Beach tennis started in Italy in the early 1970s and has since grown in popularity all over the world, especially in Italy, Brazil, and Spain. It’s a fun and dynamic sport that combines elements of tennis, beach volleyball, and badminton on a sand court.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) officially recognizes and governs the sport, with a dedicated Beach Tennis World Tour and championships.

> Official Rules of ITF Beach Tennis 2025

Beach Tennis is usually played in teams of two. It’s like tennis but with a higher net, and the ball can’t touch the ground. Players use paddles to hit a soft tennis ball over the net into the other team's court. Points start with a serve and end when the ball hits the ground, a player’s body, or is hit more than once on one side. The aim is to hit the ball over the net in one hit.

Court Dimensions:
Doubles: 16 meters long x 8 meters wide
Singles: 16 meters long x 4.5 meters wide

Net:
A close-meshed net to prevent balls from flying through. The height of the net for Women, Mixed, and Juniors is 1.7 meters high (~5ft 7in); for Men: 1.8 meters high (~5ft 11in).

Paddles/Racquets: Shorter and more maneuverable than traditional tennis rackets, without strings.

Balls: Slightly depressurized tennis balls (ITF Stage 2), which travel more slowly and have a lower bounce on sand, allowing for longer rallies.

Key Rules/Differences from Traditional Tennis:

No Bounce: The ball is not allowed to touch the ground. All shots are volleys. If the ball touches the sand, the point is over.

No Second Serve/Lets on Serve: There's only one serve allowed per point. If the serve hits the net and goes over, it's still in play (no "let").

Scoring: Similar to tennis (15, 30, 40, game), but with "no-advantage" scoring (if tied at 40-40, the next point wins the game). A set is usually 6 games.  A match is usually best of 3 sets, with the third tie-breaker set frequently being a 10 point game. 

Serving Position: The server can serve from anywhere behind the baseline, and can serve to anywhere on the opponent's side; it doesn't have to be diagonal.

No-Block Zone: There's a 3-meter zone behind the net that returning players are not allowed to enter before the serve is hit (for professional men's doubles, this zone is 6m for the server's partner).