Singles tennis burns about 560 calories an hour for a 154 lb (70 kg) player; doubles burns about 315 to 420 an hour for the same player. Your weight, the format, and how hard the points are decide the number. Use our calories burned calculator to work out your own session — this guide gives the MET tables by weight and session type, the formula, and how tennis compares with running and cycling.
The Compendium of Physical Activities lists singles tennis at 8.0 METs, general play at 6.8, doubles at 4.5 to 6.0, and practice hitting at 5.0. At 8.0 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) player burns 560 calories an hour — 280 in half an hour — while a 90 kg (198 lb) player burns 720 an hour. Doubles is lower because you cover less court and play fewer of the points.
Calculate My BurnExercise science measures activity with METs, where 1 MET is resting energy use and higher numbers mean harder work. The formula is simple: calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours played. Singles tennis at 8.0 METs is vigorous — the CDC classifies anything at 6.0 METs or above as vigorous — while social doubles at 4.5 METs is moderate. The table below uses the 2024 Adult Compendium values and the standard formula, rounded to the nearest 5 calories.
| Session (60 min) | METs | 125 lb (57 kg) | 154 lb (70 kg) | 185 lb (84 kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doubles, social | 4.5 | ~255 | ~315 | ~380 |
| Practice / rally hitting | 5.0 | ~285 | ~350 | ~420 |
| Doubles, steady rallies | 6.0 | ~340 | ~420 | ~505 |
| General play, moderate | 6.8 | ~390 | ~475 | ~570 |
| Singles, competitive | 8.0 | ~455 | ~560 | ~670 |
Check the math on the headline number: a 70 kg player at 8.0 METs for one hour burns 8.0 × 70 × 1 = 560 calories. The same player at 4.5 METs in social doubles burns 4.5 × 70 × 1 = 315. The weight effect is linear and large: a 185 lb player burns about 47% more than a 125 lb player in the same match (670 vs 455 in singles), because every sprint, stop, and swing moves more mass. And the format effect is just as large: an hour of singles burns roughly 1.3 to 1.8 times as much as an hour of doubles, because in singles you cover the whole court and play every point, while in doubles you share the court and rest between your partner's points. Harvard's activity table agrees with the Compendium: it lists tennis at about 210, 252, and 294 calories per 30 minutes for adults weighing 125, 155, and 185 pounds in general play — 420, 504, and 588 per hour, right in the middle of the table above.
Tennis is an intermittent sport — short explosive sprints, lateral shuffles, and brief recoveries, repeated for an hour or two — and that pattern is why the burn stays high even when the match feels stop-start. Three one-hour singles sessions a week at 70 kg burn about 1,680 calories (3 × 560), which is roughly half a pound of fat per week from tennis alone at 3,500 calories per pound — before any diet change. A 90-minute singles match burns about 840 calories for the same player (8.0 × 70 × 1.5 = 840), which is more than a 5-mile run at a moderate pace. Doubles players need more court time for the same burn: three one-hour social doubles sessions are about 945 calories a week (3 × 315), or about a quarter-pound of fat. The practical point is that tennis counts as real exercise, not just a social game — two singles sessions a week at an hour each is 1,120 calories, which is most of the way to the 1,500-calorie weekly activity target many weight-loss plans use.
Against the other big calorie burners, tennis holds up well. Running at 6 mph (10-minute miles) is about 10 METs, so it burns more per hour than singles tennis — about 700 calories an hour for a 70 kg runner against 560 for tennis — but most recreational runners cannot sustain 6 mph for an hour, while most tennis players can sustain a match for two. Cycling at a moderate 12 to 14 mph is about 8 METs, essentially the same as singles tennis. The difference is what else you get: tennis adds lateral movement, hand-eye coordination, and short-burst agility that running and cycling do not, and the stop-start pattern with recovery between points means a two-hour match is sustainable in a way a two-hour run is not. For weight loss, the best exercise is the one you will do three times a week for a year — and a sport with a social draw and a scoreboard beats a treadmill for most people on that test.
If you want the calories up, play singles instead of doubles — it is the single biggest lever, worth 1.3 to 1.8 times the burn. Play on a hard court rather than clay if you have the choice: the faster surface means longer rallies and more movement per point. Keep the changeovers short and skip the long sits between games; the Compendium numbers include the standing around between points, so a match with long breaks burns less than the table says. Add a 10-minute warm-up of rally hitting (5.0 METs, about 60 calories for a 70 kg player) and a 10-minute cool-down walk, and a one-hour session becomes 80 minutes and about 650 calories. And hydrate properly: a 90-minute match in summer heat can cost 1 to 2 liters of sweat, so bring water and drink between games — dehydration cuts your movement and your burn long before it cuts your score.
Our calories burned calculator works out your exact session — weight, format, and court time — in seconds.
Calculate My BurnWritten by the Live Fitness Check editorial team · Reviewed against our calculator methodology · Last updated November 2026
Disclaimer: This guide is for general information only and is not medical advice. Calorie burn figures are population averages from the Compendium of Physical Activities and vary by fitness level, intensity, and conditions. Talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise program.
