm an optionm, you must press the firing button on your joystick.

Serving:

When you play against the computer, you always begin by serving. Click on the firing button of your joystick, then move the black marker to the left or right (depending on where you're serving from) with the joystick and position it where you want to send the ball.
NB: In the 'Advanced' and 'Professional' modes, take care to practise before beginning a game.
In these modes, you must press the firing button of your joystick a second time to hit the ball, otherwise the ball will land in the net or outside the serving lines.

Returning The Ball

During the exchange, press the firing button of your joystick to swing back and release it to send back the ball.
NB: The player stops moving when you press the firing button of your joystick. At this precise moment it is possible to choose the type of hit (LOB or SMASH).

The lob: Before releasing the firing button of your joystick, move the joystick backwards.

The smash: Before releasing the firing button of your joystick, move the joystick forward.

TOURNAMENT

If you win, you'll see the results up to your match. When you finally lose a match, you'll see the results of the entire tournament up to the final match.

Play

Play lets you play in a tournament. If you just started Pro Tennis Tour, you must enter your name before competing. Enter your name and press Return. Your rank will automatically be 64th. A screen appears announcing the tournament you're about to play in. Press the joystick button to bypass the announcement, then press the joystick button again to bypass the screen announcing your next match.

Matches are played as in real tennis, except that you always have the first serve. Note that you never see your player change sides. It is possible to choose the side of the court on which the player will play. To do this, choose the Mode option, then PLAY BACK if you want to play at the back of the court or PLAY FRONT if you want to play at the front of the court. Your score appears on the screen between games. When the score is on the screen, the match is paused - press the joystick to continue. You can save a tournament in progress after completing one full match.

When the match is over, your final score appears. Press the joystick button to exit to the Tournament menu. If you won your match, select Play again to begin your next match. If you lost your match, selecting Play enters you in the next tournament.

Once you've taken part in Melbourne Open, you're qualified to play in the French Open at Roland Garros (regardless of your score in Melbourne). The next tournament on the circuit is the All England Championship in Wimbledon, followed by the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadow. Tournaments are always, played in this order, but you don't have to play tournament all the way through in order to go on to the next one (see Stopping a Set or Practice Session on the Command Summary Card).

Note: Only the first two matches (the sixteenth and eighth finals) of the tournament can be played in Easy mode. The third match (the quarter final) is always played in at least Advanced mode.

Main Menu

Returns you to the Main Menu.

Give Up

This option enables you to abandon a tournament.

PRACTICE

Two Players

This lets you play against a human opponent using a second joystick. Unlike the Play mode, you and your opponent change sides after each game.

Machine

Machine lets you practice with an automatic serving machine. Six different programs help you strengthen your strokes. Each program adds a new level of complexity by hitting balls to new locations on the court or introducing a more difficult patern.

Program 1 lets you practice returning the ball from the baseline.

Program 2 and 3 hit balls into the service courts as well as the area just past the service line.

Program 4,5 and 6 let you practice returning the ball from all areas of the court.

The surface type you're practicing on depends on which Tournament you last played in. If you're on a grass court and you want to practice on clay or cement, Select Play and go to the Tournament that has the type of surface you want to practice on. Once you're in the tournament with the surface type you want, stop the match and then return to Practice mode.

Grass - Wimbledon
Clay - French Open
Cement - Australian Open or U.S. Open

Service

This lets you work on your serve. You can serve as long as you want.

Main Menu

Returns you to the Main Menu.

Mode

Easy

When you first load Pro Tennis Tour, you're automatically playing in Easy mode. Serving is relatively simple in Easy mode - the ball always goes over the net, so you really only need to place the crosshair in the correct court to make a good serve. Returning the ball is easy, as if you had an easy-to-handle oversized racket. In addition, a small black cursor indicates where you should position your player in order to hit the ball.

Advanced

In advanced mode, all of the aids provided in Easy mode are gone. There's no guarantee that the ball will make it over the net when serving, and returning the ball takes greater precision. In addition, there's no longer a small black cursor to help you position your player.

