This paper presents the design and performance analysis of a rectangular microstrip patch antenna (rmpa) operating at 10 GHz, which incorporates a Split Ring Defective Ground Structure (DGS) and holes in the patch antenna to achieve high gain. The proposed antenna has a compact size of 30.7 × 27.9 mm2, which makes it suitable for various applications where space is a constraint. The DGS is created by introducing a series of slots in the ground plane, which acts as a resonant structure and helps to suppress unwanted frequencies. The holes in the patch antenna help to further improve the performance by reducing surface wave losses and enhancing radiation efficiency. The proposed antenna exhibits a gain of 8.8 dBi, favorable return loss, and effective impedance matching with a bandwidth extending to 397.5 MHz. The proposed antenna design offers a cost-effective solution for achieving high gain and improved performance in microstrip patch antennas operating at 10 GHz making it suitable for applications requiring a wide coverage area.