Editing History of tennis

{{Short description|None}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Centre Court.jpg|thumb|upright=2.0|Players on Wimbledon's [[Centre Court]] in 2008, a year before the installation of a retractable roof]]

The [[racket sport]] traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in [[Edgbaston]], [[Warwickshire]], England, now commonly known simply as [[tennis]], is the direct descendant of what is now denoted [[real tennis]] or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules.

Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor and it is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand, hence the name [[jeu de paume]] ({{lit|game of the palm}}).<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillmeister|first=Heiner|title=Tennis : A Cultural History|year=1998|publisher=New York University Press|location=Washington Square, N.Y.|isbn=081473121X|page=[https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/117 117]|url=https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/117}}</ref> It was not until the 16th century that [[Racket (sports equipment)|rackets]] came into use and the game began to be called 'tennis'. It was popular in the Kingdom of France as well as in England, where [[Henry VIII of England]] was a notable enthusiast of the game, which is now referred to as 'real tennis'.<ref>Crego, Robert. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XCl1c2yy5ooC&pg=PA115 Sports and Games of the 18th and 19th Centuries]'', page 115 (2003).</ref>

Many original tennis courts remain, including courts at Oxford, Cambridge, [[Falkland Palace]] in Fife where [[Mary Queen of Scots]] regularly played, and [[Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court|Hampton Court Palace]]. Many of the French courts were decommissioned with the terror that accompanied the [[French Revolution]]. The [[Tennis Court Oath]] (''Serment du Jeu de Paume'') was a pivotal event during the first days of the French Revolution; it was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789.

[[Marylebone Cricket Club]]'s Rules of Lawn Tennis have been official, with periodic slight modifications, ever since 1875. Those rules were adopted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for the first lawn tennis championship, [[The Championships, Wimbledon]] in 1877.

Promoter [[C. C. Pyle]] created the first professional tennis tour in 1926, with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.<ref name=TS1/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_01_03_01.html |title=History of the Pro Tennis Wars Chapter 2, part 1 1927–1928 |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref> The most notable of these early professionals were the American [[Vinnie Richards]] and the Frenchwoman [[Suzanne Lenglen]].<ref name=TS1/><ref name="Open Minded">[http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,519,00.html Open Minded] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031090952/http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,519,00.html |date=2007-10-31 }} – Bruce Goldman</ref> Players turning pro could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.<ref name=TS1/>

In 1968 commercial pressures and rumours of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the Open Era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the Open Era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image<ref name=class>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/dec/10/tennis.news|title=Middle-class heroes can lift our game|publisher=The Observer, theguardian.co.uk|author=Jon Henderson|quote=it was no longer true that tennis was a middle-class sport|date=2008-12-10|access-date=2008-08-02 | location=London}}</ref> (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).<ref name=class/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/830579/FRONT-PAGE-Max-Clifford-help-shed-tennis-middle-class-image/|title=Max Clifford to help shed tennis' middle-class image|publisher=PR Week|author=Kate Magee|date=2008-07-10|access-date=2008-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookiebusters.net/sugarman/tim_henman.html|title=There are 3 levels of social class in tennis: Upper middle class, middle class and lower middle class|publisher=BookieBusters.net|author=The Sugarman|access-date=2008-08-02}}</ref>

The word tennis came into use in English in the mid-14th century from French, via the [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] term Tenez, which can be translated as 'hold!', 'receive!' or 'take!', a call from the server to his opponent indicating that he is about to serve.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tennis|title=tennis – Origin and history of tennis by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=Etymonline.com|access-date=8 October 2017}}</ref> The first known appearance of the word in English literature is by poet [[John Gower]] in his poem titled 'In Praise of Peace' dedicated to [[Henry IV of England|King Henry IV]] and composed in 1400; "Of the tenetz to winne or lese a chase, Mai no lif wite er that the bal be ronne". (Whether a chase is won or lost at tennis, Nobody can know until the ball is run).{{efn|name=etymology|The first known instance of the word tennis in the English language dates to 1396 when a William Terrey had to appear before the burghmote of Canterbury for allowing people to play le Closhe and le Tenesse on his ground.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillmeister|first=Heiner|title=Tennis : A Cultural History|year=1998|publisher=New York University Press|location=Washington Square, N.Y.|isbn=081473121X|page=[https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/106 106]|url=https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/106}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillmeister|first=Heiner|title=Tennis : A Cultural History|year=1998|publisher=New York University Press|location=Washington Square, N.Y.|isbn=081473121X|page=[https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/40 40]|url=https://archive.org/details/tennisculturalhi0000gill/page/40}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Whitman|first=Malcolm D.|title=Tennis : Origins and Mysteries|year=2004|orig-year=1932|publisher=Dover Publications|location=Mineola, N.Y.|isbn=0486433579|pages=25, 26|edition=Dover}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=United States Tennis Association|title=Official Encyclopedia of Tennis|year=1979|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York|isbn=0060144785|edition=Rev. and updated 1st|editor=Bill Shannon|page=[https://archive.org/details/officialencyclop0000unit/page/2 2]|url=https://archive.org/details/officialencyclop0000unit/page/2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=John Gower: In Praise of Peace|url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/forprafrm.htm|publisher=University of Rochester|access-date=11 October 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Real-tennis-rackets-balls.jpg|right|thumb|170px|Real tennis racquets and balls. Cahusac at the [[Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club]].]]

