Tennis court dimensions

Court surfaces vary but the dimensions do not. There are grass, clay, cement, asphalt and rebound ace courts all of which require different skills to play on. There are also indoor courts made of carpet or cement. Some players, depending on where they are brought up, can never play well on all surfaces. Clay courters find it most difficult to adapt to other surfaces, especially grass. There are great players who have won on every other surface except clay, like Pete Sampras.

The dimensions are shown here. Some aspects need further explanation though.



In singles, the area described as the alley line is considered out if a player hits there, but they are in in doubles.

The net length differs for singles and doubles but it must be 3' 6" high at the posts (different for singles and doubles) and 3' at the centre. The posts must be positioned at least 3' outside the playing area. The net is supported by a cord and while serving, if the serve hits the net cord but goes into the correct service court a let is called and the server gets a replacement serve. Otherwise, the player takes his or her chances with the net cord.

The areas marked left and right service courts are where the ball must land after the serve, changing from where the server serves. The server cannot move his or her feet over the centre line or over the service line while serving. That would be called a foot fault.

All the lines must be drawn in the same colour but the lines sizes differ. The centre service line is 2' wide, all other lines are between 1-2" except the baseline which is 4" wide. The ball is in if it hits any part of any of those lines. Mostly the lines are white. This year I note that the courts are blue and the background green for the US Open. This is a change as all areas used to be green. It looks better.

Ads cannot be white or yellow as the ball can be these colours and the players vision could be effected.