Tennis Court

The standard tennis court has remained the same in dimensions since the beginnings of the sport. It consists of a uniformly flat, rectangular playing surface divided into two halves by a long net, and a grid of lines mark the various boundaries of the playing field. The net is drawn across the shorter width of the rectangular court, and the two shorter sides of the court are the designated serving lines from which the players must make their serving shots.

Tennis Court

Lengthwise, a standard tennis court is 78 feet long from one serving line to the other, while there are two accepted widths for the court depending on whether it is a singles or doubles game. A singles game uses the narrower court width of 27 feet, while the doubles court is 36 feet wide.

Tennis Courts

There are three main materials used to make the surfaces of tennis courts: hard court (usually concrete or treated asphalt), clay (made of crushed stone or brick), and grass. The material of these surfaces can have a subtle but definite effect on the type of game that tends to prevail on a given playing surface. Hard court and grass surfaces tend to favor faster-paced games, because these surfaces encourage a faster movement of the ball along with lower rebounds. Clay courts will favor slower-paced games with lots of volleys, as the clay surface tends to make the ball bounce higher and move slower.

Tennis Courts Construction

Hard courts are arguably the most prevalent type of court surface available to the average amateur tennis player, especially in North America. Clay courts are more common in South America and in Europe. Although the material used to make clay courts is not as expensive as what is used to make hard court surfaces, hard courts still tend to be more common because they are durable and require minimal maintenance. Clay courts demand constant maintenance to maintain the levelness and water saturation of the playing ground. Grass courts are by far the most uncommon kind of tennis court, because of the considerably high maintenance costs involved. In the Grand Slam competitions, the U.S. and Australian Open uses hard courts, the French Open uses clay courts, and Wimbledon uses grass courts. Less common, specialized tennis court surfaces are sometimes used when the court involved is indoors. The rare, older sport known as "real tennis" often uses a wooden court surface, which is considered one of the fastest court surfaces.