In the mid-sixteenth century, an Italian priest from Salo introduced wooden pallets, a precursor of current

rackets. Players in France would call out “Tenez!” (= Hold!) before putting the ball in play.
British players mangled the word into “Teni!” and then “Tennis.”
In Italian lob translates as pallonetto;
service, as servizio;
fault, as fallo;
return, as rimessa;
forehand, as dritto;
and
backhand, as rovescio.
However, Italian uses the English terms for “break” and “match point.” A "slam" is a slam, and a Grand
Slam is just as grande in Italian as in English.
Another tennis term that does not translate into Italian is “love,” the starting score for players. Some say it
derives from the French l’oeuf for egg, which resembles a zero. Others contend that it underscores the reason
men and women play the game: for love. And love, in every language, is what surrounded the two regal
Italians crowned with glory in a stadium located in a New York City borough called Queens.
Words and Expressions
Campo da tennis -- tennis court
Palla da tennis -- tennis ball
Tennis doppio -- doubles
Raccattapalle -– ball boy

 advantage set / tiebreaker set: tie-break;

 tempo = time
 game: gioco (literally “game”) or English “game”;
 set: partita or English “set”;
 match: incontro or English “match”;
 love: zero;
 15/30/40 is just 15/30/40 in Italian (quindici/trenta,/quaranta);
 deuce: parità (i.e. just “tie”, “draw”).
 advantage in / advantage out: vantaggio (literal translation of “advantage”),

Note that for other sports, Italians normally say X è in vantaggio (“X is at an advantage”), while for
tennis it’s normally X ha il vantaggio(roughly: “X has the advantage”) just as if the advantage was a
physical object representing the idea of being at an advantage.