Serve (tennis)

A serve (or, more formally, a service) in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net.

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The serve is one of the more difficult shots for a novice to master. Its great advantage is that a server can take his time to set up a good serve instead of having to react to an opponent's shot. Advanced players can hit the serve in many different ways and often use it as an offensive weapon to gain an advantage in the point or to win it outright.

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