Tennis
The ball is struck with a racket over a net; the score climbs a ladder of points, games and sets, and each rung has to be won with something to spare.
Tennis Court
Under these rules: 10.97 m wide: the outer sidelines are in play.
A rectangle 23.77 m long; 8.23 m wide for singles and 10.97 m for doubles.
Both formats are marked on one court, so there are two sidelines a side. The service lines run 6.40 m from the net, and the centre service line halves the area between them.
Net
Under these rules: The net posts stand 0.914 m outside the doubles court on each side.
A net 0.914 m high at the centre and 1.07 m at the posts.
The sag in the middle is deliberate: the net is lower over the centre of the court, and a ball sent down the middle clears it more easily than one down the line.
Tennis Ball
Under these rules: The ball must be on the ITF list of approved balls.
A felt-covered ball giving a predictable bounce and holding spin.
The nap is not decoration: it slows the ball in the air and lets spin be imparted, which is what the whole modern game is built on.
Racket
Under these rules: One per player.
A racket whose hitting surface is a single pattern of crossed strings.
The strings form one flat plane: two sets of strings, or a surface on more than one plane, are not allowed. Devices that alter the racket's playing characteristics during a match are prohibited.
The rules of doubles tennis
What differs
The court is wider: 10.97 m, with the outer sidelines in play. The net posts stand 0.914 m outside the doubles court on each side.
Serving
The order of servers is fixed at the start of the set: one player of a pair serves a whole game, then a player of the opposing pair, then the first player's partner, then the second's.
The server's partner may stand anywhere on their own side.
Unlike in singles, the serve may be taken from behind the part of the baseline between the singles and doubles sidelines.
Receiving
The order of receiving is also fixed for the set: each player receives in their own court throughout.
The first return must be made by the player served to. After that either partner may play the ball.
Sources
- ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 · International Tennis Federation Open source
Glossary of terms
- Foot fault
- A breach of the server's footing: stepping on a line, walking, or touching a forbidden area.
- Game
- A rung of the score: 15, 30, 40, game. At forty-all a player must take two points in a row.
- Let
- A replay. On the service, when the ball clips the net and is otherwise good; a service let does not cancel a fault already served.
- Tie-break
- The game played at six-all, in which points are counted plainly to seven, win by two.