Professional

Playing in Professional mode calls for a more varied approach and sophisticated technique. As professionals, you and your opponent hit harder, so the ball travels faster. It's important that you position yourself quickly and press the joystick button at the right time because your precise position in relation to the ball becomes critical.

Main Menu

Returns you to the Main Menu.

Ranking

Each player receives a rating measuring his ability and aggressiveness on the court. All players (including you) are ranked according to this score.

When you select Ranking, the ranking chart appears. Use the joystick to scroll through the players on the chart. The number to the right of the player's name is the current rank; the number to the left is his current rating. When you first load Pro Tennis Tour, your rank is 32th.

You can move up or down the ranking chart according to how well you play in your matches. Remember that only the first 32 players appear on the ranking chart. To exit Ranking, press the joystick button.

Tennis Techniques

Serving

Serving is a three-step process.
1. Push the fire button on the joystick to toss up the ball.
2. In front of the server on the court, you'll see a crosshair (+). Guide the crosshair over to your opponent's service court (diagonal to you) where you want the ball to land.
3. Push the button to hit the ball. Note: In Easy mode, you don't have to push the button a second time.

If you're slow guiding the cursor, the ball will be launched automatically. If you push the fire button too early, the ball will go outside the boundaries.

Use the serve as an offensive attack. Keep your opponent in as defensive of a position as possible (Diagram 1).

Returning The Serve

When returning a serve, your ability to play as offensively as possible is critical. Diagram 2 shows the areas where you should position yourself to effectively receive and return the ball.

Various Strokes

Groundstrokes

Strokes are defined as contact between the ball and the racket. When you hit the ball after it bounces off the ground once, it's called a groundstroke. The two main groundstrokes are the forehand and the backhand. Whether you hit a forehand or backhand depends on your relation to the arriving ball. In most cases, if you're to the left of the arriving ball, you'll hit a forehand stroke.

The distance between you and the ball influences the angle of your hit. Depending on the spot you aim for, you must be positioned accordingly to determine the return angle. In Diagram 11, the greater D is - the distance between you and the ball - the wider the righthand angle (C) will be. The smaller D is, the smaller the angle will be.

Try not to remain motionless when you're hitting. Stay on the move so you're just a few steps away from getting into perfect position for the ball. Think ahead and anticipate your opponent's game plan. If you're unable to anticipate your opponent's moves, try yo return to the center of the court so you're in relatively good position to run for a ball hit to either your forehand or backhand.

Lob

The lob is high, arcing hit, usually placed deep in the court. You can use this hit when the opponent runs up to the net and you're in bad position to receive his hit. This forces your opponent to retreat from the net (Diagram 5.) In Pro Tennis Tour, the Lob is automatically controlled by the computer.

Volley

The volley is an attacking stroke played before the ball touches the ground. It is usually played in the service courts at net position. The volley can be forehand or backhand. When you hit a volley, try to hit the ball across the court as much as possible to increase the chances of it landing within bounds.

Volley serves: This stroke is accomplished by progressing to a vollet as the serve is carried out (Diagram 6).

The second volley: This play is carried out after the opponent successfully returns the ball after your initial volley; you close to the net so you can smash the ball (Diagram 7).

Attacking Your Opponent

* Down the line shot: You send the ball straight down the sideline (Diagram 8).

* Cross court shot: You hit the ball diagonally so it cuts across the court (Diagram 9).

* Passing shot: You hit the ball past the opponent to the extreme left or right as he is dashing to the net for position (Diagram 10).

* Approach shot: You hit the ball as you approach the net (Diagram 11).

* Ship shot: You hit the ball with moderate force to draw your opponent forward (Diagram 12).

Note: A drop shot (Diagram 13) is when you hit the ball just over the net. This is the only attacking shot you can't perform in Pro Tennis Tour.

Spin Techniques On The Ball

The top spin causes the ball to spin downward, pressuring the ball to dip over the net quickly. A top spin also makes the ball travel forward faster once it hits the ground (Diagram 14.)

