Sport

Tennis

Also Known As Lawn Tennis Historical name for the modern game as it originated in the late 19th century.

Racket Sports

Tennis is a racket sport played between two players (singles) or two pairs (doubles) on a rectangular court divided by a net. The modern outdoor game, originally called lawn tennis, was patented in England in 1874 by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, who adapted the older indoor game of real tennis for play on grass with rubber balls that could bounce. Real tennis itself, also called jeu de paume, traces to French monastery courtyards around the twelfth century, where it began as a handball game played against walls before rackets were introduced around the sixteenth century, so the sport carries two distinct origin points depending on whether the ancient handball ancestor or the modern codified outdoor game is meant. Scoring is counted in points named love, fifteen, thirty and forty within a game, a game won by reaching forty with a two-point margin (or by winning consecutive points from deuce, forty-all); games accumulate into sets, ordinarily won by the first side to six games with a two-game margin, and a match is won by the first side to take a majority of sets, best-of-three in most competition and best-of-five in the men's draw at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

Facts

Origin Year

1100 3

Marks the approximate twelfth-century French origin of real tennis (jeu de paume), the older ancestor game the entity-description already names; the entity's primary origin-year (1874) records Major Walter Wingfield's later lawn-tennis patent instead.

Originating Region

France (for the medieval jeu de paume ancestor); England (for the 1874 modern codification) 4

International Governing Body

The International Tennis Federation, founded 1913, headquartered in London, United Kingdom. 4

Team or Individual

Both 1

Contact Level

Non-Contact 1

Playing Surface

Court 1

Disputed

Origin Year

1874 4

1874 is the year Major Walter Clopton Wingfield patented the modern outdoor lawn tennis game in England, taken here as the sport codified origin. The much older ancestor game, real tennis or jeu de paume, traces to French monastery courtyards around the twelfth century as a handball game, centuries before rackets or the modern lawn version existed, so which date counts as tennis true origin depends on which game is meant.

Identity

Symbol

A strung racket used to strike a hollow felt-covered rubber ball over a net. 1

Classification

Olympic Programme Status

Current Olympic Sport 2

Connections

Showing the first 400 of 459 connections.

Ancestor Of

Padel

Source Padel (sport) - Wikipedia

Pickleball

Borrowed a tennis-height net; not a lineage claim.

Source Pickleball - Wikipedia

Table Tennis

Source Wikipedia, Table Tennis

Featured In

1896 Summer Olympics

1900 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia: Tennis at the 1900 Summer Olympics

1904 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia: Tennis at the 1904 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia: Tennis at the 1908 Summer Olympics

1912 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia: Tennis at the 1912 Summer Olympics

1924 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia: Tennis at the 1924 Summer Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia, 1992 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

Source Wikipedia, 1996 Summer Olympics

2024 Summer Olympics

Asian Games

Australian Open

Source Australian Open, Official History

Billie Jean King Cup

Source Billie Jean King Cup (Wikipedia)

Davis Cup

Source Davis Cup (Wikipedia)

French Open

Source Roland Garros (French Open), Official History

Olympic Games

Source International Olympic Committee, Official Olympic History Reference

Paralympic Games

Source International Paralympic Committee, Official History

US Open (Tennis)

Source US Open, Official History (Tennis)

Wimbledon

Source The Championships, Wimbledon, Official History

Governed By

International Tennis Federation (ITF)

Source Wikipedia, International Tennis Federation

Long-Form Articles

A Racket Reined In: How Composite Materials Forced Tennis to Cap the Frame

Played By

Bibiane Schoofs

Source Bibiane Schoofs (Wikipedia)

Bill Bowrey

Source Bill Bowrey (Wikipedia)

Bill Johnston

Source Bill Johnston (tennis) (Wikipedia)

Bill Tilden

Source Bill Tilden (Wikipedia)

Billie Jean King

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Björn Borg

Source Björn Borg (Wikipedia)

Blanche Bingley

Source Blanche Bingley (Wikipedia)

Bob Bryan

Source Bob Bryan (Wikipedia)

Bob Falkenburg

Source Bob Falkenburg (Wikipedia)

Bob Lutz

Source Bob Lutz (tennis) (Wikipedia)

Bobby Riggs

Source Bobby Riggs (Wikipedia)

Boris Becker

Source Boris Becker (Wikipedia)

Brian Gottfried

Source Brian Gottfried (Wikipedia)

Brian Teacher

Source Brian Teacher (Wikipedia)

Bruno Soares

Source Bruno Soares (Wikipedia)

Budge Patty

Source Budge Patty (Wikipedia)

Cara Black

Source Cara Black (Wikipedia)

Carlos Alcaraz

Source Carlos Alcaraz (Wikipedia)

Carlos Moyá

Source Carlos Moyá (Wikipedia)

Carol-Ann Kalogeropoulos

Source Carol-Ann Kalogeropoulos (Wikipedia)

Caroline Garcia

Source Caroline Garcia (Wikipedia)

Caroline Wozniacki

Source Caroline Wozniacki (Wikipedia)

Casper Ruud

Source Casper Ruud (Wikipedia)

Charlotte Cooper

Source Charlotte Cooper (tennis) (Wikipedia)

Chris Evert

Chris O'Neil

Source Chris O'Neil (tennis) (Wikipedia)

Christiane Mercelis

Source Christiane Mercelis (Wikipedia)

Chuck McKinley

Source Chuck McKinley (Wikipedia)

Cilly Aussem

Source Cilly Aussem (Wikipedia)

Clark Graebner

Source Clark Graebner (Wikipedia)

Coco Gauff

Source Coco Gauff (Wikipedia)

Colette Rosambert

Source Colette Rosambert (Wikipedia)

Colin Gregory

Source Colin Gregory (Wikipedia)

Conchita Martínez

Source Conchita Martínez (Wikipedia)

Coral Buttsworth

Source Coral Buttsworth (Wikipedia)

Corina Morariu

Source Corina Morariu (Wikipedia)

Curt Lincoln

Source Curt Lincoln (Wikipedia)

Cyril Suk

Source Cyril Suk (Wikipedia)

Dale Womersley

Source Dale Womersley (tennis) (Wikipedia)

Danie Visser

Source Danie Visser (Wikipedia)

Daniel Nestor

Source Daniel Nestor (Wikipedia)

Daniela Di Toro

Source Daniela Di Toro (Wikipedia)

Daniela Hantuchová

Source Daniela Hantuchová (Wikipedia)

Daphne Akhurst

Source Daphne Akhurst (Wikipedia)

Darlene Hard

Source Darlene Hard (Wikipedia)

David Ferrer

Source David Ferrer (Wikipedia)

David Nalbandian

Source David Nalbandian (Wikipedia)

Dennis Ralston

Source Dennis Ralston (Wikipedia)

Dick Savitt

Source Dick Savitt (Wikipedia)

Dinara Safina

Source Dinara Safina (Wikipedia)

Showing 51 to 100 of 375 in Played By, page 2 of 8.

In the Other Atlases

Found In

Europe

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, Tennis

Wikimedia Foundation

History section
The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis.
lead section
Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net
Infobox: contact
No
Infobox: venue
Tennis court
Lead
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles)