Are there other sports that begin with a coin toss, like American football?

I’m not certain how the first player to serve is determined in professional tennis tournaments, but I’d imagine there’s a coin toss or some equivalent.

@sferik Tennis is done by spin of the racket.

Wikipedia link..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_flipping#Coin_flipping_in_dispute_resolution

People should avoid commenting if they don’t know an answer.

Cricket

@sjg102379 I played tennis on my high school team and we determined the first player to serve by spinning a racket. For some reason, I assumed that professionals used a more regimented mechanism.

Do you know which player’s racket is spun? Or is it there a designated spinning racket? Is it spun by the referee or one of the players? Have there been any disputes in the history of tennis over a loaded spinning racket or an unfair spin?

It’s interesting that in American football the coin flip seems to hold some symbolic importance. The flipping is always televised before the kickoff of the Super Bowl, yet I don’t recall ever having seen a televised racket-spinning during the final match of a tennis tournament.

At Wimbledon it’s always a coin toss by the umpire. That is how it is in all the professional tournatments but in lesser tournaments it is a spin of the racket and can be done by either player. You just decide between yourselves. Also Football (soccer) is done by the toss of a coin.

“Winning the toss” is important in many British sports: cricket, rugby, football. Also in rowing – which side of the river you start on for the University boat race is decided by a coin toss.

VOLLEYBALL uses a coin toss to decide who serves and which side.

In badminton the shuttle is tossed up and if the circle on the end points towards you then its your first serve.