Tennis Court

Tennis courts may be an indoor court or an outdoor court, and can also have different types of surfaces. However, they have a standard dimension, with rules that dictate its width, length, and the placement of every line on the court.

The Basics

Basically speaking, a tennis court is the customary venue where a tennis game is played. It’s a solid rectangle court that has marked lines at its outside boundaries. These lines are known as baselines and sidelines.

There are two “smaller” rectangles inside the bigger rectangle, and these are marked as the “service boxes”. The first hit or serve of a player should cross the tennis net and bounce “within” the service box to begin a point. The boundaries for “doubles” game are called “doubles alleys”. These baselines are wider compared to the “singles” play.

The rectangle of the tennis court must have the size of 78’x27’ for singles. Doubles alleys put in 4-½ feet to the width size of every side. Service line must run parallel to its baseline, and must be 21’ from the net. “Service Center Line” runs down the court’s middle part from the net to the “service line”. This will make two services boxes with equivalent sizes, which is 21’long x 13-½ wide.

In the court’s middle is the net, which is halfway between its two baselines. Tennis net must be 3’high at the court’s center. Additionally, it must be 3-½ feet high at a “singles sidelines” or a “doubles alleys”.

Types Of Tennis Court

While a tennis court can have different kinds of surfaces, it has been increasingly decided on by economic factors. Take for instance the grass courts; they used to be the original playing courts for outdoor games but are now being replaced by “synthetic” surfaces, as they’ve become very expensive to construct and maintain. Nevertheless, there are basically four types of tennis court surfaces today –the clay courts, grass courts, hard courts, and synthetic courts.

Clay Courts

Clay courts are typically made from crushed stone, shale, or brick, and can either be green or red. Red clay material is “slower” than green. This type of court is also referred to as “slow”, as balls bounce rather slowly and has less “forward motion”. This makes it harder for players to hit “unreturnable shots”.

Points typically take longer because there are lesser wins. Thus, clay courts greatly favor “baseliner” players who are generally more defensive and consistent. These players hit a shot by using heavy spins, making the ball move with forward motion, resulting to higher bounce. Clay courts are commonly seen in South America and Europe, and lesser in the US. The “French Open” use clay courts.

Grass Courts

The fastest type of surface for tennis courts; grass courts are commonly used for various tennis games. It is basically constructed of grass grown on “very hard-packed soil”, somewhat like golf greens. This factor adds an extra variable, which is “bounciness” for the ball. This advantage however, will depend on the healthiness of the grass, the recentness of mowing, and wear-and-tear of the last play.

Hard Courts

These are typically made of plastic or cement. Hard courts are also considered as “fast surfaces”, where the low and fast bounces meet the advantage of short and forceful hard-serving player. This type of court can also vary in speed, but they’re slower grass and faster than clay –this allows a tennis ball to “slide”. Hard courts are deemed to be the most “equal” for all types of playing style.

Synthetic Courts

These types of court are basically made of synthetic rubber, artificial grass, polyurethane, or other types of synthetic material. They can be fast or slow, and are generally cooler to play in compared to hard courts. They’re also considered “medium speed” courts, and are less pricey than clay, requiring a virtually “no-maintenance” court.

The tennis court is an essential part of tennis. Its construction and dimension follows standard rules for uniformity, particularly courts used for official tournaments.