Tennis

Lawn tennis was born in England in the 1870s, when Major Walter Clopton Wingfield patented a portable game for gardens that he called Sphairistike, and Birmingham and Leamington enthusiasts created their own versions. It was adapted from the much older indoor game of real tennis, which French and English courts had played since the Middle Ages. The first Wimbledon championship was held in 1877 at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, and by the end of the century the game had spread across the world.

How it is played

Two players, or two pairs, stand on opposite sides of a net and hit the ball over it, within the lines, so that the opponent cannot return it. Points in a game are counted 15, 30 and 40, a convention inherited from earlier court games, and a player must win by two clear points. A set is won by taking six games with a lead of two, with a tiebreak played at six games all. The match is the best of three or five sets, and the court may be grass, clay or a hard surface, each of which changes the speed and bounce.

Heritage note

Tennis is now played by tens of millions around the world, and its four major tournaments, at Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon and New York, set its calendar. Grass courts, clay courts and hard courts each reward different styles, and players speak of a surface as having its own character. Wimbledon retains traditions such as an all-white dress code and strawberries and cream, and a long list of champions of many nations has made tennis one of the first global sports. The rules have been remarkably stable since 1877, apart from the introduction of the tiebreak in the 1970s.

Origins

Patented in London in 1874 by Walter Clopton Wingfield and refined by the All England Club in 1877; descended from the medieval French and English court game now called real tennis.