History of Tennis

      Hi There! So before we begin talking about the awesomely amazing game of tennis maybe I should provide a quick overview of how it all began. 

      The exact history of of tennis has been disputed, some say that European monks began this game while others say it started in Egypt or Greece. For now, we'll stick to the Monk theory. European Monks originally developed the game for entertainment purposes and during religious celebrations.

Old Wooden Tennis Ball

      Tennis was originally played with the hands and a wooden ball. OUCH!Then the Monks got smarter and decided to use a leather glove and a ball made from leather and stuffed with cellulose material. After awhile the Monks got really smart and decided a handle was needed to help serve and hit the ball. Thus the first racket was born! The game was played in a courtyard using a net, or inside using the wall to bounce the ball off of. (For a good example of what this might have looked like check out the movie Ever After, there's a scene where the royals are playing tennis)

    Tennis became popular among the monasteries and then all over the place, especially in France. There it was adopted by the royal families and spread like the plague. It became so popular that Louis IV and the Pope tried to ban it. Henry VII and Henry VIII were  avid supports so tennis
courts began popping up all over Europe.

Major Walter C. Wingfield

    After some time, Major Walter C. Wingfield decided to patent the equipment and rules of the game that is similar today's tennis. This took place in 1874. This is also the year that tennis courts reached the United States. Wingfield's game was played on Croquet courts originally because of how smooth they were. He made rules that were highly critized and eventually he changed them. Wingfield then left the evolution of tennis up to other people.                     

      

In 1877,  the first Wimbledon tournament was held by the All England Club. The tournament committee changed Wingfield's court design from an hourglass, short court, to a rectangular shape. The committee also came up with the rules that are most like the ones we use today. The net was left at five feet high, which was like the orignal game, and the service boxes were 26 feet deep. But by 1882 the specifications of the court had been set to what they are today. 

     

      For more information on the history of tennis check out these awesome links! http://www.historyoftennis.net/history_of_tennis.html and  http://tennis.about.com/od/history/a/earlyhistory.htm         

      Now that we've covered the boring background we can move onto the more interesting things!

Stay Tuned!