You’ve just won a set of singles tennis. What’s the least number of times your racket can have struck the ball? Remember that if you miss the ball while serving, it’s a fault.
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Once. You swing and miss each time you serve, and your opponent commits a double fault each time he serves. Eventually you find yourself serving at 6-5 or 7-6 in the tiebreak, and then you heroically serve an ace.
From Dick Hess, All-Star Mathlete Puzzles, 2009.
UPDATE: A reader points out that a superlatively lazy player can win a set without ever hitting the ball, thanks to the hindrance rule:
26. HINDRANCE
If a player is hindered in playing the point by a deliberate act of the opponent(s), the player shall win the point.
“On the crucial tie-break point, your opponent dashes across the net and tackles you, awarding you the point and the set.”
(Thanks, Scott.)
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