Who Serves First in Tennis? The Toss, the Three Choices and What Comes Next

Toss winner chooses	Opponent then chooses
(a) To serve or to receive in the first game	Which end of the court to start from
(b) Which end of the court to start from	Whether to serve or receive in the first game
(c) To make the opponent choose first	The remaining choice goes back to the toss winner

How the toss works

The rule says "toss" and does not say what you toss. At the pros it is a coin: the Grand Slam Rule Book 2026 tells the chair umpire to toss a coin in front of both players or teams, before the warm-up, to determine the choice of serve and side. Because Rule 9 does not require a coin, spinning a racket and calling which way the logo lands works just as well in a friendly match. The USTA Code itself names "spin a racket or toss a coin" as the last-resort way to settle a score dispute (Code item 32).

If the warm-up is stopped and the players leave the court, Rule 9 Case 1 says the result of the original toss stands, but both sides may make new choices when they come back. The Grand Slam rule book has the same idea for play suspended before the match begins.

Why you might not choose to serve

Option (b) and option (c) exist because the first choice is not always the most useful one. Picking an end can matter when sun or wind favors one side for the opening games, and players change ends after the first game anyway (Rule 10). Option (c) lets you see what your opponent wants before you decide. Which choice is best is a tactical call, not a rule, so there is no wrong answer here.

Who serves after the first game

Nobody tosses again during the match. Rule 14 says that at the end of each standard game, the receiver becomes the server and the server becomes the receiver. That alternation runs straight through the end of a set into the next one.

The one twist is the tie-break. Inside a tie-break the player whose turn it is serves the first point, then each side serves two points in turn. Rule 5b then says the player or team who served first in the tie-break receives in the first game of the next set. Our guide to how a tennis tiebreak works has the full point-by-point order.

When a match tie-break replaces the final set, the note in Appendix VI says the original order of service continues, so the next player in the rotation serves first.

Doubles: each set has its own first server

In doubles the toss still decides which team serves first, but each team picks its own serving order:

• The team due to serve in the first game of each set decides which partner serves that game (Rule 14).
• Before game 2, the other team decides which of its players serves.
• The partner of the first game's server serves game 3, the partner of the second game's server serves game 4, and the rotation continues to the end of the set.

The same freedom applies to receiving. Rule 15 lets the team receiving in the first game of a set decide which partner receives the first point. USTA Comment 15.2 in the 2026 Friend at Court confirms a team may switch its receiving order at the start of any set or match tiebreak, and USTA Comment 14.1 says the same for the serving order at the start of a match tiebreak.

Late for a USTA match? You lose the toss

In USTA tournaments, lateness comes with a built-in penalty on the toss. Regulation IV.D.10 says a player penalized for lateness is deemed to have lost the Rule 9 toss: they still get a choice, but only after the opponent has chosen. Table 16 then adds game penalties on top:

How late (best of 3 or 5 sets, or pro sets to 7+ games)	Penalty
5 minutes or less	Loss of toss plus 1 game
5:01 to 10 minutes	Loss of toss plus 2 games
10:01 to 15 minutes	Loss of toss plus 3 games
More than 15 minutes	Default

Short-set formats use a smaller scale: loss of toss plus 1 game for 5 minutes or less, loss of toss plus 1 game and 2 points for 5:01 to 10 minutes, and loss of toss plus 2 games for 10:01 to 15 minutes.

If you lose track of who serves

Mistakes happen, especially in doubles. If the wrong player serves, the rules say how to fix it without replaying points; see what happens if you serve from the wrong side in tennis for every case. To keep the order straight from the first point, use our tennis score keeper.