, Finland 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: • Category 1 (slow) • Category 2 (medium-slow) • Category 3 (medium) • Category 4 (medium-fast) • Category 5 (fast) Of the current four
Grand Slam tournaments, the
Australian and
US Open use hard courts, the
French Open is played on clay, and
Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam to have always been played on the same surface, is played on grass. The Australian Open switched from grass 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 major to have been played on three surfaces; it was played on grass from its inception until 1974, green clay from 1975 until 1977 and hard courts since it moved from the
West Side Tennis Club to the
National Tennis Center in 1978. ITF uses the following classification for tennis court surface types:
Clay courts is played on clay courts. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. ), blue, gray Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce in comparison to grass or hard courts, taking away many of the advantages of big serves. Historically for the
Grand Slams clay courts have been used at the
French Open since 1891 and the
US Open from 1975 to 1977 (on green clay).
Grass courts Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use.
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 thus 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. Historically for the
Grand Slams grass courts have been used at
Wimbledon since 1877, the
US Open from 1881 to 1974, and the
Australian Open from 1905 to 1987.
Hard courts Hardcourts are made of uniform rigid material, often covered with an
acrylic surface layer Hardcourts can vary in speed, though 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. As well as acrylic, asphalt and concrete are also examples of hardcourt surfaces. The
US Open is played on
Laykold while the
Australian Open is played on
GreenSet, both acrylic-topped hardcourt surfaces. Historically for the
Grand Slams hardcourts have been used at the US Open since 1978 and the Australian Open since 1988.
Carpet courts ,
Cyprus "Carpet" in tennis means any removable court covering. Indoor arenas store rolls of rubber-backed court surfacing and install it temporarily for tennis events, but 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. 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 top tier of the ATP.
ATP Challenger Tour tournaments such as the
Trofeo Città di Brescia still use carpet courts. The WTA Tour's last carpet court event, the
International-level
Tournoi de Québec, was discontinued after 2018. ==Indoor courts==