The Medieval form of tennis is termed as [[real tennis]], a game that evolved over three centuries from an earlier ball game played around the 12th century in France that involved hitting a ball with a bare hand and later with a glove.<ref name=clerici>{{cite book|last1=Clerici|first1=Gianni|title=Tennis|date=1976|publisher=Octopus Books|location=London|page=21|isbn=9780706405231|oclc=16360735}}</ref><ref name=schickel>{{cite book|last=Schickel|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Schickel|title=The World of Tennis|year=1975|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=0-394-49940-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldoftennis00schi/page/32 32]|url=https://archive.org/details/worldoftennis00schi/page/32}}</ref> By the 16th century the glove had become a racquet, the game had moved to an enclosed playing area and the rules had stabilized. Real tennis spread in popularity throughout royalty in Europe, reaching its peak in the 16th century.

In 1437 at the [[Blackfriars, Perth]], the playing of tennis indirectly led to the death of King [[James I of Scotland]], when the drain outlet, through which he hoped to escape assassins, had been blocked to prevent the loss of tennis balls.<ref name="Morgan">{{cite journal|author=Roger Morgan|title=The silver ball of rattray: a note on an early form of tennis|journal=The International Journal of the History of Sport|volume=8|issue=3|date=1991}}</ref> James was trapped and killed.<ref name="McGladdery, p 143">McGladdery, ''The Kings & Queens of Scotland: James I'', p.&nbsp;143</ref>

[[Francis I of France]] (1515–1547) was an enthusiastic player and promoter of real tennis, building courts and encouraging play among the courtiers and commoners. His successor, [[Henry II of France|Henry II]] (1547–59), was also an excellent player and continued the royal French tradition. In 1555 an Italian priest, Antonio Scaino da Salothe, wrote the first known book about tennis, ''Trattato del Giuoco della Palla''. Two French kings died from tennis related episodes—[[Louis X of France|Louis X]] of a severe chill after playing and [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]] after hitting his head during a game.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schickel|first1=Richard|author-link=Richard Schickel|title=The World of Tennis|date=1975|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=0-394-49940-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldoftennis00schi/page/32 32]|url=https://archive.org/details/worldoftennis00schi/page/32}}</ref> [[Charles IX of France|King Charles IX]] granted a constitution to the Corporation of Tennis Professionals in 1571, creating the first pro tennis 'tour', establishing three professional levels: apprentice, associate, and master. A professional named Forbet wrote and published the first codification of the rules in 1599.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Tennisp''. 17</ref>

Royal interest in England began with [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] (1413–22). [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] (1509–47) made the biggest impact as a young monarch, playing the game with gusto at [[Hampton Court]] on a court he had built in 1530. It is believed that his second wife, [[Anne Boleyn]], was watching a game when she was arrested and that Henry was playing when news of her [[execution]] arrived. During the reign of James I (1603–25) London had 14 courts.<ref>

Real tennis is mentioned in literature by [[William Shakespeare]], who mentions "tennis balles" in ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' (1599), when a basket of them is given to King Henry as a mockery of his youth and playfulness; the incident is also mentioned in some earlier chronicles and [[King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France|ballads]].<ref>

Shakespeare, William (Early 1600s). ''The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fifth. Act 1, Scene 2''</ref> One of the most striking early references appears in a painting by [[Giambattista Tiepolo]] entitled ''The Death of Hyacinth'' (1752–1753), in which a strung racquet and three tennis balls are depicted. The theme of the painting is the mythological story of [[Apollo]] and [[Hyacinth (mythology)|Hyacinth]], written by [[Ovid]]. Giovanni Andrea dell'Anguillara translated it into Italian in 1561 and replaced the ancient game of discus in the original text with pallacorda or tennis, which had achieved a high status at the courts in the middle of the 16th century. Tiepolo's painting, displayed at the [[Museo Thyssen Bornemisza]] in [[Madrid]], was ordered in 1752 by German count Wilhelm Friedrich Schaumburg Lippe, who was an avid tennis player.

