TENNIS
Tennis, is a game in which a ball is driven continually against a wall in a specially constructed court, and caused to rebound beyond a line at a certain distance by several persons striking it alternately with a racket, the object being to keep the ball in motion as long as possible without allowing it to fall to the ground. The game was introduced into England in the 13th century, it was played in Italy, France and England in the 16th century, when courts were built at some of the palaces. Henry VIII. built one at Hampton and later Henry IV. of France played the game and it continued to be very popular with the nobility up to the reign of Charles II.
The modem game of rackets is a descendant of tennis. The game is still played to-day, and there are courts at some of the London clubs at Oxford and Cambridge and at one the two country houses. On three sides of the court there is an inner wall with a roof sloping from the outer wall, called the penthouse. On the front wall a buttress, called the tambour. In one of the end walls is an opening, the called the dedans, and in the other a smaller called the grille. All these have their part in making scoring points. These sides are called the hazard side and the service side The floor is of stone or composition.
Both balls and rackets are much heavier than used in lawn tennis. There were amateur championship at tennis and it holders have included such noted players as J. M. Heathcote, Alfred Lyttelton. Viscount Grey. and Jay Gould. Peter Latham is perhaps the greatest professional player of the game. Matches are played between older universities.
Lawn Tennis was a modification of
the game, and is played with rackets and India-rubber balls. There are regulations about the weight and size of
the balls, but none about the racquets, at first it was called sphairistike but soon took its modern form.
The mode of playing with two is, that one is called the server or 'hand-in,' while the other is 'hand-out.'
When the ball is served by 'hand-in the server must stand with one foot outside
the base line of the court, beginning on the right side, and his aim is to pitch the ball across the net and into
the court diagonally opposed. If the server fails to do this it is called 'a fault,' and he must serve again. When the ball is properly served it is the opponent's duty to
return it across the net before it touches the ground a second time. Should the ball not be returned, 'hand-in scores a point; on the contrary, should the ball not be properly served, 'hand-out'
scores.
To form sides, the numbers of players
could be two, four, or more. The ground on which the game was played on was usually 78 ft. long by 30 ft. broad.
This space is divided by a net 24 ft. wide, 5 ft. high at the ends, and 4 ft. in the centre; the extreme ends of
the area are called the base lines.
The space on either side of the net marked off is called a court. This court has two lines running through it:
one of which is called the central line, and runs lengthwise; the other is known as the service line, and runs
parallel to, and 30 ft. distant from, the central net. The ground thus divided is called the right and left courts.
The scores go 15. 30, 40, when however, both sides reach 40, or deuce, the game is continued until one side is two points ahead of the other. The side that wins six games scores a set, but here again if the sides reach 6 games each, the set cannot end until one side is two games in front. Sets of 12-10, or thereabouts, are quite usual.
The game was usually played by two persons against two, but soon came to be played one against one. In this case
the court is less broad, a portion at each side, 4 ft. 6 inches wide, being now outside it. Grass courts were the
most common, the great event of the lawn tennis year is the international meeting at Wimbledon, where players from
all over the world meet to decide the various championships. Since the Great War American players have often been
successful in the men's games, although France has won a number of victories. Among the women an outstanding player
was Suzanne Lengien. In the early days of the championship matches, which began in 1877, players from Ireland were
the moat notable exponents of the game.
The game in Great Britain is governed by the Lawn Tennis Association which was formed in 1888. Professionals were at first only allowed for coaching purposes, being barred from matches and competitions. Names of great early players include the Irish brothers Renshaw and Doherty Borotra and Cochet and the Americans Tilden and Elliaworth Vines who won the singles championship in 1932. Famous women players include Suzanne Lenglen and Mrs. Helen Wills Moody.
Hard courts of gravel, cement or asphalt have now been laid down, on these the game can be played throughout most of the winter. There are now tennis clubs all over Great Britain and Ireland; also in the United States, Canada, France, Japan and other countries. Professional players dominate the game, the Davis Cup is contended for by male teams from the various countries. The Wightman Cup is fought out between woman players from Great Britain and the United States.
