Full Body Text:
The dimensions of a tennis court are created by a series of two-inch white lines and the net, which divides the court into two equal halves. Each line has a different name. In no particular order they are: the baseline, the singles sideline, the doubles sideline, the service line, and the center service line. The baseline is the only line on the tennis court that can be wider than two inches. The International Tennis Federation states that the baseline can be up to five inches wide (citation).
The singles tennis court is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide. These dimensions are created by the singles sidelines, which run the length of the tennis court on each side, and the baselines, which run the width of the court on each end. The net divides the court into two equal halves, making each side 39 feet long and 27 feet wide.
The net is held up by two net posts on either end of the court. The posts hold the net 3 ½ feet high at each end. Each post must be 3 feet outside of the doubles sidelines (we will explain what the doubles sideline is in a moment). The middle of the net is slightly lower at the center of the court, where it is held down to a height of 3 feet by a strap anchored to the tennis court. Although the top of the net is made of a cord or metal cable, it is covered in a white plastic band. The strap that holds the net down at the center of the tennis court must also be completely white in color.
When playing singles tennis, two 3-inch metal poles called singles sticks are used to raise the outside ends of the net. These sticks are placed 3 feet outside either singles sideline to raise the level of the net to 3 ½ feet, the same height as the net posts.
On each side of the tennis court there are two services boxes adjacent to the net. These, of course, are the boxes that must be served into to start the point. These boxes are created by two lines: the center service line and the service line. The center service line runs from the middle of the net down the middle of the tennis court for 21 feet. There it runs into the service line, which runs the length of the singles tennis court. To be clear, the service line is 21 feet from the net. Just like the baseline, it is 27 feet wide.
These two lines form two boxes: the deuce service box and the ad service box. Because the center service line bisects the service line to create each box, their dimensions are 21 feet long and 13.5 feet wide (27 divided by 2 is 13.5).
There are two more lines that are important if you play doubles tennis: the doubles sidelines. There is one on either end of the tennis court three feet further out from the singles sideline. In doubles, the baseline runs from doubles sideline to doubles sideline. The combination of the net, singles and doubles sidelines, and the baseline form the doubles alley, which is 39 feet long and 4 and ½ feet wide. This makes the baseline 36 feet long in doubles.
|
