History of Tennis
The game soon became very popular, predominantly in France where it was adopted by the royal family. During the period between the 16th and 18th centuries, the game called ' Jeu de paumme' - the game of the palm was a highly regarded by kings and noblemen. The French players would begin the game by shouting the word “tenez!” which meant “Play!” The game soon came to be called royal or “real tennis.”
In 1874, Major Walter Wingfield acquired the patent rights for the equipments and rules for the game which bore close resemblance to the modern tennis. On the same year, the first tennis courts emerged in the United States. The game soon spread to different parts of the world like Russia, Canada, China and India. The smooth croquet courts served as ready tennis courts during those times. The original court devised by Wingfield was in the shape of an hourglass which tapered at the net. It was shorter than the modern court which we have today. His version of tennis courts and the rules of games underwent a fair amount of changes and amendments till the game gave to the modernized version which is played today.
History of open tennis US
The US Open tennis tournament, also known as “Open” or “US Open” is the fourth and the last event of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments. The tennis matches are placed for a period of two weeks, generally in the months of August or September, annually. The history of the open tennis is borne from two distinct tournaments-one for women and the other for men. The event was first held in August 1881 at Newport Casino in Newport Rhode Island. It was a men’s singles tournament and it was called the US National Singles Championship for men. .
The year 1900 saw the US Nation Men’s Double Championship being played for the first time. The first official US Women’s National Singles Championship was played at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in the year 1887. Ellen Hansel was the winner of the tournament. This was soon followed by the US Women’s National Doubles Championship in the year 1889.
US open tennis history
It has been a good 121 years since the first US open tennis game was played. It is the richest tennis tournament in the world with about $15 million as prize money and the triumph is definitely worth the sweat. The thought of creating the US open came to light after the US Lawn Tennis Association, founded in May 1881, volunteered to hold a national championship.
Twenty six players graced the introductory contest held in Newport Island, Rhode Island. It was called the US National Singles Championship. The members from the US National Lawn Tennis Association were only eligible to play the competition. The first singles winner was Richard Sears. He not only won the tournament for the first year but he was the reigning champion for the next six years.
The men’s Doubles happened because the championship began to move around the country with nine different places hosting the event at least once. The men’s doubles was split into an East and West competition. Clarence Clark and W.F. Taylor took the first doubles title for the match held in the year 1900.
The commencement of “Open era” (whereby players could play in all tournaments), in 1968, led to creation of the modern event as we know presently. Five different competitions were merged into one US Open Championship, held at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. The prize money was at $100,000, and was shared fittingly between the 96 men and 63 women who graced the event. In 1970, the US Open was the first tennis tournament to introduce the tie-breaker system. By the year 1978, the tournament was shifted to its current home or the courts for the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, New York.
Tennis scoring history
Tennis scoring history
There are two theories which revolve around the Tennis scoring history. The first one states that the scoring has its origins in ancient numerology. In medieval times, the number 60 was considered auspicious or “complete” in a similar manner to which the number 100 is considered to be a “complete” figure now. The medieval adaptation of tennis thus considered 60 to be the “game” with steps of four points like 15, 30, 45 (or 40 as it is today) and finally 60.
The second theory is attributed to the presence of a clock at the end of the tennis court. A quarter move of the clock hand was made after each break with the score being referred to as 15, 30, 45 and finally 60.
History of the Tennis court
History of the Tennis court
The early tennis courts were quite different from the current day lawn tennis courts most of us are familiar with. The early version of the game is now called “real tennis” and England’s Hampton court built in 1625 is still used presently. Courts of the present times are hardly used today. The court then was a narrow indoor court where the ball was played off walls. The net was five feet high on the ends and three feet high in the middle.
The year 1877 saw the All England Club coming up with the first Wimbledon tournament and the tournament committee played with a rectangular court and played with a set of rules that are associated with the modernized version the game.
Tennis particularly, the US Open is a test of skill, accuracy and agility. There is a huge amount of prize money to be won and a name to be earned for oneself. The game is popular with billions of people around the world. If you want to be fit and agile, grab the racquet and head out for an invigorating game of tennis!
