Doubles Serving Order and Receiving Order in Tennis

Tennis rules · Doubles · Updated 2026-09-08

Doubles adds two things singles never has to think about. The first is the order of service, which decides which of the four players serves each game. The second is the order of receiving, which decides which partner returns in the deuce court and which returns in the ad court. Both are agreed at the start of a set, and neither may be changed in the middle of that set.

Almost no doubles argument is really about deuce or tiebreak arithmetic. It is about a player serving a game that was not theirs, or a pair standing in the wrong return boxes after a changeover. This guide covers how both orders are set, how they carry through a tiebreak into the next set, and what to do when someone serves or receives out of turn. If the scoring itself is still new, start with how tennis scoring works.

What gets decided before the first ball

A doubles set opens with four separate decisions, two from each pair. They are made in the first two games of the set, and they then hold until that set is over.

1. The pair serving the first game chooses which partner serves it.
2. The pair receiving that game chooses which partner takes the first point, and that player owns that court for the set.
3. Before the second game, the other pair chooses its server.
4. That pair likewise fixes its two return courts.

After that nothing is open to negotiation. The service rotation runs around all four players, and each player keeps the same return court every time the pair receives. At the start of the next set, every one of those choices is free again.

Order of service

Once the first two games are assigned, the rest follows automatically. The partner of the player who served game one serves game three, the partner of the player who served game two serves game four, and that repeats to the end of the set. Each player serves every fourth game.

A player who starts a game serves all of it. Nobody serves two games in a row inside a set, and the two pairs always alternate service games. The only thing that legally disturbs the rotation is an uncorrected error, covered below.

The order deserves a moment of thought. Serving first means serving games 1, 5 and 9, which outdoors can mean serving into the sun all set, and it hands that player the ninth game, the one served at four games all in a close set.

Serving order and receiving order are unrelated. The partner who serves first need not take the deuce court on return, and many pairs split them deliberately.

Order of receiving

The receiving rule is written point by point but works out side by side. The pair chooses which player takes the first point, the partner takes the second, and that alternation runs to the end of the game and on to the end of the set. In practice one player receives every serve into the deuce court and the other every serve into the ad court, in every game their pair receives, all set.

This is the rule recreational doubles breaks most often. After a changeover or a break of serve, a pair drifts into the boxes that feel natural rather than the ones assigned. A point played that way is a receiving error with its own correction, not something to wave through.

Deuce court, ad court, and which points land where

Every game starts with a serve into the deuce court, the receiver's right hand box as they face the net, and the court alternates with every point. An even number of points played means the deuce court, an odd number means the ad court.

Read down that table and the choice of sides stops being cosmetic. The ad court partner takes every break point at 30-40, every game point at 40-30 and every advantage point after deuce. The deuce court partner takes the first point of every game, 30-all, and deuce itself.

Pairs divide the courts in different ways and none is the correct one. Some put the steadier returner in the ad court for the pressure points, some split by wing. A right hander in the deuce court beside a left hander in the ad court puts both forehands toward the sidelines, and the reverse puts them in the middle. Decide before the set, then live with it.

A worked set, game by game

Ana and Ben play Cara and Dan. Ana and Ben elect to serve, Ana serving first, and Cara and Dan choose Cara for game two. On return, Ana and Cara take the deuce court for their pairs, Ben and Dan the ad court. That is every decision made, and the set follows from it.

Ana serves games 1, 5 and 9, Ben 3, 7 and 11, Cara 2, 6 and 10, Dan 4, 8 and 12. Ana and Ben receive only in even numbered games, always from their own box, and Cara and Dan only in odd ones. If a cell comes out differently on your court, one of the four opening decisions has been forgotten.

The tiebreak keeps the same rotation

At 6-6 the set goes to a tiebreak, which counts as the thirteenth game and is written as 7-6. The player whose turn it is to serve serves one point from the deuce court. After that each player in turn serves two points, always starting from the ad court, and the turn passes around all four players in the order the set has been using. Ends change every six points and at the end. The point scoring is covered in tennis tiebreak rules.

Receiving carries over unchanged. Each player keeps the box they have had all set, so the deuce court receiver takes every point served into the deuce court, whichever opponent is serving it.

Ends change after point 6 and after point 12, inside a player's two point turn rather than between servers. A 10 point match tiebreak played instead of a final set uses the same rotation. The match format guide covers where each version is used.

Let the scoreboard hold the rotation. Tennis Score Keeper₊ tracks the doubles rotation for you, so the next server and the serve side stay on screen rather than in somebody's memory. It carries the order into a tiebreak and out into the next set, and unlimited undo takes back a misplaced point. Learn more about Tennis Score Keeper₊.

Out of the tiebreak and into the next set

The pair that served the first point of the tiebreak receives the first game of the next set. A tiebreak set finishes on thirteen games, an odd total, so the players also change ends at the end of it.

