Are you a tennis fan looking to understand what is the size and dimension of a tennis court and some of the other questions associated with them? We have all your queries answered around tennis court dimensions (but if you think you need information on anything more than what’s mentioned, kindly contact us and we should be able to help).
Let’s dive right in then.
Tennis courts can be used to play singles and doubles tennis, and there are multiple surfaces which can be used, depending on your preference. The four Grand Slams are played on three different surfaces, with the Australian and US Open on hard courts, French Open on clay and Wimbledon on grass.
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There’s also indoor hard court, which isn’t a different surface but with the elements of nature removed from the equation (since the stadium is covered), might behave differently from a typical outdoor hard court surface. And there’s another in the form of carpet on which not a lot of international tournaments are played in this day and age.
What are the Dimensions of a Standard Tennis Court?
For starters, the International Tennis Federation, which is the governing body for tennis in the world (and this includes beach tennis as well, of which we will speak about later in this piece), defines the size of a standard tennis court.
Let’s start things off with explaining what the different lines and marks on a tennis court are called.
Baseline
This is a line that’s parallel to and further-most from the net on either side of it. It is also the line from beyond which a serve is made and if a ball’s hit beyond this line during a rally, it’s called out and the point is won by the opponent.
How far is the baseline from the net in tennis?
The baseline is 39 feet from the net on each side.
Singles Sideline
This is the sideline that is used for singles play, and hitting wider than this will result in a point for the opponent. Basically, the ball needs to remain within the baseline and singles sideline in singles tennis.
Also Read:
How wide is the singles sideline from the Centre Mark or the Centre Service Line or the centre of the net?
The singles sideline is 13.5 feet on both sides from the centre.
Doubles Sideline
For doubles play, during rallies, a wider line is used than the one used for singles sideline. While the serve in doubles play still needs to be within the singles sideline, the rest of the rally sees the doubles sideline come into play.
How wide is the doubles sideline from the Centre Mark or the Centre Service Line or the centre of the net?
The doubles sideline is 18 feet on both sides from the centre.
Service Line
This is a line which runs parallel to the net and is closer to the baseline than it is to the net. The service line is a part of the service box and any serve beyond this line will be called a fault.
How far is the service line from the net in tennis?
The service line is 21 feet from the net and 18 feet from the baseline on each side.
Centre Service Line
The centre service line is perpendicular to the net and bisects or divides the net at its centre. It runs from the net to the service line and helps from the rectangular box within which the service has to be made.
What is the length of the service line?
The centre service line is 21 feet long starting from the net.
Centre Mark
This is a mark made at the centre of the baseline which works as an indicator to the server where the player can serve from.
Where is the centre mark located?
The centre mark is 4 inches long and located at the dead centre of the baseline.
What is the backcourt in tennis?
The area between the baseline and the service line is called the backcourt in tennis. For singles play, it forms a rectangle with the singles sideline while for doubles tennis, the rectangle is with the doubles sideline.
Right, now that you have all the information on the tennis court lines, we go back to the original question – what are the exact dimensions of a tennis court? Here we go.
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Tennis Court Dimensions at a glance
- Overall Dimensions for singles tennis: 78 feet X 27 feet (23.78 meters X 8.23 meters)
- Overall Dimensions for doubles tennis: 78 feet X 36 feet (23.78 meters X 10.97 meters)
- Dimensions of Service Box for singles and doubles tennis: 21 feet X 13.5 feet (6.4 meters X 4.1 meters)
- Backcourt: 18 feet X 27 feet (5.5 meters 8.2 meters)
- Doubles Alley: 39 feet X 4.5 feet (11.9 meters X 1.4 meters)
What is the height of the net?
The net needs to be 3.5 feet high at the ends and 3 feet high in the centre.
What about the area beyond the main playing surface?
While the overall playing area is 78 feet by 36 feet, there is some area needed beyond the playing surface for a variety of reasons. At no level do you want players to see their momentum in a rally end up in a crash, while even at the highest level, there is a requirement of space for the chair umpire, balls boys and the other judges.
The ITF has prescribed the minimum space (length and width) beyond the playing area as well. It needs to be at least 27 feet (21 meters) beyond the baseline and 18 feet (12 meters) on the side. This is a prescribed size obviously and at different level of tournaments, this could be different based on availability.
In fact even within tournaments, like the Grand Slams, the centre courts have more space beyond the baseline and sidelines while the other, outer courts are smaller in size.
What is the overall surface area of a tennis court?
If you are looking to build a tennis court in your backyard, you will need 2106 sq. feet or 195.7 sq. meters for singles tennis and 2808 square feet or 260.9 square meters for doubles tennis. Add whatever extra space you need over and above this as the area beyond the tennis playing area.
What about the overhead dimensions for roofs in an indoor tennis court?
Indoor courts provide a different challenge as they have a third dimension which needs to be taken care of, i.e. the height. Since the courts are indoor, i.e. they have a covered roof, there are guidelines around the height of the roofs as well and we explain that to you in brief here.
Different heights of the roof is suggested for different types of competitions. At the recreational level of tennis, the roof needs to be 20 feet above the baseline and 29.5 feet above the net.
This changes to a level 29.5 feet for Davis Cup, 39.5 feet for Davis Cup World Group and 40 feet for all ATP and WTA tournaments across the world. Roofs at Grand Slams, which are used only at times of inclement weather, have their own set of rules. The Wimbledon roof, for instance, is about 52.5 feet above the ground.
How to mark out a tennis court?
The official ITF document on the rules of tennis also has a brilliant explanation on how to mark out a combined, singles and doubles tennis court with the dimensions mentioned. If you want to understand more of the same, click here, and scroll down to the Appendix IX, which should go under the ‘Suggestions on How to Mark out a Court’.
Are all tennis courts same dimensions?
Well, technically for the seniors, pro tennis, the dimensions of all tennis courts have to be the same. However, there are smaller courts in play too, and that is for children who haven’t played for too long. If you are looking for information about the dimensions of tennis courts on different surfaces (hard, grass, clay, carpet etc), then yes, it doesn’t matter what surface you are looking at, the dimensions remain the same.
As a part of the Play and Stay campaign which is endorsed by the International Tennis Federation, different coloured balls are used to allow children the kind of control they can have at their age to be able to do what senior tennis players can do. It wouldn’t make too much sense to put off young players by making it very difficult for them now, would it?
So for official tournaments for children who are 10 years and younger, Orange Courts are 18 meters (59 feet) by 6.4 meters (21 feet). Those competing at eight years or lesser, there are Red Courts. These tennis courts are even smaller, with dimensions of 11 meters (36 feet) by 5.5 meters (18 feet). As far as the height of the net is concerned, it remains static at 0.8 meters in the center.
What about the Beach Tennis Court Dimensions?
For more information on beach court and its rules, you can get our ultimate guide here. The rules of Beach Tennis are looked after by the ITF and they prescribe the court dimensions for this sport too.
Much like tennis, beach tennis has different dimensions for singles and doubles. It is 16 meters X 4.5 meters for singles and 16 meters X 8 meters for doubles play. The net is higher than what is the case for tennis, at 1.7 meters (5.57 feet).
The court lines, which aren’t obviously painted, are typically 2-2.5 cm wide while the baseline thickness is around 10 cm. There are no other lines on a beach tennis court.