History of Tennis

Origins

Some historians believe that tennis first

originated in the Ancient Egypt. There is a
general belief that the word ‘racket’ derives
from the Arabic word ‘rakhat’, which means a
‘palm’. However, the most common point of view is that French monks started
to play tennis in 11-12 centuries. Tennis started to develop into a professional
sport from 1872, when the first lawn tennis club was established. Hoa Pereira,
a Portuguese merchant, and doctors Wellesley Tomkins and Frederick Haynes
played a Spanish game with the ball called ‘pelota’ on lawns of the Leamington
resort. Later, the original rules for lawn tennis were secured (tennis on a lawn).

Wingfield

Although it is impossible to state a definite origin of

this game, it is recognized that a British army officer
Walter Clopton Wingfield invented rules for tennis,
later calling it ‘lawn tennis’ in 1873. He had noticed a significant commercial
potential of lawn tennis and patented the game, though he failed to justify its
creation. Mr. Winfield said that he had borrowed the principles of the Greek
game called “Sphairistike” (Greek for playing ball). However, many
researchers believe that he just used the principles of popular English games -
playing at courts, squash rackets, playing badminton outdoors. Very first tennis
players preferred to call Wingfield’s game “tennis on the green”, because they
would play tennis on a small, grassy lawn.

Court Tennis
 Lawn tennis is also known, as ‘court tennis’ was very
popular in medieval France even among the upper
classes. During the same time it was also very
popular in Great Britain, especially in the times of
Henry VIII. Historians hold a belief that the most of tennis terms derived from
the French vocabulary. In fact, the word ‘tennis’ comes from the word ‘tenez’
(‘tenir’ means to hold/ catch in French). When tennis players were going to hit
a serve, they would scream out ‘tenez’. The word ‘Deuce’ came from the
French word ‘deux le jeu’ that means ‘equally’ - in other words to draw a score
at the present stage of the game. Calling the score 15-30-40 derived from the
euphonic French words ‘quinze’, ‘trente’ and ‘quarante’, or quarters (15-30-45,
where 45 was transformed into 40).

The Davis Cup

In the beginning tennis ball was made out of wool

and filled with sawdust, sand and wool. Later on a
high-bound ball was invented, which allowed
players to play on courts. In the USA the game
was first organized thanks to Merry Young, and
the country saw its first ever tennis match in 1874 on the courts of the cricket
and baseball club on the Staten Island. The first amateur championship was
played on the courts of the global English tennis and cricket club Wimbledon
(men’s championship in 1877 and women’s championship in 1884). In 1900
was the first lawn tennis team championship called Davis Cup and it attracted
great attention of the international tennis community. In 1963 the similar
women’s championship was played called the Fed Cup. Both of those
championships helped to enhance the prestige of lawn tennis.

Tennis Association
In the 20s when tennis started to bring much
bigger profits, majority of the amateur players went professional. In the end of
the 19th century tennis started to spread throughout English colonies, first
Australia, and then further around the world. In the United States the rules for
lawn tennis were constantly evolving until the 1991 when the USTA (United
States Lawn Tennis Association) was established. The association has fixed
the rules for lawn tennis and tournament procedures. Annual men’s single
competitions were held in Newport under the aegis of the association (1881).
The first women’s competition was organized in Philadelphia in 1887.

20th Century

In the 1968 the championship was renamed

into now well-known ‘US Open’ and set to be
played in the national tennis center, NY. At the
beginning of the 20th century Wimbledon and
US Open were the largest tournaments at the
time. In the 1968 a new era in tennis began
with both amateur and professional players having a right to participate in
large-scale competitions. In 1971 the Women’s Tennis Association –
professional women’s tournament was established that ensured the same
financial support for both men and women. Lawn tennis tournaments can
easily compete with the popularity of the Olympic games, where tennis players
have been participating since 1988.

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