• The pair that served point one of the tiebreak receives game one of the next set.
• The pair now due to serve picks either partner, whatever the last set's order was.
• Each pair may swap its deuce and ad court receivers.
• A player may therefore serve late in one set and again in their pair's first service game of the next, one game later. That is legal.
• Nothing else crosses the set boundary.

End changes at a set boundary follow the games total, so a set won 6-3 ends on an odd total and the ends change, while after 6-4 they change only once the next set's first game is played. See when do you change ends in tennis.

If someone serves out of turn

The governing principle is that points already played stand. Nothing is replayed, and nobody forfeits a game over the mistake.

1. Discovered during the game: The player who should have been serving takes over at once, at the current score. Everything completed counts, and in doubles a fault the wrong partner already served stands, so the correct server may be picking up on a second serve.
2. Discovered after the game finished: The altered order stays for the rest of the set. The rotation continues from the player who served last, so one player stays out of their original slot until the set ends.
3. Discovered in a tiebreak: After an even number of points, correct it straight away. After an odd number, the altered order stands for the rest of the tiebreak. Again, in doubles a fault already served by the wrong partner stands.

One consequence surprises people. If a whole game slips by, the set can legitimately finish with one player having served more games than a partner. That is the rule working, not a second error to fix.

If someone receives out of turn

Receiving errors are handled more gently. If the partners receive from the wrong boxes, the altered order stays until the end of the game in which the mistake is found, so you never stop mid game to swap receivers. The pair resumes its original order for its next receiving game in that set.

No-ad doubles and the deciding point

In no-ad scoring the game stops at 40-40 and one deciding point settles it, which is why Fast4 and many league and junior formats use it. In doubles that point carries an exception to everything above: the receiving pair chooses whether to take the point in the deuce court or the ad court, whatever the point count would otherwise dictate. The partners may not change positions for it, so that choice of side is also the choice of which of them receives.

The exception lasts exactly one point, and the pair's normal receiving order resumes in the next game. In mixed doubles the choice is made for them, since the deciding point is played same sex: a man serving serves to the man, a woman serving serves to the woman, whichever boxes those players have used all set.

A courtside checklist

• Say both orders out loud before the first game of every set, return boxes included.
• Repeat the server's name at each changeover, where the rotation is easiest to lose.
• If a return box looks wrong, fix it before the serve, not after the point.
• After a break of serve, check once. The game count changed, the service order did not.
• Starting a new set, ask again: who serves first, and who takes which court.

For how these pieces fit together in a self officiated match, including who calls the score aloud, see how to keep score at a junior tennis match, or read what Tennis Score Keeper tracks during a match.

Frequently asked questions

Can you change the serving order in doubles?

Only at the start of a new set. The order of service is fixed once the first two games of a set are under way, and it then rotates through all four players until that set ends. When the next set starts, each pair may nominate either partner to serve its first service game, regardless of who served last.

Can doubles partners switch sides during a set?

Not for receiving. Each partner keeps the deuce court or the ad court for the whole set and may only swap at the start of a new set. While their pair is serving there is no restriction, so the server's partner may stand anywhere on their own side of the net, which is what makes the I formation and Australian formation legal.

What happens if you serve out of turn in doubles?

The correct player serves as soon as the mistake is found, and every point already played stands. If the game was completed before anyone noticed, the changed order stays for the rest of the set. In doubles a fault served before the discovery does count, so the correct server may take over on a second serve.

Who serves first after a tiebreak in doubles?

The pair that served the first point of the tiebreak receives the first game of the next set, so the other pair serves it. That pair chooses which partner serves that game, and the choice is free, because a new set reopens both the serving order and the receiving order. Ends are also changed at the end of a tiebreak set.

Which partner should receive in the ad court in doubles?

Whichever partner you want handling break points and game points, because 30-40, 40-30 and every advantage point are served into the ad court. The deuce court partner gets the first point of each game, 30-all and deuce. Many pairs also split by wing or put a left hander in the ad court, and any of those is fine as long as it is settled before the set.

How does the deciding point work in no-ad doubles?

At 40-40 one point decides the game, and in doubles the receiving pair chooses whether to receive it in the deuce court or the ad court. The partners may not swap boxes for it, so choosing the side is also choosing which of them takes the point, and the usual alternation resumes in the next game. In mixed doubles the deciding point is played same sex, so the receiver is the player of the same gender as the server.

Keep reading

• Tennis Tiebreak Rules: The 7-Point Set Tiebreak and the 10-Point Match Tiebreak
• What Is Deuce in Tennis? Advantage, Ad In, Ad Out and No-Ad Scoring Explained
• When Do You Change Ends in Tennis? The Odd-Game Rule, Set Boundaries and Rest Times