Tennis Court

• Design
• Construction
• Renovation
• Maintenance
• Rules & Regulations

Tennis Court Designs

Tennis courts are among the smallest playing surfaces discussed in this book, with only such facilities as bocce, nine-wicket croquet, and sand volleyball courts using less space. However, the construction cost per square foot of a tennis court is the highest of all sports fields in this book. For one thing, when the "clear playing area" around the court is added, the dimensions of the area commonly thought of as "the tennis court" are more than two and a half times the dimensions of the lines court itself. With the budget for necessary extras, such as high fences, windscreens, net posts, net, and even lighting, the cost per square foot of the court escalates rapidly.
 
15.2a Survey and Layout
 
The standard tennis court, lined for both singles and doubles, is 36 feet x 78 feet. With 12 feet at each side and 21 feet at each end of the court for a clear playing area, the standard size court is 60 feet x 120 feet. (A court set up for singles only is 17 feet x 78 feet.) The standard size short court, including the clear playing area, is 30 feet x 60 feet. The design process begins with surveying enough land to determine the natural movement of surface water in and around the site to determine if catch basins, swales, or interceptor drains will be necessary.
 
Tennis courts need to be oriented a little differently in the northern U.S. than in the South, especially if the southern courts will be used year-round. In the North, tennis courts typically are used from May through September and a north-south orientation is used most often. In the South, it is better to orient the court 15o-25o off true north in a northwest-southeast direction, especially if players will use the court between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon. This orientation prevents the players from looking directly into the sun during the winter months, when the sun is lower in the sky.
 
15.2b Design Criteria for New Construction
 
The most critical issue to be dealt with in designing a tennis court is the height of the net, which is to be 36" above the surface at the center of the court and 42" above the surface at the post. Another critical issue is positive surface drainage, which is as important for tennis courts as it is for the skinned areas of baseball diamonds. If the court has a uniform slope with no deviations in the grade, the height of the net can be set correctly.
 
15.2c Court Designs with Preferred Contours
 
The preferred tennis court contour is a flat surface that is sloped side-to-side. If the existing terrain is sloped in such a way that an end-to-end slope would work better, this contour would be the second choice. A third choice is to slope the surface from corner to corner. No matter what the contour of the existing land, a tennis court surface should never be crowned in any direction. Any crown at all affects the height of the net.
 
The recommended percentage of slope for a nonporous court (asphalt or concrete) is 1" in 10 feet (.8%) to 1¼" in 10 feet (1%). The percentage of slope for a porous court (grass or clay) is 1" in 30 feet (.25%) to 1" in 20 feet (.4%). The lowest percentage of slope (.25%) is recommended only for grass courts built with an amended sand growing medium, because water is expected to drain by gravity to an installed network of sub-surface pipe drains to keep the court playable. Clay courts or fast-dry courts will dry faster when the percentage of slope is at .4%, because these courts must depend on surface drainage rather than internal drainage.
 
15.2d Multiple-Court Layout
 
If there is sufficient space for multiple courts, there is a definite cost advantage in building them. The reason for a lower cost is that multiple courts (built side-by-side) share the clear playing area between the courts. For example, a court that is built alone needs a 12-foot clear playing area on both sides of the court. In the case of multiple courts, the 12 foot clear space is shared by two courts, eliminating an area that is 12 feet wide by 120 feet long. This saves about 20% of the cost of the second court.
 
For club play, the United States Tennis Association recommends limiting the shared clear space to three consecutive courts, with a 15-foot shared clear playing area on both sides of the middle court.
 
15.2e Tennis Court Surfaces
 
As mentioned above, surfaces for tennis can be divided into nonporous surfaces and porous surfaces.
 
Nonporous Paved Courts
The most common nonporous surfaces for tennis courts are paved surfaces with a color coating. This color coating can take several forms, from pain to rubberized materials. In the North, asphalt is used more often than concrete. In the South, concrete is more common, because asphalt tends to melt as a result of prolonged high temperatures. Nonporous courts require the least maintenance, and when properly constructed, they need to be renovated only about every four to six years. Renovation is usually limited to color coating and line painting. (Follow local codes for proper base materials and surface installation.)
 
Nonporous Sand-Filled Synthetic Turf Courts
A new type of tennis court playing surface that is increasing in popularity is sand-filled synthetic turf. This type of surface provides a durable playing surface that places reduced stress on players' feet and legs. Sand-filled synthetic turf also offers rapid drainage characteristics and limited maintenance (which consists primarily of applying, distributing, and smoothing the sand into and across the turf fibers). This type of surface has competitive characteristics that are a cross between those experienced on grass and clay courts. In using this type of surface, consult manufacturers' specifications regarding sand size and uniformity. The synthetic turf is installed over concrete or asphalt.
 
Porous Clay Courts and Fast-Dry Courts
Fast-dry courts are sometimes referred to as "clay courts," but there is a difference between the two. The main difference is that what is called "clay" is actually a natural material consisting of a mixture of sand, silt, and clay (similar to the material used on the skinned area of a baseball diamond). Fast-dry material is manufactured from crushed stone or brick, mixed with a chemical binder. Fast-dry courts are more widely used than clay courts. In fact, most clay courts eventually are upgraded to fast-dry courts by adding a thin layer (3/8") of fast-dry material on top of the clay.
 
Both clay courts and fast-dry courts require daily or weekly maintenance such as line painting, brushing and rolling the surface, and even daily irrigation to keep the surface playable in hot, dry weather. Annual renovation is necessary to renew the surface for another year's use. Fast-dry courts are popular at tennis clubs, which typically use them in combination with paved courts.
 
