What Happens If the Ball Hits You in Tennis? Every Case, Including Serves

The rule: only the racket is exempt

Rule 24 lists the ways a player loses a point. Item i reads that the point is lost if "the ball in play touches the player or anything that the player is wearing or carrying, except the racket." Item j adds that the point is also lost if the ball touches the racket when the player is not holding it.

So the racket in your hand is the only safe contact. Your shoe, shirt, hat, hair, wristband and the hand holding the racket are not exceptions. If the ball strikes your fingers instead of the strings or frame, that is the ball touching you.

Every situation in one table

What happened	Ruling	Source
Ball in play hits your body or clothing	You lose the point	Rule 24i
You are standing behind the baseline or wide of the court and the ball hits you on the fly	You lose the point, even if it was going out	Rule 24 Case 8; USTA shoe ruling
You catch a ball before it bounces because it was going out	You lose the point	Rule 24 Case 8; The Code, item 43
Serve hits the receiver (or receiver's partner) before it bounces	Server wins the point	Rule 24 Case 7
Serve touches the net, then hits the receiver or partner before the ground	Let: the serve is replayed	Rule 22a
Serve hits the server or the server's partner	Service fault	Rule 19d
In doubles, the ball grazes your partner	Your team loses the point	Rule 24i; USTA doubles ruling
Ball hits your racket while you hold it	Play continues if the return is good	Rule 24i
Ball hits a racket you dropped or threw	You lose the point	Rule 24j; Rule 24 Case 6
Ball hits a ball lying in the correct court	Play continues (let if it is unclear which ball was returned)	Rule 25f and Case 2
Ball hits a bird flying over the court	Point is replayed	Rule 26 Case 3

Why "it was going out" never saves you

This is the argument heard most on club courts. Rule 24 Case 8 covers it directly: a player standing outside the court who hits or catches the ball before it bounces, claiming it was going out, loses the point, unless they hit a good return. The USTA applied the same logic when a ball struck a player's shoe on the fly behind the baseline: the player who hit the shot won the point.

The fix is simple. If a ball is flying at you and it is clearly long, get out of the way and let it land.

When the serve hits someone

The serve has three different outcomes depending on who it hits and whether it touched the net.

• Serve hits the receiver or the receiver's partner on the fly. The server wins the point (Rule 24 Case 7). Where the receiver was standing does not change this.
• Serve clips the net, then hits the receiver or partner before the ground. That is a service let (Rule 22a). The serve is replayed, and a let on a second serve does not cancel the earlier fault. Some events use the No-Let alternative in Appendix VI, where a serve that touches the net is in play. With no service let available, the Case 7 ruling applies and the server wins the point.
• Serve hits the server's own partner. It is a service fault (Rule 19d). On a first serve, the server serves again; on a second serve, it is a double fault.

Doubles: when the ball hits your partner

Rule 24i applies to each player, so a ball that touches your partner costs your team the point. The USTA gives the same answer for a ball that grazed a doubles partner's head: the team loses the point. Rule 24l also says the team loses the point if both partners touch the ball when returning it.

Who makes the call without an umpire?

In unofficiated matches under the USTA's Code, the player the ball touched must concede the point. The opponent is not entitled to make this call, and any doubt goes to the opponent (Friend at Court 2026, The Code, item 19). The same item covers touching the net, hitting the ball before it crosses the net and double bounces, so honesty is built into the system for all of these.

If the ball injures you

A ball that hits you still loses you the point. If it injures you, the Code treats accidental and deliberate cases differently. When a player accidentally injures an opponent, the opponent suffers the consequences: the Code's example is a server whose racket accidentally strikes the receiver, and if the receiver cannot continue, the server wins by retirement. If an injury is deliberate and affects the opponent's ability to play, the opponent wins by default, and hitting a ball or throwing a racket in anger counts as deliberate (The Code, item 38).

On a single point, Rule 26 also separates intent: if an opponent deliberately hinders you, you win the point; if the hindrance is unintentional, the point is replayed.

Tennis vs pickleball

	Tennis	Pickleball
Ball in play hits a player	Player loses the point	Player's side commits a fault
Exception	Racket only	Paddle, and the paddle hand below the wrist while holding the paddle
Serve hits the receiver on the fly	Server wins the point	Fault against the receiver
Serve hits the server's partner	Service fault	Fault against the server

Pickleball rows: 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Rules 7.E.4, 7.E.5 and 10.C.3.

Related rulings

Touching the net is the other "you lose the point instantly" rule; see what happens if you touch the net in tennis. If you are wondering whether you may volley a ball that has not bounced yet, see whether you can hit the ball before it bounces in tennis.