If you’ve ever stepped up to serve, missed your first serve, tightened up on your second… and then watched the ball crash into the net again, welcome to one of the most frustrating feelings in tennis: the double fault.
A double fault is one of the few ways you can lose a point without your opponent even touching the ball. And at club level, they can completely derail confidence, momentum, and even entire matches. The good news? Double faults are usually fixable.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what a double fault is, why players hit them so often, and the simple changes that can help you serve with more confidence and consistency.
What Is a Double Fault in Tennis?
A double fault happens when a player misses both their first and second serve in the same point.
Based on the official ITF Rules of Tennis, a player loses the point if they “serve two consecutive faults.” A serve can be called a fault for several reasons, including:
- missing the service box
- hitting the net
- committing a foot fault
- missing the ball completely
After the first fault, the server gets one more attempt – known as the second serve. If that misses too, it’s a double fault and the opponent wins the point.
Why Are Double Faults Such a Big Deal?
At beginner and club level, double faults are often one of the biggest reasons players lose games. Why? Because they:
- Give away free points
- Increase pressure during service games
- Destroy confidence
- Make players afraid to swing freely
- Create a negative cycle of tension and fear
And unlike losing a point in a rally, double faults can feel especially frustrating because the mistake is completely self-inflicted. That’s why even professional players hate them.
Do Professional Tennis Players Hit Double Faults?
Absolutely. Even the best players in the world double fault sometimes, especially when they’re under pressure.
And interestingly, even the best players in the world still double fault fairly regularly. Data from Tennis Abstract shows that ATP Top 50 players double fault on roughly 3% of their service points, while WTA Top 50 players are closer to 5%.
That might not sound like much, but across an entire match it adds up surprisingly quickly.
The difference at higher levels is that pros usually balance risk and reward extremely well. Players with aggressive serving styles often risk more on second serves, which can increase double fault counts. Others play safer and prioritise consistency.
There’s usually a trade-off between aggression and consistency on serve. Players with bigger, more attacking serves often accept a slightly higher number of double faults in exchange for more free points and weaker returns.
A great example is Alexander Bublik, one of the most aggressive and unpredictable servers on tour (and has one of the fastest serves recorded). According to Tennis Abstract data, Bublik hit aces on 14.4% of his service points, but also double faulted 5.5% of the time.
That balance perfectly captures the trade-off of aggressive serving: more free points, but more risk too. His high-risk serving style helps him rack up huge numbers of aces, but it also means he double faults more often than many other top players.
Why You Keep Double Faulting (And How To Fix It)
1. You’re Trying To Hit Your Second Serve Too Hard
This is probably the biggest cause of double faults at club level. After missing the first serve, many players panic and either try to guide the ball nervously, or try to make up for it by swinging harder.
Neither works particularly well. Instead, a good second serve should focus on spin, margin, consistency and placement. Not raw power!
If you’re constantly double faulting, your second serve probably needs more spin and just a bit less pace. A topspin or kick serve gives you extra safety because the ball dips down into the service box.
2. Your Ball Toss Is Inconsistent
The serve starts with the toss. If the toss is inconsistent, everything else becomes harder. In fact, many experienced club coaches will tell you the toss is the single most important part of building a reliable serve. And honestly, they’re not wrong.
Common toss problems include:
- tossing too far forward
- tossing behind you head
- varying toss height
- rushing the motion
A bad ball toss forces you to make last-second adjustments, and that’s a recipe for double faults. If you have an inconsistent ball toss, there’s a good chance your serve feels unreliable under pressure.
The best servers in the world tend to have incredibly repeatable tosses. Their contact point barely changes from serve to serve, which allows them to swing confidently and aggressively without making constant adjustments.
On the other hand, more complex serving motions can sometimes become harder to repeat consistently under pressure. Denis Shapovalov is an interesting example. His explosive left-handed serve uses a very side-on stance and a more dynamic ball toss motion that travels across his body. That helps him create huge racket-head speed and awkward lefty angles, but it can also make the timing more difficult to repeat consistently.
Interestingly, Tennis Abstract data shows Shapovalov double faults on roughly 7% of his service points, which is one of the highest rates among ATP Top 50 players.
A simple way to improve your toss is to practise it separately from the serve itself. Try catching the ball at full extension instead of hitting it. If the toss lands in a different spot every time, the serve will too.