Tennis Rules: Basic Rules for Playing Tennis
Nowadays, people recall the great rivalry between Sampras and Agassi after watching the near perfect Federer and aggressive Nadal and kids are more inclined to play this grand game than ever. For the young aspirants and for followers, it is necessary to learn tennis rules to enjoy it fully. Here are the basic rules for playing tennis...
Tennis owes its invention to many pioneers, prominent among whom, was the Englishman, Walter Clopton Wingfield, who patterned it in 1873, after a sport the Greeks played. The game was brought to America, via Bermuda, by socialite Mary Ewing Outerbridge from Staten Island, New York. In USA, it was first played in 1874, at the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club. Since then, tennis has come a long way to become the premier spectator sport world over, only rivaled by soccer. Millions of people all over the world follow tennis religiously. The power, speed and beauty of this game leaves everyone enthralled. What makes a game interesting is its set of rules, which set constraints, that make it challenging. This Buzzle article is a short introduction to basic rules of tennis, as it's played around the world.
Basic Rules of Tennis - How to Play
The rules of tennis are fairly simple. One player hits or serves the ball from a corner of a marked out area called a court, that is divided down the middle with a three feet high (0.914 meter) net. The opposite player's goal is to return the ball, bouncing it no more than once in his own court, aiming for the other player to not be able to hit it. A point is gained when a player is not able to return the ball at all or he hits it out of the court. The ball is always served cross court or diagonally. The overall goal of tennis is to gain points to win games, sets and matches.
Equipment
Basic Rules of Tennis - How to Play
The rules of tennis are fairly simple. One player hits or serves the ball from a corner of a marked out area called a court, that is divided down the middle with a three feet high (0.914 meter) net. The opposite player's goal is to return the ball, bouncing it no more than once in his own court, aiming for the other player to not be able to hit it. A point is gained when a player is not able to return the ball at all or he hits it out of the court. The ball is always served cross court or diagonally. The overall goal of tennis is to gain points to win games, sets and matches.
Equipment
The right equipment is essential for a good game of tennis, along with demarcation of the court according to international standards. Here are the specifications.
The Tennis Court
The basic rules of tennis call for a regulation size tennis court. This means that it has to be 78 feet long (23.77 m) and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide (for singles matches) or 36 feet (10.97 m) wide (for doubles matches). The court must have a 3 feet (0.914 meter) high net (with 3 ½ feet net posts), dividing it down the center. The type of court floor varies. It may be asphalt, clay, concrete, grass, artificial grass, wood or made of other synthetic materials. The parallel line at both ends of the court, which marks its border, is known as a 'baseline', while the line marking the side of the court is known as 'sideline'.
A line parallel to the baseline, known as 'server line', is marked at a distance of 21 feet from the net, on either side. The center line, which is perpendicular to the net, is drawn halfway between the sidelines and exactly divides the courts into two halves on either side. Moreover, the server line and the center line on either side, divides each side of the court into four quarters. The quarter courts near the net are known as 'service courts'.
Tennis Rackets
The usual tournament size racket should not be more than 29 inches in length and 12.5 inches in width. The hitting area of the racket cannot be more than 15.5 inches long and 11.5 inches wide.
Tennis Balls
These vary in color, but for official tournaments the ball must be yellow or white in color. Two, three, four or six balls may be used in a match.
Singles Game Basics
The server is chosen by a coin toss. The player who wins the toss can choose to serve or choose the side he wants. If the toss winner chooses to serve, his opponent gets to choose the side and vice versa. This applies to both singles and doubles games. In singles, the server (person playing first) and receiver (one who receives the serve) change position (left/right), after every point and the ends are changed after every odd numbered game.
Doubles Game Basics
Serving is alternated from team to team and from player to player so that each player serves every fourth game. Both partners (receivers and servers) can stand anywhere they want, however it is traditional for partners to stand side by side. The order of serving needs to be decided before the first game of any set begins.
