Tennis Games

Tennis games put you on the court for single matches or full tournaments. There are around 40, all free and with nothing to download, ranging from fairly serious simulators to much sillier takes on the sport.

How scoring works, in case you don't know

Tennis counts points in an odd way: 15, 30, 40, game. If you both reach 40, that's deuce, and one player has to win two points in a row to take the game. Games add up to sets, usually won at six games, and sets add up to the match. Many simulators on the list, such as Tennis Masters, Grand Slam Tennis, Real Tennis Game and Tennis Open 2021 and 2022, use this system, so knowing it helps you follow the scoreboard. More arcade-style games simplify the rules.

What's on the list

For matches with a competitive feel, there's Tennis Masters, Tennis Legends 2016, Tennis Ace and Fast Tennis. If you like familiar characters, try Mario Tennis 4 and Doraemon Badminton. And for something different, Galactic Tennis, Twisted Tennis, Crazy Tennis, Poly Tennis and Sports Heads Tennis wander far from classic tennis.

A small group covers related racket sports: Squash, Balls n Walls and Doraemon Badminton. In squash the ball bounces off the walls and there's no net, so it plays differently even though the swing is similar.

Getting started

If it's your first time, pick a simple game with clear controls, like Tennis or Tennis Game 2, and play a couple of matches without overthinking it. The most common mistake is getting to the ball late: get in position before it bounces, not when it's already next to you. And on serves, don't always go for power, because almost every game penalizes a serve that lands out of the box. In general, timing matters more than how hard you hit.

Controls are usually the arrow keys or WASD to move around the court and one or two keys to hit, though some are played with the mouse alone. Notice whether the game tells a flat shot from a lob or a drop shot. The ones that do reward you for mixing it up, because an opponent who always sees the same thing gets used to it. And in a tournament, don't get discouraged after losing the first set: you can come back.