Tennis: A Popular Sport with a Long History

Category: Tennis

Last Updated: 31 Mar 2023

Pages: 6 Views: 1533

Table of contents

Introduction

Thanks to the wide coverage that television and other media give to the game, tennis is now one of the most popular sports. How does one define the game? It is a game played with racquets and a light ball between two players. The players stand on opposite sides of a net placed in the center on a rectangular court that may be made of grass, clay, or asphalt.

It can also be played between two teams of two players. Racquetball, a variation of the game, is played in an indoor court with a specially marked floor and high walls off which the ball must be played. Tennis has a long history, and according to records available, its establishment can be traced to two separate incidents. In 1859, Major Thomas Henry Gem, a solicitor, and his friend Batista Pereira, a Spanish merchant, were living in Birmingham, England, and played a game that they termed "pelota" after a Spanish ball game.

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It was played on a lawn. This later came to be known as tennis, and in 1874 they formed the Leamington Tennis Club, which laid out the rules of the game. It was on 23 July 1884 that the first tennis tournament was held on the grounds of Shrubland Hall. Meanwhile, in December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield devised a similar game to entertain his guests at a party on his estate in Wales. It is believed that his version was adapted from an older sport of indoor tennis or royal tennis that had been invented in 12th century France.

The world tennis comes from the French word "tenez," an imperative form of the verb "tenir" which means "to hold. " This, apparently, was a cry used by the player who was about to serve the ball. The players or the teams, depending on whether it is a "singles" or a "doubles" match, stand on opposite sides of the net. One player is the server and the opposing player is the receiver. The server serves the ball, which is returned by the receiver. The ball has to go over the net into the service court opposite the servers. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service court, it is a void service.

The server then gets a second chance. A proper service starts a rally in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. The first player or team that fails to return the ball loses the point.

Definition of Terms

action: Synonym for a spin.
ad court: Left side of the court of each player, so-called because the "ad" ("advantage") point immediately following a deuce is always served from this side of the court.
advantage: When one player wins the first point from a deuce and needs one more point to win the game; not applicable when using deciding points. advantage set: Set won by a player/team has won at least six games with a two-game advantage over the opponent(s). Final sets in the singles draws of the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the tennis Olympic event, as well as the Davis Cup, are all advantage sets.
all: Used by the chair umpire to announce scores when both players have the same number of points or the same number of games: 30–all (30–30), 15–all (15–15), two games all, four games all, etc. When both players are at 40, the preferred term is deuce.
ll-court: Style of play that is a composite of all the different playing styles, which includes baseline, transition, and serve and volley styles.
backhand: Stroke in which the ball is hit with the back of the racquet hand facing the ball at the moment of contact. A backhand is often hit by a right-handed player when the ball is on the left side of the court, and vice versa.
backspin: Shot that rotates the ball back after it is hit; also known as slice or underspin. The trajectory of the shot is affected by an upward force that lifts the ball. See the Magnus effect.
ackswing: Portion of a swing where the racquet is swung backward in preparation for the forward motion to hit the ball.
bagel: Winning (or losing) a set 6–0 (the shape of the zero being reminiscent of the round shape of a bagel). See also breadstick.

Discussion

Tennis Courts The NTC has 120 acrylic hard courts (50 indoor, 50 outdoor), 6 clay courts, and 14 grass courts.
Hard Courts: The NTC's 120 acrylic courts are a GreenSet Grand Prix Acrylic surface. The indoor courts have a sprung timber sub-frame, while the outdoor courts are laid directly on asphalt. This GreenSet surface is used at many international tournaments including Davis Cup, Fed Cup, WTA and ATP Masters Series events.
Clay Courts: The National Tennis Centre boasts two different types of outdoor clay courts which have been designed to brave the elements of the UK climate and allow for the longest possible clay court playing season and maximum use. 4 Northern European Clay Courts (These are identical to the courts used at the Bastad ATP Tennis Event in Sweden) and 2 FRENCH-COURT® synthetic clay courts.
Grass Courts. The LTA consulted All England Lawn Tennis Club head groundsman Eddie Seaward to advise on the installation of its four outdoor grass courts. The quality and playing characteristics replicate those found at the Wimbledon Championships.
High-Performance Training Facilities Along with its 22 tennis courts, the NTC is equipped with a state-of-the-art gymnasium, outdoor sprint track and hydrotherapy and plunge pools. The NTC has overnight accommodation for up to 54 people, along with a player lounge and recreation room to be fully equipped to host high-performance players from out of town.
Sports Science Centre. The NTC provides highly professional services in Performance analysis, fitness, psychology, physiotherapy and rehab, strength and conditioning, medical support and nutrition, led by Head of Player Support - Simon Jones Simon ensures that his team of highly qualified specialists, work in an Interdisciplinary way bringing an applied, player-centered support service to Britain’s top players and coaches

The Sports Medicine and Science Centre at the National Tennis Centre offers Britain’s elite players:

Physical therapies – physiotherapy, osteopathy and massage
Tennis Functional Movement Screening Sports medicine – general practice, sports medicine and specialist review
Sports nutrition
Sports psychology
Exercise physiology – Physical testing
Monitoring of training loads
Daily monitoring of hydration and physical readiness
Cardiac screening
Educational advisory service including Anti Doping
Performance analysis including fixed on-court camera

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Summary

Lawn tennis is a comparatively modern modification of the ancient game of court tennis. Maj. Walter Clopton Wingfield thought that something like court tennis might be played outdoors on lawns, and in Dec. 873, at Nantclwyd, Wales, he introduced his new game under the name of Sphairistike at a lawn party. The game was a success and spread rapidly, but the name was a total failure and almost immediately disappeared when all the players and spectators began to refer to the new game as lawn tennis. In the early part of 1874, a young lady named Mary Ewing Outerbridge returned from Bermuda to New York, bringing with her the implements and necessary equipment of the new game, which she had obtained from a British Army supply store in Bermuda.

Miss Outerbridge and friends played the first game of lawn tennis in the United States on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club in the spring of 1874. For a few years, the new game went along in haphazard fashion until about 1880, when standard measurements for the court and standard equipment within definite limits became the rule. In 1881, the U. S. Lawn Tennis Association (whose name was changed in 1975 to the U. S. Tennis Association) was formed and conducted the first national championship at Newport, R. I.

The international matches for the Davis Cup began with a series between the British and U. S. players on the courts of the Longwood Cricket Club, Chestnut Hill, Mass. , in 1900, with the home players winning. Professional tennis, which got its start in 1926 when the French star Suzanne Lenglen was paid $50,000 for a tour, received full recognition in 1968. Staid old Wimbledon, the London home of what are considered the world championships, let the pros compete. This decision ended a long controversy over open tennis and changed the format of the competition.