How Big Is a Tennis Court? Official Dimensions Explained

A tennis court is 23.77 metres (78 feet) long. For doubles it is 10.97 metres (36 feet) wide; for singles it narrows to 8.23 metres (27 feet). The net stands 0.914 metres (3 feet) high at the centre and 1.07 metres (3.5 feet) at the posts. Those numbers come straight from Rule 1 of the ITF Rules of Tennis, and they are the same on a park court as they are on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

That is the part people don’t expect: there is no enlarged “pro-size” court for elite play. Grass, clay, hard court or carpet, the rectangle does not change. The one place the International Tennis Federation does authorise a different size is at the other end of the game — Appendix VII of the same rulebook sanctions shorter Red and Orange courts for 10-and-under competition.

Official court dimensions

Every line is fixed by Rule 1. Here is the full set of measurements in both metric and imperial units, with the ITF’s own figures for the net and the lines.

Measurement	Metres	Feet / inches
Court length (full)	23.77 m	78 ft
Court width (doubles)	10.97 m	36 ft
Court width (singles)	8.23 m	27 ft
Doubles alley width (each side)	1.37 m	4 ft 6 in
Net to service line	6.40 m	21 ft
Service line to baseline	5.49 m	18 ft
Net to baseline	11.89 m	39 ft
Service box width	4.11 m	13 ft 6 in
Centre mark length	0.10 m	4 in
Net height at centre	0.914 m	3 ft
Net height at posts	1.07 m	3 ft 6 in
Net length (doubles)	12.80 m	42 ft
Net post offset from sideline	0.914 m	3 ft
Line width (most lines)	0.025–0.05 m	1–2 in
Line width (baseline, max)	0.10 m	4 in

Two details from Rule 1 are easy to miss. All court measurements are taken to the outside of the lines, which means the lines themselves belong to the court. And the centre service line and centre mark are drawn at a fixed 5 cm (2 in), wider than the minimum allowed for the other markings.

The court layout explained

A tennis court splits into two equal halves at the net. Each half contains the same set of lines and zones:

• Baseline: the back line marking the end of the court, where serves are struck from
• Service boxes: two rectangles either side of the centre service line where serves must land
• No-man’s land: the 5.49 m strip between the service line and the baseline, the trickiest place to be caught mid-rally
• Net cord area: the zone right behind the net, contested during volleys and drop shots

Service boxes

A serve has to land in one of two boxes, each 6.40 m (21 ft) deep from net to service line and 4.11 m (13 ft 6 in) wide — the ITF’s own court-marking guide in Appendix IX gives that half-width as 13 ft 6 in from the centre. On a deuce point the server aims for the box on the right (from the server’s own perspective); on an advantage point, the left. All four service boxes are the same size in singles and doubles, because the service line is drawn only between the singles sidelines.

The doubles alley

The doubles alley is the 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) strip between the singles sideline and the doubles sideline on each side of the court. In singles, a ball landing there is out. In doubles, that same strip is live for the whole rally — but serves still have to land within the narrower singles-width service box.

Why the dimensions rarely change

The ITF fixes one court size for adult competition so that skill, not scale, decides matches. A club player learns the exact geometry a professional plays on, which makes coaching, tactics and shot selection transferable at every level. It also simplifies construction: builders pour to a single spec, and any court that meets it can host sanctioned play.

The exception is deliberate and sits in the rulebook. Appendix VII allows a Red court of 10.97–12.80 m by 4.27–6.10 m (net 0.80–0.838 m high) and an Orange court of 17.68–18.29 m by 6.10–8.23 m for 10-and-under events, paired with slower Stage 3 and Stage 2 balls. Rule 1 explicitly cross-references them. So it is not quite true that tennis has only ever had one court — it has one adult court.

Total space required to build a court

The playing surface is only part of the story, and the ITF publishes recommended clearances in Appendix IX of the Rules of Tennis. They are guidance rather than binding rules, and they differ by level of play.

Level	Behind each baseline	Beyond each sideline	Total footprint
International competition	6.40 m (21 ft)	3.66 m (12 ft)	~36.57 m × 18.29 m (120 ft × 60 ft)
Recreational and club play	5.48 m (18 ft)	3.05 m (10 ft)	~34.73 m × 17.07 m (114 ft × 56 ft)

Note which way round those go. The familiar 120 ft by 60 ft figure quoted by builders is the international recommendation, not a club minimum — a recreational court can be built to a smaller 114 ft by 56 ft envelope. For indoor courts the ITF also suggests a minimum ceiling height of 9.0 m (29.6 ft), measured at the net.

How does court size affect play?

The lines never move, but the surface underneath changes how big the court feels. Grass is fast with a low bounce, so points end quickly and the court plays small. Clay is slow with a high bounce, giving players time to recover ground and making the same dimensions feel roomier. Hard courts sit in between, medium-fast with a consistent bounce, which is why they are usually treated as the neutral surface to learn on.

Related terms and comparisons

A few measurements often get confused with the court size itself. The doubles alley refers only to the outer strips, not the whole court. The service line sits 6.40 m from the net, not at the halfway point — the halfway point is 11.89 m away. Singles sticks are the two props used to raise a doubles net to 1.07 m at the singles sideline positions, 0.914 m outside each singles sideline.

And on shared facilities, a tennis court dwarfs the sport it now shares space with. A pickleball court is 13.41 m by 6.10 m (44 ft by 20 ft), which happens to be the same rectangle as a doubles badminton court. Four of them fit inside the 60 ft by 120 ft fenced enclosure of one tennis court, once you allow each about 30 ft by 60 ft of surrounds — which is why converted facilities usually re-line the whole enclosure rather than just overlay the painted court.

Rule 1’s court dimensions have been stable for decades, but the ITF republishes the Rules of Tennis every year and the guidance in the appendices does get revised. Every figure above was checked against the ITF’s published Rules of Tennis in July 2026; if you are building a court, download the current edition before you pour anything.