HISTORY OF TENNIS
Many historians believe that the origin of tennis lays in 12th century France. The game was called "jeu de paume," which means game of the palm, and it was played outdoors at the beginning. The ball was struck with the hand.
Louis X of France was a keen player of this game. However, Louis was disconsolate with playing tennis outdoors and to solve his problem, he created enclosed courts in Paris at the end of the 13th century. His idea spread across royal palaces all over Europe and as a result, he is counted as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts.
In 16th century, players started to use rackets and the game began to be called tennis. But the game was only played indoors, where the balls were hitting the walls. This caused the invention of the lawn tennis.
Louis X of France was a keen player of this game. However, Louis was disconsolate with playing tennis outdoors and to solve his problem, he created enclosed courts in Paris at the end of the 13th century. His idea spread across royal palaces all over Europe and as a result, he is counted as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts.
In 16th century, players started to use rackets and the game began to be called tennis. But the game was only played indoors, where the balls were hitting the walls. This caused the invention of the lawn tennis.
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The game evolved in many aspects and played with various rules depending on the countries. The birth of the lawn tennis (the modern game) is associated with two separate inventions.
Firstly, between 1859 and 1865, in England, a solicitor named Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera, who was a Spanish merchant, combined the evolved version of jeu de paume and the Spanish ball game "pelota." Their game became well-known as they played it with their friends. In 1874, they opened world's first tennis club, the Leamington Tennis Club, with two doctors from the Warneford Hospital. Secondly, in 1873, the British army officer Major Walter Wingfield designed a similar game named "sphairistikè," which means "playing ball" in Greek. His aim was to amuse his guests at a garden party. He borrowed both the name and French terminology of tennis, and used them in his game. He patented the game in 1874. His games that consisted of 15 points was played on an hour-glass shaped court and the net was higher than what we use currently. There was also many differences in his rules, such as the services had to bounce beyond the service line instead of in front of it. |
Jeu de paume in the 17th century
Lawn tennis in the USA, 1887
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