Sport guide
Beach tennis
Beach tennis is played on sand with solid paddles and a low-pressure ball, which must be hit before it touches the ground, over a high net on a court the size of a beach volleyball court. Doubles is the standard format. It began in Italy and is now played on beaches and sand courts in Europe and the Americas, with ITF-sanctioned events.
Importance 3 out of 5Importance rating
At a glance
- Court
- 16 m × 8 m (52 ft 6 in × 26 ft 3 in)
- Played with
- A paddle and a ball
- Formats
- Doubles, Singles, Mixed doubles
- Governing body
- World Tennis (formerly the International Tennis Federation)
- Origin
- Being verified
The court
Formats
- Doubles
- Singles
- Mixed doubles
How it is played
Beach tennis is played on sand, usually as doubles, and the ball is never allowed to bounce: every shot must be hit in the air and sent over the net into the opponents' court. Games use tennis scoring with a deciding point at deuce, sets go to six games, and a match tie-break to ten points replaces a third set.
Explore beach tennis
- RulesServe, scoring and losing the point, each point from the official rules
- CourtsCourt size 16 m × 8 m (52 ft 6 in × 26 ft 3 in), drawn to scale
- Organisations4 organisations, from World Tennis to national federations, by region
Related sports
Sources
- ITF Rules of Beach Tennis, World Tennis (formerly the International Tennis Federation), 2023 (effective 1 January 2023), as amended by the ITF 2026 amendmentsitftennis.comOfficial rulebook or governing body (tier 1 of 5)