A Brief History of Tennis
The word "tennis" could
have originated from the French "ten-ez," (to
play) but there are other possibilities which date back
several hundred years. The game of "jeu de paume"
dating back to the 1300's and played in France was a notable
precursor to the game of Lawn Tennis.
As racquet games such as badmitton
or "court tennis" (a variation of squash) were
becoming popular, the modern day game of tennis was officially
"invented". A British Army officer, Major Walter
Clopton Wingfield, labeled his invention, Lawn Tennis
in 1873 and filed for a patent in 1874.
It was not long after the invention of Lawn Tennis that
the sport spread to the United States, both the west and
east coasts. The first Wimbledon Championships occurred
in 1877. Not far behind was the USA with its first United
States Championships in 1881. The French Championships
began in 1891 (and officially were open to all countries
in 1925). The Australian Championships began in 1905.
The scoring of tennis dates back to the middle ages. The
scoring goes in increments of 15, except when going from
30 to 40. No one knows for sure why these increments are
used. Also somewhat of a mystery is why the term "love"
is used for zero.
Rene Lacoste invented the first
steel racquet. This was considered a novelty until the
Wilson Sporting Goods Company came out with the T 2000
in 1967.
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