Scoring
A match can either be 'Best of Three Sets (First player to win 2 sets, wins the match) ' or 'Best of Five Sets (First player to win 3 sets, wins the match)'. A player wins a set, when he wins 6 games, provided he is ahead of his opponent by two games. If the difference between the players is less than 2 games, the game may continue till either wins the set by a margin of two (known as the Advantage set scoring method).
Alternatively, if both players are tied with 6 games to their name, whoever wins the tie-breaker game, will win the set (this is known as the Tie-Breaker Method). The latter strategy is mostly adopted in ATP tournaments. Wimbledon, one of the four prime grand slams, uses the advantage set scoring method, due to which there is a possibility of a game continuing for a long time in some cases.
A prime example is the Isner-Mahut match at the Wimbledon championships in 2010, which went on for 11 hours and five minutes! The score read something like this - 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68! The last figure is the number of points played in the last set, which lasted for eight hours, spread over three days.
In a tennis game, that's part of a set, scoring is unconventional. The scores do not start increasing from single digits. The player who scores four points first, wins the game, provided there is a difference of two points. Zero score is referred to as 'love'. Ergo, the '0-0' score at the beginning of the game is referred to, as 'Love All'! (Thus the game begins with a noble message of love!) Further, the scoring system in the game progresses as follows:
| Points | Score Called |
| Zero Points | Love |
| 1 Point | 15 |
| 2 Points | 30 |
| 3 Points | 40 |
| 4 Points | Game |
The serving player's score is always mentioned first, when calling. If both opponents or teams are leveled at a 40-40 score, they are said to be in 'Deuce'. Hereafter, the one who scores two points consecutively (with a difference of two points), wins the game. The player who scores a single point after 'Deuce', is said to have an 'Advantage'. However, if both score single points after a 'Deuce', the score is again tied, that is they land up in a 'Deuce' again. The only way a game can end is when a player scores two consecutive points after the tie.
If both players have won 6 games each and the set is tied, a tie-breaker game must be played. The scoring for this game is conventional and linear, starting from 0 to 1, 2, 3.. and so on. The first player to score 7 points wins the game and the set, provided he has a two point lead over his opponent. The tie-breaker game continues, till a player achieves the two point lead to win the game and set. During this game, the sides need to be changed after 6 point are scored.
Service
A player must serve the ball from behind the baseline, standing between the center and side line. The serve execution in the first game of a set, should always be executed from the right side of the court, by a singles or doubles player. The service must land in the cross court or diagonally opposite service box (area between the net and server line). If the serve happens to land outside the service box or hits the net, the player is allowed to serve again.
If the serve is faulted twice, the server's opponent gains a point. The service is alternated between opponents, in every game played. In case of a doubles game, the service is shared by the two players of each team alternately and changed between the opposing teams after every game. In a doubles game, two players of the serving team swap positions with each other, after every point.
Point Scoring
Here are conditions under which a point may be lost.
- The player errs consecutively while serving, causing a double fault
- A player is unable to return the ball in the opponent's court, before it bounces twice
- The player hits the ball outside the court or hits a permanent fixture like the net poles
- A player returns a serve, before it hits the ground or before it has crossed the net
- A double racket touch or carrying of the ball by a player
- A player touches the net or comes in bodily contact with the net or any part of the opponent's court or the ball hits the player's body
- When both doubles players on a team, touch a ball at the same time
Officials
Only professional tournaments are officiated. One official watches the lines to call whether the ball is in or not. The senior umpire sits on a high chair outside the sideline, near the net and calls the scores. The senior umpire has the power to overrule all other judges. There is also a match referee who sits in the stands and watches. He can be consulted, should there be any major conflicts. Disputing the judges costs points and even disqualification from the game.
Penalties
There are certain penalties while playing tennis, these usually result in several points lost for various things. These are:
- Touching opponents ground, the net or posts or any other person or official in the game.
- Carrying the ball or catching it in the racket.
- Hitting the ball two times before it has crossed the net.
- If the ball hits or touches anything (clothes) or is carried by the player (with the exception of the racket).
- Throwing the racket or verbal abuse
This concludes our overview of the most important of tennis rules, that contribute to make it one of the most popular games worldwide. As a player and as a follower, it's vital that you understand the rules, to get a better grasp of the game.
