The Biggest Tennis Stadiums in the World

Tennis stadium designers must strike a balance between having a venue big enough to hold a large crowd while ensuring all spectators have a good view of the action. Many fans have experienced the buzz that a capacity stadium can create during an exciting match – but if you’re sitting at the back and can’t see the court properly, it can ruin the event.

Realistically, tennis isn’t the type of sport that lends itself to supersized venues. Compared with the world’s largest football stadium, the 114,000-seat Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in North Korea, the biggest tennis stadium in the world may not seem jaw-dropping.

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However, if tennis arenas were this size, spectators at the back would hardly be able to see the action, diminishing the thrill.

The number of spectators is relevant to each particular sport, which is why the planet’s biggest tennis stadiums are still mind-boggling, considering the size of the court.

5. Beijing National Tennis Stadium

The world’s fifth largest arena is Beijing National Tennis Stadium in Beijing, China, which boasts a capacity of 15,000 on its main Diamond Court. The second largest Lotus Court has a capacity of 10,000, while Moon Court and Brad Drewett Court hold 4,000 and 2,000 spectators respectively.

Officially known as the China National Tennis Centre, the venue opened in 2007 and hosted the summer 2008 Beijing Olympics. Home of the China Open since 2009, it hosts a WTA 1000 and an ATP 500 event each year.

Novak Djokovic has dominated the China Open men’s singles by winning in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, while Britain’s Andy Murray won in 2016. Women’s singles winners have included Serena Williams in 2013 and Coco Gauff in 2024.

In addition to the 12 hard courts for competitions, the centre has 35 training courts including 20 outdoor hard, ten indoor hard, two artificial grass, two indoor clay courts and one mini hard court. With so many different surfaces, it’s a full-time job for tennis court maintenance professionals.

4. Accor Arena

Located in the suburbs of Bercy, in Paris, France, the Accor Arena is an indoor sports stadium and concert hall complex. Opening in 1984 as the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, the venue hosted the Rolex Paris Masters 1000, the final men’s Masters 1000 event of the year, between 1986 and 2024.

The tournament was held in October or early November in front of a capacity crowd of 15,000 spectators at the Accor Arena. However, it has been announced that the 2025 Paris Masters is moving to Paris La Défense Arena for the first time.

If you’ve ever seen the Accor Arena on TV, you’ll have noticed its unique slanted shape, so viewers can enjoy a different perspective on the game, as the camera angle is steeper than at other tennis tournaments. The stadium has had many upgrades during the past 40 years, its most recent being in 2015.

German tennis player Alexander Zverev won his first Paris Masters title in 2024, when he beat French opponent Ugo Humbert. It was his seventh Masters 1000 win, but his first in Paris. Many all-time greats have won the men’s singles event including Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

3. Indian Wells Tennis Garden

Indian Wells Tennis Garden, in Palm Springs, California, is one of the greatest outdoor tennis stadiums in the world. The 16,102-seat arena known as Stadium One is home of the BNP Paribas Open Masters 1000 tournament, held in March every year.

Famous moments at Indian Wells tournament include Novak Djokovic’s record 20 consecutive wins between 2014 and 2017, when he didn’t lose a single match. Tennis icon Rafael Nadal, who retired from the sport in 2024, won three titles in 2007, 2009 and 2013 and almost made a famous comeback in 2022, but lost to Taylor Fritz in the final.

Built in 2000, Indian Wells has been upgraded continually and boasts 29 courts, which have the latest sand fortified surface, Plexipave, that comes in several versions. The official court surface of the BNP Paribas Open, the Plexi Hardcourt system produces a fast playing surface that can influence the speed of the ball’s bounce, while it also provides extra cushioning for players.

2. Hard Rock Stadium

In front of a capacity 16,500 crowd, the Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida, hosts the Miami Open, a Masters 1000 tournament in March. With a dual use, it takes up to 80,000 spectators for NFL football matches, but the seating is limited for tennis tournaments, for the afore-mentioned reason of good visibility for the crowd.

After opening in 1987, it was upgraded to begin hosting the Miami Open in 2019, when the championship moved from Key Biscayne’s Crandon Park Tennis Centre. The 2024 tournament set a new attendance of 395,683 over its two week duration.

Spectators enjoy the social occasion almost as much as the tennis, with more than 30 sponsors offering their wares across the stadium grounds, including food and drinks.

In 2024, the first Miami Open Wheelchair Invitational saw world number one Diede De Groot of the Netherlands and 50-times major tournament winner Shingo Kunieda of Japan crowned as the women’s and men’s champions respectively.

1. Arthur Ashe Stadium

The world’s biggest tennis arena, the Arthur Ashe Stadium, at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York, has a massive capacity of 23,711. Steep sides around the court help to give spectators a great view, even in the back seats.

A major highlight of the international tennis circuit, the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium has been a fixture since 1978, when there were 19,000 seats. Renowned for its electric atmosphere, the stadium enjoys the addition of a roof which enhances the acoustics further.

Perhaps the player most associated with the US Open is American legend Jimmy Connors, who won five singles championships there and almost made it six in 1991, at the age of 39, when he was knocked out in the semi-finals in a five-set thriller against fellow US tennis icon Jim Courier.

In the UK, Wimbledon’s Centre Court is just outside the top five biggest courts, with 14,979 seats. In September 2024, the All England Club won approval to build 39 new courts, including an 8,000-seat covered show court with a retracting roof. The development also includes 27 acres of parkland for public use. Can’t wait to see how that pans out.