Porous Grass Courts
There are not many grass courts in existence in North America, and most of those in use are found at golf or country clubs. The reason for their rarity is that grass courts need the attention of a professional groundskeeper to be maintained properly. (Country clubs already have such professionals on staff.)
 
Since grass tennis courts are designed with less slope than other tennis court surfaces, high water permeability rates are necessary to avoid a soggy surface. To achieve high Permeability rates and less soil compaction, predominantly sand-based soils used in golf putting green construction are sometimes used. These systems (described in Chapter 24) typically contain 80% or more sand mixed thoroughly with an organic matter source. Installed correctly, these soil mixes deliver adequate water holding capacity, while still providing rapid drainage and reduced compaction. Amended sand as a growing medium can also provide another benefit for grass tennis courts: amendment with sand can help to minimize compaction tendency in concentrated traffic areas.
 
(It's important to remember, however, that predominantly sand-based soils also have high maintenance requirements, particularly in regard to fertility and irrigation management.
 
A mid-1990s survey by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) indicated that most grass court tennis was not played on the typical sand-based soil systems used in golf putting green construction. The reason for this is that footing stability decreases as the grass wears. For this reason, many grass court facilities in this country simply manage their existing topsoil (if suitable), purchase and install a desirable topsoil such as a sandy loam, or if choosing to go with a sand-based system as described in Chapter 24, meet specifications that allow for the addition of some clay and silt-based material in the mix. These soils will obviously have very different physical and chemical properties and will have to be managed accordingly.
 
In the southern U.S., the type of grass used most often for grass tennis courts is bermudagrass. For instance, the Sonoran Clubhouse, near Scottsdale, Arizona, includes four Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses, a grass tennis court, and a nine-wicket croquet lawn. The tennis and croquet courts were constructed to meet USGA putting green specifications. For irrigation, the Clubhouse uses a drip system 6" below final grade with 12" spacing, instead of the traditional pop-up rotors. A ½" hot water pipe heating system was installed 2" below the drip irrigation at 6" on center to keep frost off the surface of the tennis court during the early morning winter hours. The grass is 'Tifgreen' bermudagrass and is mowed at 3/16". The tennis court is overseeded in the winter with perennial ryegrass.
 
For cool season tennis courts, creeping bentgrass is usually the turfgrass of choice. At Wimbledon, however, the turfgrass is 70% 'Lorina" perennial ryegrass and 30% 'Barcrown' creeping red fescue. The average height of cut during the playing season is 8 millimeters (approximately 5/16"). There are 32 grass courts at Wimbledon, maintained by a crew of 14 full-time and 8 part-time employees. Needless to say, it is not an easy task to properly maintain top-quality grass tennis courts.
 
15.2f Installed Irrigation Systems
 
The irrigation design shown in Figure 15.1 can be used for clay, fast-dry, and grass court surfaces. The only difference is that for clay and fast-dry courts, a faster-rotating sprinkler head is recommended to keep the surface from being saturated too quickly. The faster rotation allows for better control of the amount of water being applied at one time.
 
(The irrigation system in Figure 15.1 specified Hunter's I-40 head. For clay and fast-dry surfaces, the I-42 head should be substituted; the I-42 rotates three times as fast, cutting rotation time from three minutes to one minute. However, to achieve the same throwing distance, substitute the next larger nozzle size. This large nozzle will increse the gallons per minute applied, but the amount will still be less than half that applied by the I-40 head.)
 
Figure 15.1. Irrigation system for porous tennis court surfaces.
 
This design requires water pressure of 75 PSI at field edge and yields a pressure of 60 PSI at the base of the sprinkler heads. Average precipitation rate for this system will be .83 inches/hour for half-circle heads and 1.66 inches/hour for quarter-circle heads. Running time for 1" watering will be one hour 12 minutes for half-circle heads, 36 minutes for quarter-circle heads.
 
15.2g Installed Drain Systems and Catch Basins
 
Nonporous Surfaces
Under normal circumstances, nonporous tennis court surfaces will not need a subsurface drain system under the court. However, if they are constructed in a low-lying area, or an area known to have a high water table, a network of installed subsurface drains may be necessary to keep water from accumulating under the court. Underlying water will eventually degrade the paved surface and reconstruction will be necessary.
 
However, it may be necessary to intercept surface water as it runs off the court so it will not reach an adjoining facility. An interceptor drain placed at the low end of the court will serve this purpose. This type of drain has a perforated pipe with pea gravel all the way to the surface. (For more on interceptor drains, see Chapter 8, Section 8.4a)
 
Swales and/or catch basins are typically necessary around a court to stop surface water from reaching the court.
 
Porous Surfaces
Porous tennis courts, especially those with grass surfaces, require an installed drain system. The type of subsurface drain system recommended for amended sand grass courts is discussed in Chapter 24. The only type of installed drain system recommended for a clay or fast-dry court is a traditional pipe drain system with 4" pipes and pea gravel to within 4" of the surface. However, it should be noted that this type of drainage system only helps in removing subsurface water. Water on the surface could be there for days, because the clay or fast-dry material is not porous enough to let water pass through quickly. Clay and fast-dry courts act much like a baseball field skinned area, so surface drainage is the most important factor in assuring a playable surface in wet weather.
 
Like nonporous surfaces, porous tennis courts need to be isolated from the surrounding terrain with swales and/or catch basins to stop surface water from reaching the court.