Origins
Some historians believe that tennis originated in ancient Egypt. There is an opinion that the word “racket” comes from the Arabic “rakhat”, which means the palm of the hand. Another, more popular version says that tennis began to play the monks in France in the 11-12 century.
The formation of tennis as a professional sport is attributed to 1872, when the first Major Tennis Club was founded. On the lawns of Leamington Resort, Portuguese merchant Hoa Pereira and doctors Frederick Haynes and Wesley Tomkins played the Spanish game of pelota ball. Afterwards, the original rules of grand tennis (lawn tennis) were established.
Although the exact origins of the sport are unknown, it is believed that the rules of tennis, later called “Grand Tennis”, was invented by British army officer Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1873. Noticing the great commercial potential of Grand Tennis, he patented the game, but could not impose a point of view on the invention of the game. Wingfield claimed to have borrowed the principles of the ancient Greek game, which he called “Spharistike” (Greek for “ball game”). But many scholars believe that he simply used the principles of popular English games–the court game, squash racquets, the principle of playing outdoors from badminton. The first players preferred to call the Wingfield game – lawn tennis, since the game was played on a small field covered with grass.
Grand tennis is also known as “royal tennis. In medieval France it was very popular, even especially for royalty. In the Middle Ages it was so common in Great Britain, especially in the time of Henry VIII. Historians believe that many of the terms of tennis are taken from the French dictionary – the terms of royal tennis in the court of the King of France.
- “Tennis” comes from “tenez” (“tenir” – to hold, to catch in French). When the tennis players were about to serve the ball, they shouted “tenez!”
- “Deuce” comes from the French “deux le jeu,” which means “even,” i.e., an equal number of points at a given point in the game.
- The score 15-30-40 comes from the euphonious French “quinze”, “trente” and “quarante”, or from the quarters of an hour (15-30-45, where 45 was transformed into 40).
At first, the ball was made of sheep’s wool and filled with sawdust, sand, and wool. Later, a ball with a high bounce was invented, and tennis began to be played on the lawn.
History of World Tennis
In the U.S. the game appeared thanks to Mary Ewing – the first tennis match was held, presumably in 1874, on the courts of the cricket and baseball club on Staten Island.
The first amateur championships were held on the courts of the General English Tennis and Cricket Club – Wimbledon (in 1877 – men’s, in 1884 – women’s).
In 1900 an international team tennis tournament, the Davis Cup, was held, which brought tennis even more attention to the world. In 1963, the Fed Cup women’s tournament was held, which became the equivalent of the Davis Cup. Both of these championships raised the prestige of great tennis.
When the game began to make big profits, in the 1920s, a large number of amateur players joined the professional tour.
By the end of the 19th century, big tennis had spread first to the English colonies, especially to Australia, and then to the rest of the world. In the United States the rules of tennis were constantly changing and amended until 1881, when the United States Tennis Association (USTA – United States Lawn Tennis Association) was created. The association has standardized the rules of tennis, the parameters of the tournaments. Under the auspices of the Association began to hold annual competitions in Newport in men’s singles (1881). Women’s competition was first held in Philadelphia in 1887. In 1968, the championship was renamed the U.S. Open and was held at the national center of tennis, New York City.
In the early 20th century, the biggest tournaments in major tennis were Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Since 1968 a new era began in tennis – both professionals and amateurs could be admitted to major competitions.
In 1971, the Professional Women’s Tour (WTA) was founded, which was able to provide the same financial support to tennis players as the men’s tour. Professional tour tennis tournaments can compete in popularity with the Olympic Games, in which tennis players began to participate in 1988.