Whose point should this have been?

[SliceGirl]

Today in my singles match I hit a volley at the net that bounced short on my opponent’s side and then spun back over the net to my side of the court. She never touched it.
Whose point is it? She gave it to me, but neither of us were sure of the proper call.

 

[Fairhit]

Is your point.

If you contact the ball and it lands inside the opponent side of the court it is a good ball by you it doesn't matter where it lands its second bounce, is your point.

 

[Fairhit]

And to further give you a little fun fact, she could have reached over the net (without touching it) and hit the ball into the net, I would've been her point.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Is your point.

If you contact the ball and it lands inside the opponent side of the court it is a good ball by you it doesn't matter where it lands its second bounce, is your point.

As long as @SliceGirl didn't touch the ball before it bounced the 2nd time: until the ball lands for the 2nd time or hits a fixed object, the play is still "live" and touching the ball would be a loss of point.

For the same reason, if I hit a winner but touch the net before the point is over, no matter whether my opponent was even in the right zip code, I lose the point. Djokovic did this vs Nadal in a GS final.

 

[Fairhit]

As long as @SliceGirl didn't touch the ball before it bounced the 2nd time: until the ball lands for the 2nd time or hits a fixed object, the play is still "live" and touching the ball would be a loss of point.

For the same reason, if I hit a winner but touch the net before the point is over, no matter whether my opponent was even in the right zip code, I lose the point. Djokovic did this vs Nadal in a GS final.

Yes, thank you for expanding on this.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Yes, thank you for expanding on this.

I actually used this net example once: in doubles, I hit a return to the opposing net man who hit a drop volley. My partner wasn't moving so I sprinted and chipped it CC for what I knew was going to be a winner. The problem was that I was heading straight into the net and would have touched it before the 2nd bounce. So I somehow got down on my butt and did a pseudo-break dance handstand move. It delayed my contact with the net just long enough for the 2nd bounce.

 

[schmke]

I actually used this net example once: in doubles, I hit a return to the opposing net man who hit a drop volley. My partner wasn't moving so I sprinted and chipped it CC for what I knew was going to be a winner. The problem was that I was heading straight into the net and would have touched it before the 2nd bounce. So I somehow got down on my butt and did a pseudo-break dance handstand move. It delayed my contact with the net just long enough for the 2nd bounce.

Video or it never happened ;-)

 

[GabeT]

And to further give you a little fun fact, she could have reached over the net (without touching it) and hit the ball into the net, I would've been her point.

I read somewhere, but haven’t been able to confirm, that if a player reaches over the net to hit a ball that “bounced back” he doesn’t even need to hit the ball back into the court to win the point. So imagine I’m playing Player X who hits a ball that bounces on my side of the court but due to spin returns to his side of the court. I can stretch over the net (without touching it) to hit the ball on his side of the court. And (and here‘s the doubt) if I hit the ball so that it doesn’t even land on Player X’s side of the court, I still win the point.

is that correct? Or did I misunderstand the rules?

 

[Fairhit]

I read somewhere, but haven’t been able to confirm, that if a player reaches over the net to hit a ball that “bounced back” he doesn’t even need to hit the ball back into the court to win the point. So imagine I’m playing Player X who hits a ball that bounces on my side of the court but due to spin returns to his side of the court. I can stretch over the net (without touching it) to hit the ball on his side of the court. And (and here‘s the doubt) if I hit the ball so that it doesn’t even land on Player X’s side of the court, I still win the point.

is that correct? Or did I misunderstand the rules?

I think you misunderstood, the ball is still in play, you can reach over and have to put the ball in play, if you touch the ball and it goes out of the court you lose the point, exactly as it would happen with any other ball.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I read somewhere, but haven’t been able to confirm, that if a player reaches over the net to hit a ball that “bounced back” he doesn’t even need to hit the ball back into the court to win the point. So imagine I’m playing Player X who hits a ball that bounces on my side of the court but due to spin returns to his side of the court. I can stretch over the net (without touching it) to hit the ball on his side of the court. And (and here‘s the doubt) if I hit the ball so that it doesn’t even land on Player X’s side of the court, I still win the point.

is that correct? Or did I misunderstand the rules?

What @Fairhit wrote.

However, you could hit the ball back into the net so that the ball bounces twice very quickly [the first bounce must be in the court] and your opponent has no chance of getting it unless they're already at net. Just make sure you don't hit it too high and back over the net on your side because then you lose the point as soon as it bounces or hits a permanent fixture.

 

[WhiteOut]

I actually won a match in this very circumstance once...felt horrible at first, but then i didn't b/c the opponent didn't know the rule and started being a weenie about it:

I was at net. opponent drove a hard flat shot right at me. i stuck up my racquet, ball hit the throat of my racquet, bounced off my stick up and over the net with huge backspin on it, bounced on his side, then bounced right back over to my side. bounced twice on my side...my point...