The tennis emoji is a neon-green fuzzball of athletic destiny, perfect for shouting “game, set, match” without saying a word. On Apple/iOS, it’s a bright lime-yellow sphere with crisp white curved seams, soft felt texture, and subtle 3D shading, angled like it’s mid-bounce under studio lighting. That instantly recognizable glow screams fresh out of the hopper, ready to ping off the baseline. People use it for real match talk—Wimbledon hype, US Open night sessions, Serena highlights, Nadal-on-clay lore—or just to serve sporty, summertime-court energy.
In chats, it’s the universal “your serve” signal to toss the convo back, a smug “ball’s in your court” nudge when you’ve done your part, or a motivational “bounce back” after life hits a tough return. It pairs with puns like “15–love” for flirty texts, and “new balls please” when you’re begging for a fresh start (or a less chaotic group chat). Meme-wise, it powers back-and-forth DM volleys, competitive banter, and the great pickleball-vs-tennis rivalry roasts. Drop it with athleisure selfies, weekend rally updates, or dramatic match-point reactions when you’re fully embracing scoreboard main-character energy.
Definition
The sport of tennis. Tennis is played with a racket and a ball (typically a bright fuzzy yellow ball that bounces). The game is played on a rectangle court with a net down the middle that splits the rectangle in half. When two players play against two other players it is called doubles. When a single player plays against another single person it is called singles. The objective is to hit the ball over the net with the racket and land it within the boundary of the other player(s) court (the lines are considered to be in bounds). A point is scored when the other player(s) cannot hit the ball back over the net before to the ball bounces two times. The point system is a bit unique in that zero points is called "Love", one point is called "15", two points is called "30", three points is called "40", and the winning point is called "Game."
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Emoji History The emoji code/ image log of changes.
This emoji was part of the proprietary / non-standardized emoji set first introduced by Japanese carriers like Softbank. These emojis became part of the Apple iPhone starting in iOS 2.2 as an unlockable feature on handsets sold in English speaking countries.
In iOS 5 / OSX 10.7, the underlying code that the Apple OS generates for this emoji was changed.
Emoji General Information
Twitter Emoji Popularity (Rank)
728 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
Google Android Picture
Google Hangouts Picture
Twitter.com Picture
LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:tennis:
Keywords
Tennis, Racket, Racquet, Ball, Game, Net, Court, Love
Previous Names:
Tennis Racquet and Ball
Tennis Ball
Unicode Category Information
Unicode Category
Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs
Unicode Range
1F300–1F5FF
Unicode Subcategory
Sport Symbols
Editorial Comment
Brightly colored green tennis ball.
Proposed Unicode Information & Notes
Unicode Category
Activities/work/entertainment
Unicode Subcategory
Sport Symbols
Names & Annotations
TENNIS RACQUET AND BALL Old name: TENNIS = tennis Temporary Notes: racket and ball, or player
