Pro Tennis Rules

Professional tennis has a very specific set of rules that regulate everything from scoring to time limits taken between points. While most recreational and amateur players abide by the same rules, officials in pro tennis make sure no one abuses the system.

  1. Pro Tennis Court Dimensions

    • A professional tennis court is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for singles (36 feet for doubles) with the service boxes 21 feet long. There should be at least 21 feet of playability behind the court.

    Play

    • The players must hit the balls within the boundaries; balls that hit the lines are considered in play. When serving, the server is given two opportunities to get the ball into the field of play.

    Scoring

    • In professional tennis, the first person to win two sets out of a possible three wins the match, except in a Grand Slam event. In Grand Slam play, men play best-of-five sets, with no tiebreakers in the last set. A tennis player wins a set by being the first to win six games. A players must win a set by at least two games (tiebreakers are used when a set is tied at 6-6).

    Time Violations

    • Players have 25 seconds between points and 90 seconds on changeovers. A player who exceeds this too frequently will receive a warning followed by point penalty, then a game penalty.

    Challenging Calls

    • On certain show courts that have replay systems, players may challenge line calls. A player can challenge as many calls as he likes up to three incorrect ones per set.