The underspin causes the ball to spin back towards you. When the ball lands, there is less forward momentum on the ball so it "dies" more quickly.

The side spin causes the ball to spin right or left, according to which direction you hit it. A side spin curves the trajectory of the ball (Diagram 15).

The computer automatically selects the spin technique depending on ball velocity, type of court surface, and player's position.

Rules Of The Game

The Tennis Court

The tennis court is laid out in Diagram 17.

Alley: The alley is used only in doubles play. In singles play, the alley is considered out.

Baseline: You may not hit the ball beyond this line; if you do, it's out.

Centermark: You must stand to either side of the centermark when serving. The side you serve from is set; you cannot choose for yourself.

Post and singles post: In the singles play, you must return the ball over the net and between the singles posts.

Right and left court: You must hit the ball into one of these areas when serving. You always serve into the court diagonal from the side you're serving from.

Service line: When serving, you may not hit the ball beyond this line; if you do it's a fault.

Singles sideline: This is the sideline for singles play. Any ball hit outside of the singles sideline is considered out.

Balls hit on the line are considered in.

Diagram 18 shows the dimensions of a regulation-sized tennis court.

Scoring

1. For you to score, two things must happen: a) You must hit the ball into your opponent's half of the court; the ball may not bounce more than once in your court before you hit it.
b) Your opponent must fail to return the ball to your half of the court.

2. Tennis consists of game, set and match.

Game: The scoring system is 15, 30, 40 and game. If you and your opponent are tied at 40, it's deuce. At deuce, the first one to win two points in a row wins the game. When you win a point at deuce, you have an advantage; that means you only need to win one more point to win the game. When a player has an advantage, you'll see "ADV.PL.1" or "ADV.PL.2", depending on who has the advantage. If you or your opponent win one point (have the advantage) and then lose the next point, the score returns to deuce.

Set: The first to win six games wins the set. If you're tied ar 6 games, you play a tie-breaking seventh game. In this game, the first to reach six points wins the game; you must win the game by two points. Note: The tiebreaker is not scored like the regular game (i.e. 15, 30, 40 game). Each point won a single point; the first to reach six points wins.

Match: Each match consists of five sets: The first to win three sets wins the match.

Serving

1. You always serve first against the computer. If you're playing against a friend, joystick 2 serves first. You alternate serves after each game. You change ends of the court only when you're playing against a human opponent; you'll change at the end of the first, third and every subsequent alternate game of each set.

2. You always begin service from the right side of your court, alternating courts on each serve. You must serve the ball into your opponent's service court, which is diagonal from yours (see Diagram 19).

3. You get two chances to get the ball into your opponent's service court. A serve is not good if: a)you hit the ball into the net or b)you hit the ball outside of your opponent's service court. When you miss the first serve, it's called a fault. When you miss the second serve, it's a double fault. If you get a double fault, your opponent gets the point.

4. In contrast to actual tennis rules, you can't randomly select your serving position since it's preselected by the computer to avoid facilitation of aces (a served ball that your opponent never touches with his/her racket). Likewise, you will never commit a foot fault (step over the baseline on your serve).

5. If you hit the net on the first serve and the ball falls into your opponent's service court, it's a let and you get to take the serve over. If it hits the net and doesn't go into your opponent's service court, it's a fault.

Judges

The positions of the judges are shown in Diagram 5. They make the call when the ball goes out of bounds or when there's a service fault.

Umpire: He overseas all play and can overrule a judge or linesman if necessary.

Net Judge: He checks that the ball goes over the net cleanly on the serves.

Footfault judge: He checks that the server's feet don't go over the line when he serves. (There is no footfault in Pro Tennis Tour).

Linesman: He checks where the ball lands in relation to the line.

Time Outs

There are no limit on number of time outs or lengths of time outs in Pro Tennis Tour. See your Command Summary Card for instructions on how to pause the game.

Penalties

The only penalty in Pro Tennis Tour is the following: if you wait more than 30 seconds before serving the referee will shout out 'TIME' and you will have a penalty point.