200 French Tennis Terms / Expressions

I’m a big fan of tennis myself and also play about 2 to 4 times a week, so I hear these French tennis terms all the time (although the ones about me leading in the score not as often as I wished!).

I’ll keep adding to this bilingual French tennis vocabulary list as more of them come up.
Feel free to suggest new ones in the comments below.

Would you like to learn more French sports vocabulary – click for Camille’s list of 250 French sports terms.

Let’s start by a French pronunciation note: although many final “s” in French are silent, the “s” of “tennis” is pronounced.

Tennis Match Names in French

1. Men’s singles match = un simple messieurs
2. Women’s singles match = un simple dames
3. Men’s doubles match = un double messieurs
4. Women’s doubles match = un double dames
5. Mixte doubles match = un double mixte
6. Junior = junior
7. Senior = senior
8. 3 set match = match en trois sets (gagnants)

Main Tennis Tournament Names in French

1. A tournament = le tournoi
2. The French Open = Le tournoi de Roland Garros (or most often just “Roland Garros” or even “Roland” for the hip or tennis players)
3. Wimbledon = le tournoi de Wimbledon or just “Wimbledon” as in “il vient de remporter Wimbledon” (he just won the Wimbledon tournament)
4. US Open = le tournoi de l’US open or just “l’US open” – pronounce: “lu-ès” open
5. Australian Open = l’Open d’Australie
6. The Davis Cup = la Coupe Davis
7. A Grand Slam® tournament = un tournoi du Grand Chelem
8. A grand slam = un Grand Chelem
9. A grand slam + gold olympic medal = un Grand Chelem doré

Tennis Tournament French Vocabulary

1. First week = La première semaine
2. Second week = La deuxième semaine
3. Qualifying rounds = les qualificatifs
4. 1st round = le premier tour
5. 2nd round = le deuxième tour
6. 3rd round = le troisième tour
7. Round of 16= les huitièmes (f) de finale
8. Quarter Finals = les quarts (m) de finale
9. Semi-Finals = les demi-finale (f)
10. Final = la finale
11. Round robin = une poule (yes, the robin becomes a hen!)
12. The cup = la coupe
13. The trophy = le trophée
14. Wild card = une invitation
15. Championship = le championnat
16. A prestigious tournament = un tournoi prestigieux
17. The circuit = le circuit
18. The draw = le tableau
19. Random draw = un tirage au sort
20. A ball change = le changement de balles
21. Official tournament ball = une balle homologué

Tennis Players and Team French Vocabulary

1. A player = un joueur/ une joueuse
2. A doubles’ pair = une paire de double
3. An opponent = un adversaire
4. A team = une équipe
5. A mixte team = une équipe mixte
6. A team captain = le capitaine de l’équipe
7. A coach = un entraineur
8. A national team = une équipe nationale
9. French Tennis Federation = La FFT, La Fédération Française de Tennis
10. Wheelchair Tennis = tennis en fauteuil roulant / tennis handisport / paratennis / tennis-fauteuil
11. A wheelchair = le fauteuil roulant
12. Center court = le court central, or just, le central

Tennis Match phases

1. Training = l’entraînement
2. Warm-up = l’échauffement
3. A tennis match = un match de tennis, une partie de tennis
4. A friendly tennis match = un match de tennis amical
5. An exhibition game = un match d’exhibition
6. A rained-out game = un match arrêté pour cause de pluie, un match interrompu par la pluie
7. A defeat / loss = une défaite
8. The winning match = le match gagnant
9. The losing match = le match perdant
10. The winner = le gagnant
11. The loser = le perdant
12. The cup ceremony = une (cérémonie de) remise de coupe

French Terms for Tennis Officials

1. Line judge = le juge de ligne
2. The umpire = l’arbitre de chaise/juge de chaise
3. The tournament judge = le juge-arbitre
4. Ballboy/ballgirl = un ramasseur de balles

Tennis Game Scoring in French

0-15 = zero quinze

15 – 15 = Quinze A (most often) or sometimes Quinze partout

30 – 15 = Trente quinze

Deuce/40 – 40 = “égalité”
In ‘real’ tournaments, the first time players hit the deuce, the judge will instead say “Quarante A “ and then when players hit the deuce in the same game again, the judge will then say “égalité””

(I don’t know why. I’ve looked everywhere and asked many tennis club members and no-one has a valid and verifiable answer… maybe it just sounds ‘more logical’ – like there is anything logical in tennis scoring ;-)

A – 40, Ad in, advantage in =

1. Avantage service (when players call their own scores)
2. or/ Avantage Federer (when a judge calls score in major matches)
3. or/ Avantage Paimpol (when a judge calls score on an intercity/town/club tournament)

40 – A, ad out, advantage out = Avantage dehors (when players call their own scores) or/ as above

