Tennis vs padel
By the Finding Tennis team · Updated 30 October 2026
Tennis and padel share the same scoring, but padel is played as doubles on a smaller court enclosed by walls, with a solid stringless racquet and an underarm serve. Tennis is played on a bigger open court, singles or doubles, with a strung racquet and usually an overhead serve.
| Tennis | Padel | |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 23.77 x 10.97 m doubles, open | 20 x 10 m, enclosed by walls |
| Players | Singles or doubles | Doubles |
| Racquet | Strung | Solid, perforated, no strings |
| Serve | Usually overhead | Underarm, at or below the waist |
| Walls | None | Ball can be played off the walls after it bounces |
| Scoring | 15, 30, 40, sets to six | The same, with golden point and star point options |
Tennis players usually adapt quickly to padel. The biggest change is letting the ball come off the back glass. Our sister site Finding Padel has the full guide.
Sources
ITF, 2026 Rules of Tennis; FIP, Rules of Padel.
Keep reading
Tennis or pickleball? Compare court size, equipment, the serve, the kitchen rule and scoring, and see which suits you.
A tennis court is 23.77 m long, 8.23 m wide for singles and 10.97 m wide for doubles, with service lines 6.40 m from the net. Every official measurement, with a diagram.
How tennis scoring works: 15, 30, 40, deuce and advantage, sets and the tie-break, plus no-ad scoring, short sets and the match tie-break used in club tennis.