3. You Tighten Up Under Pressure
Serving is unique in tennis because there’s no incoming ball. That means you’re in control and have time to think. Unfortunately, that’s often the problem. Players start thinking:
- “Don’t double fault.”
- “I need this point.”
- “Everyone’s watching.”
The body tightens, racket speed slows down, and the serve breaks down mechanically.
Ironically, trying not to miss often causes the double fault.
One of the most frustrating things about serving is that many players can serve perfectly well in practice… only for the serve to completely disappear during matches. That’s something loads of club players experience.
Double faults often become a vicious cycle: you miss a serve, you lose confidence, you tighten up, you miss more serves. The more you fear the double fault, the more likely it becomes.
One of the best pieces of serving advice is surprisingly simple: focus on creating a clean, relaxed, and repeatable service motion. And the relaxed part is huge!
Most players don’t double fault because they swing too fast. They double fault because they slow their serve down and start pushing the ball into the service box instead.
This is where routines can help massively. Simple pre-serve routines might include:
- bouncing the ball a set number of times
- taking a deep breath
- visualising the target
- loosening the shoulders before serving
It sounds small, but routines can calm nerves and help restore your rhythm under pressure.
4. You Don’t Trust Your Second Serve
A lot of recreational players only really have one serve speed. And when pressure hits, they don’t have a dependable “safe” serve to fall back on.
That’s why learning to use topspin or slice on the second serve is so important. Spin gives you more net clearance and much better depth control. Ultimately, it gives you a higher margin for error.
Your second serve doesn’t need to be amazing. It just needs to consistently go in, allow you to start the point and stop giving away free points.
At club level, a reliable second serve is often more valuable than a huge first serve. And one of the easiest ways to improve consistency is simply aiming bigger. Avoid the lines and focus on getting a solid second serve in, ideally to the backhand if you can.
5. You Rush Between Serves
Many double faults happen because players rush between their first and second serve.
The best servers slow themselves down after a fault. They reset mentally before hitting the second serve.
Even taking an extra few seconds to breathe and reset can completely change the quality of the second serve.
6. You Don’t Practice Under Pressure
I think we’re all a bit guilty of this one. At some stage, we’ve all grabbed a basket of balls and practiced hitting hundreds of serves, endlessly. However, we’re always practicing our first serve, and it’s never in a match scenario. And match pressure changes everything!
Many players can serve perfectly well in practice, only for the serve to completely disappear during matches.
Next time you play a practice set, imagine you only have one serve and play the entire set with your second serve. Don’t worry about the score, focus on building confidence in your second serve when you know you need to get it in!
Should You Ever Double Fault?
Honestly? Yes.
If you never double fault, you might actually be serving too cautiously. Even the best pro players accept some risk on serve because an effective serve creates easy points and weaker returns.
And this is something many experienced competitive players understand well: double faults only really matter in context. For example:
- a defensive player who simply rolls the serve in probably shouldn’t be double faulting often
- an aggressive server who attacks with both first and second serves will naturally miss more from time to time
That’s why stronger players often focus less on the raw number of double faults and more on a bigger question: “Is the serve actually helping me hold serve consistently?”
A player who hits three double faults but dominates behind their serve may still be serving extremely well overall.
On the other hand, a player who never double faults but constantly gets attacked on second serves may actually have the weaker service game.
This doesn’t mean double faults are good. Giving away free points is never ideal.
But expecting perfection on every second serve usually creates tension and fear.
Interestingly, many experienced players mentally “allow” themselves a small number of double faults each match. That mindset helps remove the panic that often appears after one missed second serve.
The goal isn’t zero double faults. The real goal is:
- fewer cheap mistakes
- smarter serving under pressure
- balancing aggression and consistency
- trusting your second serve enough to swing freely
For most club players, reducing double faults by just a few per set can completely change match results.
Final Thoughts
Double faults are frustrating, but they’re also one of the most fixable problems in tennis. In most cases, the solution isn’t hitting harder, it’s to improve your serve technique, use more spin, slow the process down when you’re under pressure and build confidence in your serve.
And remember: every tennis player double faults sometimes. Even the pros. The key is learning how to trust your serve when the pressure starts to build.
