Baseline Tennis

About Baseline Tennis

Baseline is tennis with the part most browser tennis games leave out: a tour. There is a rating that moves, sixteen named players with their own speed, power and control, and rivalries that build because you keep meeting the same opponents.

The shots are topspin, slice and lob, chosen before you swing rather than picked for you. Timing decides depth and the swing decides shape, so a rally is a conversation rather than a reaction test.

The tour

Exhibition matches to learn the swing, then the career: ranked matches, titles, a best streak and a record that follows you. Tournaments sit on top for when you want a bracket rather than a season.

Assisted or manual

Footwork can run itself while you concentrate on the shot, or you can take it over with WASD. Most people start assisted and switch once the timing is familiar; the manual game is a noticeably better one.

Controls

Arrow keys to place your shot, 1, 2 and 3 for topspin, slice and lob, and hold and release Space to swing. WASD moves your feet when the assist is off.

How to play Baseline Tennis

1. Choose your player and an opponent from the sixteen on tour, decide between Assisted and Manual footwork, and press Play exhibition. Manual has to be chosen before the match starts.
2. Find yourself on court: you are the near player in the ivory shirt, with a lime ring and a YOU label.
3. Place your shot with the arrow keys. Left and right move the target across the court, up sends it deep and down drops it short near the net. Combine two keys for a corner. The lime ring shows where the ball will land.
4. Pick topspin, slice or lob with 1, 2 or 3, then hold Space and release it to swing. Your target locks at the moment you let go.
5. Serves are kept inside the correct service box for you, though two service faults still cost you the point.
6. Win three games to take the match. Points are scored as in real tennis, deuce included.

Baseline Tennis tips and strategy

• Keep the direction held until you release. The target is only fixed when you let go of Space, not when you start the swing, so keep the arrow down through the whole preparation, as the game itself advises.
• Hold the arrow longer for a wider target. The longer you hold a direction, the farther the ring travels. A tap gives you a safe margin, and a long hold takes the ball close to the lines.
• Prepare early, release late. A longer hold on Space adds pace, so start preparing as the ball comes towards you. If the game tells you to release closer to the ball, you let go too soon; wait until it is nearly on you.
• Move them up and back. A short ball with the down arrow drags your opponent forward, and the next deep ball sends them back. Mixing length like this tests their footwork in a way that side-to-side rallies do not.
• Know who is across the net. Every player has visible ratings. Ren Sato covers the court faster than anyone, Ethan Cole hits harder than anyone but has some of the lowest control, and Theo Dubois is the most precise player on tour.
• Chase the upsets. Ratings move in the style of chess ratings, so beating a higher-rated player gains you more than beating a lower one, and losing to one costs you less.

Modes and progression in Baseline Tennis

The career starts on the Club circuit and moves through the Regional tour and the National series to the Masters tour, with each step coming after three more career wins. Every match is worth XP, 100 for a win and 30 for a loss, and your level rises with every 250 XP, so even a heavy defeat moves you along.

Tournaments come in two shapes. One is a straight knockout. The other is an eight-player event with two groups of four, three points per win, and the top two from each group going through to the semi-finals and the final. Players level on points are separated by game difference, then by rating.

King of the Court is the endurance test. You face all fifteen other players in a row, each duel is first to 7 points with serve changing every two points, and a single defeat ends the run. Your best run is recorded on the tour screen.