TENNIS 10s: Tennis for Players Aged 10 and Under

The ITF recommend that players aged 10 and under do not train or play competition with a regular yellow ball on a full court, but instead train and compete with a Red,  Orange or Green ball on the appropriate sized court.

Using these slower balls will help players to develop the most efficient technique, and to implement advanced tactics, that in most cases could not be performed using the yellow ball on the full court.

Tennis 10s is part of the ITF’s ‘Tennis…Play and Stay’ campaign, visit tennisplayandstay.com

Formats and Scoring Systems

The following scoring systems are included in the Rules of Tennis, to tailor competitions to the needs of 10 and under players:

-1 match tiebreak to 7 or 10

-Best of 3 match tiebreaks to 7

-1 short set (1st to 4 games)  

-Best of 3 short sets (1st to 4 games)

-Tiebreak instead of a 3rd set

-No ad scoring (play 1 game point at deuce)

-A combination of these

Instead of using single elimination formats, multi-match formats and ‘tennis festivals’ are recommended, which involve all players playing more than one match (e.g. round robin, compass draw), to ensure that all children play the same number of matches. Timed matches can help with effective organisation and rotation.

Team based matches are strongly recommended for 10 and under players, especially at Red and Orange.

Download free competition formats at tennisplayandstay.com/competitions