More Tennis Scoring French Vocabulary

1. Tie break = un tie break or un jeu décisif
2. A game with no score from the opponent = un jeu blanc
3. Federer leads 4 games to 2 = Federer mène quatre jeux à deux
4. Federer leads 2 sets to 1 = Federer mène deux manches à une or/ Federer mène deux sets à un (depending on the judge)
5. Federer is the number one seed = Federer est tête de série numéro un
6. Federer is serving = Federer (est) au service
7. Federer is receiving = Federer (est) à la relance
8. To break serve = prendre le service
9. A non-scoring game/a shutout = un jeu blanc
10. Fist game = Premier jeu
11. First , second, third, fourth, fifth set = la première, seconde, troisième, quatrième, cinquième manche or/ le premier, second, troisième, quatrième, cinquième set
12. Game, set and match = Jeu, set et match
13. Break point = une balle de break
14. Set point = une balle de set
15. Game point = une balle de jeu
16. Match point = une balle de match
17. Deciding point = un point décisif
18. A side change = le changement de côté

French Tennis Calls

1. Foot fault = une faute de pied
2. Let = Filet or Let (although some people in France will sometimes say “Net” instead)
3. Out (as screamed by the line judges) = faute
4. Double fault = une double faute
5. An insult = une insulte
6. Break your racket = casser sa raquette
7. A warning = un avertissement
8. Unsportsmanlike conduct warning = un avertissement pour comportement anti-sportif
9. Point deduction = un point de pénalité
10. A bounce = un rebond
11. An unpredictable bounce = un faux rebond
12. Double bounce = un double rebond
13. “Time” (umpire letting players know to start playing again) = reprise

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Tennis Equipment/Facilities in French

The Tennis Court in French

1. A court = le court (t silent) de tennis, le terrain de tennis
2. A grass court = un court en gazon
3. A clay court = un court de terre battue
4. A hard court = un court en dur/synthetique
5. The net = un filet
6. A net post = un poteau
7. A net stick = un piquet
8. Lines = les lignes
9. Service box = le carré de service
10. The inside line = l’interieur de la ligne
11. The outside line = l’exterieur de la ligne
12. Sideline = la ligne de côté
13. Service line = la ligne de service
14. The baseline = la ligne de fond (de cours)
15. The doubles lane/alley = le couloir de double

Tennis Racquet French Vocabulary

1. A racquet = une raquette (de tennis)
2. A ball = une balle
3. The strings = le cordage
4. The string tension = la tension (de cordage)
5. The string pattern = le plan de cordage
6. A strung racquet = une raquette cordée
7. Unstrung weight = le poids non cordée
8. To break a string = casser son cordage
9. Balance = le point d’équilibre
10. The racket head = le tamis
11. The racket grip = le manche
12. Stiffness = la rigidité (du cadre)
13. Over Grip = un surgrip
14. Replacement Grips = un grip de rechange
15. Vibration Dampener = un antivibrateur
16. A hammer grip = une prise marteau
17. A continental/chopper grip = une prise continentale

Others Tennis Equipment French Vocabulary

1. A tennis bag = un sac de tennis
2. Racket compartment = le compartiment à raquettes
3. The bag handle = la poignée
4. The bag strap = La bretelle
5. Stringing Machine = une machine à corder
6. A cap = une casquette
7. A headband = un bandeau/ un bandana

Tennis Shots in French

1. First serve = le premier service
2. Second serve = le second service
3. The (serve) return = le retour (de service)
4. Forehand = un coup droit
5. One-hand backend = un revers (à une main)
6. Two-handed backend = un revers (à deux mains)
7. A slice = un slice
8. A smash = un smash
9. A dropshot = une (balle) amortie
10. A lob = un lob
11. A volley = une volley
12. A half-volley = une demi-volley
13. Topspin = le lift
14. Sliced shot = (un coup) coupé – ex: un revers coupé)
15. Chop shot = (un coup) chopé
16. Ace = un ace
17. A serve = un service
18. A sliced serve = un service slicé ou coupé
19. A kick serve = un service kické
20. Shanked shot = un coup boisé
21. A lobbed shot = une chandelle
22. A passing shot = un passing
23. A winning server = un service gagnant
24. Winner = un coup gagnant
25. Unforced error = une faute directe
26. A cross-court backhand/forehand = un revers/coup droit croisé
27. A down the line backhand/forehand = un revers/coup droit long de ligne

Common French Tennis Expressions

1. Tu m’as mis la paté (slang) = you really beat me hard
2. Remonter au score = to catch up in the game/to reduce the opponent’s lead
3. Avoir 2 jeux d’avance = to be 2 games ahead
4. Etre le favori = to be the favorite to win
5. To forfeit = declarer forfait / être WO (Walk Over)
6. Arroser son service = to hit your serve all over the place
7. Faire un bois = to shank the ball
8. Se prendre une bicyclette = to lose 6-0 6-0 (the zeros look like bicycle wheels) / bagel

Informal match/friendly game Expressions

Common language between non-pro players on the court.

1. Whose serve is it? = c’est à qui de servir ?
2. It’s my serve = (c’est) à moi de servir / mon service
3. What’s the score? = ça fait combien ?
4. Who is ahead? = qui gagne ? qui mène ?
5. Good shot! = bien joué ! / belle balle ! / beau coup !
6. Do you want to take it over? = on la remet ? On remet ça ?
7. Was that in or out? = tu la vois dedans ou dehors ?
8. Wide! = à côté !
9. Long! = longue !
10. That was in! = elle était bonne !
11. You deserved that point! = tu mérites le point !
12. This ball is dead / good (aka lively) = cette balle est morte / bonne
13. Let’s use my balls = on prend mes balles

If you can think of more French tennis vocabulary, please write it in the comment below and I’ll add it up to the list. Merci !