If you have ever asked a contractor what it costs to look after a private tennis court, you have probably been told two things: it depends, and a number that sounds high. Both are honest. Neither is useful.
What follows is the 2026 picture. The ranges an informed buyer should expect to see, and the questions to ask before signing anything.
The honest range
Private tennis court management in Melbourne lives in a band from roughly $800 to $14,500 per year. The bottom is a single annual clean for a synthetic grass court that is otherwise being ignored. The top is a full management tier for an estate property that includes ball machine servicing, racquet restringing, gardener and pool company coordination, and a pre-sale certificate.
Most owners we meet sit at one of three points.
- About $1,200 per year. Two professional visits, surface and biology done well, hardware kept up, written reports.
- About $7,500 per year. Four to six visits, the entire programme delegated, ball machine and racquets included, calendar handed over.
- About $9,000 to $14,500 per year. Bespoke management for a trophy property or multi-court estate.
Why DIY is not the cheap option you think it is
Many owners assume the cheapest option is to hand the court to the existing gardener and let them pressure-wash it once a year. The math looks good — perhaps $250 to $400 per visit — until you understand what is happening underneath.
Pressure-washing on synthetic grass strips infill and lifts fibres. Within two cycles, the court has lost meaningful sand and the fibres have begun to splay. The bounce slows. Drainage worsens. Biology gets pushed deeper into the textile by the pressure water and resurfaces, more aggressively, the following winter. By year three, the court is materially worse than it was when the gardener started.
The financial outcome is predictable. A $25,000 to $35,000 resurface arrives at year eight to ten, instead of year fifteen to twenty. The DIY route did not save money; it hid where the money was going.
What $1,200 a year actually buys
The Annual programme costs $1,200 per year. For that, a typical client receives:
- Two professional visits, one in spring and one in autumn.
- Mechanical decompaction and ITF-specification infill top-up.
- Synthetic-safe biocide application and dead-biology extraction.
- A net, post, winder and cable inspection with same-visit fixes.
- A written condition report within 48 hours of every visit.
- The Kort satisfaction guarantee.
$1,200 per year is roughly $3.30 per day. It is the floor of a serious programme.
What $7,500 a year adds
The Grand Slam programme adds the things a household actually uses month to month, not just the things a court needs.
- Four to six visits per year, scheduled on your calendar.
- Annual deep rejuvenation: pressure-clean of acrylic surrounds, line refresh, full hardware service.
- Ball machine servicing on schedule.
- Racquet restringing, up to four per year, premium strings.
- Premium ball supply per visit.
- Coordination with your gardener and pool company.
- Priority response — a Kort technician on site within 24 hours of an issue.
- A pre-sale condition certificate when you list your home.
Priced individually the elements above add up to roughly $12,200 in retail value. The bundle is $7,500. The reason is that the calendar removes the most expensive element of any home services job: drive time and reactive scheduling.
Estate-tier pricing
A small subset of clients have multi-court estates, multiple residences, or a trophy property where the court is part of the marketing of the home. Estate plans are quoted bespoke, typically in the $9,000 to $14,500 range, and include a single account contact and a quarterly walk-through with the principal or estate manager.
The cost of doing nothing: a 10-year model
The most honest cost comparison is not between Kort and a competitor. It is between any management programme and no programme at all.
Scenario A. No programme. $0 to $1,500 per year for the first four years. $2,000 to $4,000 in catch-up cleans years five to seven. $25,000 to $35,000 to resurface at year eight to ten. Ten-year total: roughly $35,000 to $45,000.
Scenario B. The Annual programme. $1,200 per year. Year ten: court is still on its original surface. Ten-year total: $12,000.
Scenario C. The Grand Slam programme. $7,500 per year, including ball machine, racquets and a pre-sale certificate. Year ten: court still on its original surface, retailed at the asset value of its replacement. Ten-year total: $75,000 — against a household that actually uses the court several times a week and has avoided buying balls, racquet strings, or a service provider they have to manage.
In every scenario in which the court is actually used, a scheduled programme is a smaller line item over a decade than no programme. The question is not whether to manage the court. It is which programme fits the calendar.
What to ask before signing any annual plan
- Who actually performs the work, and are they an employee or a subcontractor?
- What is included in the visit and what is excluded?
- Is the infill genuinely ITF-spec, and how do you measure it?
- What documentation do I receive after each visit?
- What insurance is held, and may I see the certificate of currency?
- What is your same-visit fix rate, and which parts are carried on the truck?
- What is the cancellation policy, and is the price index-linked?
Any answer that begins with we will sort it out on the day is not a programme. It is an ad-hoc arrangement.
