Tennis Rules - Court

 Tennis Rules - Court

Dimensions

The dimensions of a tennis court.

Tennis is played on a rectangular flat surface, usually of grass, clay or hard material. The dimensions of a tennis court are defined and regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) governing body and are written down in the annual 'Rules of Tennis' document.[1] The court is 78 feet (23.77 metres) long. Its width is 27 feet (8.23 metres) for singles matches and 36 feet (10.97 metres) for doubles matches.[2] The service line is 21 feet (6.40 metres) from the net.[2] Additional clear space around the court is needed in order for players to reach overrun balls for a total of 60 feet (18 metres) wide and 120 feet (37 metres) long. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 metres) high at the posts, and 3 feet (0.91 metres) high in the center.[3] The net posts are 3 feet (0.91 metres) outside the doubles court on each side or, for a singles net, 3 feet (0.91 metres) outside the singles court on each side.

Surfaces

Tennis is played on a variety of surfaces and each surface has its own characteristics which affect the playing style of the game. There are four main types of courts depending on the materials used for the court surface: clay courts, hard courts, grass courts and carpet courts. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) lists different surfaces and properties and classifies surfaces into one of five pace settings:[4]

• Category 1 (slow)
• Category 2 (medium-slow)
• Category 3 (medium)
• Category 4 (medium-fast)
• Category 5 (fast)
  

Of the current Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open and Australian Open use hard courts, the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon is played on grass and is the only Grand Slam tournament to have always been played on one surface. The Australian Open switched to hard courts in 1988 and in its early years the French championship alternated between clay and sand/rubble courts. The US Open is the only one of the four majors to have been played on three surfaces; the tournament was played on grass from its inception until 1974, on green clay until 1977, and on hard courts since the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club to the National Tennis Center in 1978.

ITF uses the following classification for tennis court surface types:[5]

Surface code	Type	Description
A	Acrylic	Textured, pigmented, resin-bound coating
B	Artificial clay	Synthetic surface with the appearance of clay
C	Artificial grass	Synthetic surface with the appearance of natural grass
D	Asphalt	Bitumen-bound aggregate
E	Carpet	Textile or polymeric material supplied in rolls or sheets of finished product
F	Clay	Unbound mineral aggregate
G	Concrete	Cement-bound aggregate
H	Grass	Natural grass grown from seed
J	Other	E.g. modular systems (tiles), wood, canvas

 

Clay courts

Main article: Clay court

The French Open is played on clay courts.

Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone, or brick.[6] The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament to use clay courts.

Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce in comparison to grass courts or hard courts.[6] For this reason, the clay court takes away many of the advantages of big serves, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface. Clay courts are cheaper to construct than other types of tennis courts, but a clay surface costs more to maintain. Clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The clay's water content must be balanced; green courts generally require the courts to be sloped to allow water run-off.

Clay courts are more common in Europe and Latin America than in North America and tend to heavily favour baseline players.

 

Grass courts

Roger Federer playing on the grass at Centre Court

Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use.[6] They consist of grass grown on very hard-packed soil, which adds additional variables: bounces depend on how healthy the grass is, how recently it has been mown, and the wear and tear of recent play. Points are usually very quick where fast, low bounces keep rallies short, and the serve plays a more important role than on other surfaces. Grass courts tend to favour serve-and-volley tennis players.

Grass courts were once among the most common tennis surfaces, but are now rare due to high maintenance costs, as they must be watered and mown often, and take a longer time to dry after rain than hard courts. The grass surface, however, is the most compatible with the human body because of its softness.

Hard courts

Arthur Ashe Stadium (Hard court)

Hard courts are made of uniform rigid material, often covered with an acrylic surface layer,[6] offering greater consistency of bounce than other outdoor surfaces.[7] Hard courts can vary in speed, although they are faster than clay but not as fast as grass courts. The quantity of sand added to the paint can greatly affect the rate at which the ball slows down.[8] The US Open is played on DecoTurf, while the Australian Open is played on Plexicushion, both acrylic topped hard court surfaces.

Carpet courts

A carpet court in Krakow, Pland

"Carpet" in tennis means any removable court covering.[6] Indoor arenas store rolls of rubber-backed court surfacing and install it temporarily for tennis events, however they are not in use any more for professional events. A short piled form of artificial turf infilled with sand is used for some outdoor courts, particularly in Asia. Carpet is generally a fast surface, faster than hardcourt, with low bounce.[6]

Notable tennis tournaments previously held on carpet courts were the WCT Finals, Paris Masters, U.S. Pro Indoor and Kremlin Cup. Since 2009 their use has been discontinued on the ATP and WTA tours.

source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_court