The game thrived among the 17th-century nobility in France, Spain, Italy and the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] but suffered under English [[Puritan]]ism. By the [[Age of Napoleon]] the royal families of Europe were besieged and real tennis was largely abandoned.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Tennis'', p. 21</ref> Real tennis played a minor role in the history of the [[French Revolution]], through the [[Tennis Court Oath]], a pledge signed by French deputies on a real tennis court, which formed a decisive early step in starting the revolution.

An epitaph in [[Coventry Cathedral|St Michael's Church, Coventry]], written circa 1705 read, in part:<ref name="Astley">{{cite q |Q98360469 |page=21}}</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>

Here lyes an old toss'd Tennis Ball:

Was racketted, from spring to fall,

With so much heat and so much hast,

Time's arm for shame grew tyred at last.

</poem>}}

In England, during the 18th and early 19th centuries as real tennis declined, three other racquet sports emerged: [[racquets (sport)|racquets]], [[squash (sport)|squash racquets]] and lawn tennis (the modern game).

[[File:Tennis birthplace Edgbaston.jpg|thumb|right|170px|[[Augurio Perera]]'s house in Edgbaston, Birmingham, where he and [[Harry Gem]] first played the modern game of lawn tennis]]

[[File:Ett sällskap med både kvinnor och män i sommarkläder framför en byggnad. Några spelar tennis, dubbel, medan andra är åskådare. NMA.0094374.jpg|thumb|170x170px|Amateur tennis match in Sweden, 1892.]]

The lawyer and memoirist [[William Hickey (memoirist)|William Hickey]] recalled that in 1767 "in the summer we had another club, which met at the Red House in Battersea fields, nearly opposite Ranelagh.... The game we played was an invention of our own, and called field tennis, which afforded noble exercise.... The field, which was of sixteen acres in extent, was kept in as high an order, and smooth as a [[bowling green]]."<ref>Quennell, Peter, ed. ''The Prodigal Rake: the Memoirs of William Hickey'' (1962) p.58.</ref>

Between 1859 and 1865, in Birmingham, England, Major [[Harry Gem]], a solicitor, and his friend [[Augurio Perera]], a Spanish merchant, combined elements of the game of racquets and a [[ball of wind]] and played it on a [[croquet]] lawn in Edgbaston.<ref name="countrylife">

[http://www.birminghamcivicsociety.org.uk/lawntennis.htm Lawn Tennis and Major T. H. Gem] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209134422/http://www.birminghamcivicsociety.org.uk/lawntennis.htm |date=9 February 2008 }} Birmingham Civic Society</ref> In 1872, both men moved to [[Leamington Spa]] and in 1874, with two doctors from the Warneford Hospital, founded the world's first tennis club, the Leamington Tennis Club.<ref name="LTC">{{cite web |url=http://www.leamington-tennis-squash.co.uk/ |title=Leamington Tennis Club |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref>

In December 1873 Major [[Walter Clopton Wingfield]] designed an hourglass-shaped tennis court in order to obtain a patent on his court (as the rectangular court was already in use and was unpatentable). A temporary patent on this hourglass-shaped court was granted to him in February, 1874, which he never renewed when it expired in 1877. It is commonly believed, mistakenly, that Wingfield obtained a patent on the game he devised to be played on that type of court, but in fact Wingfield never applied for nor received a patent on his game, although he did obtain a copyright — but not a patent — on his rules for playing it. And, after a running series of articles and letters in the British sporting magazine ''[[The Field (magazine)|The Field]]'', and a meeting at London's [[Marylebone Cricket Club]], the official rules of lawn tennis were promulgated by that Club in 1875, which preserved none of the aspects of the variations that Wingfield had dreamed up and named ''Sphaeristikè'' ({{Lang-el|σφαιριστική}}, that is, "sphere-istic", an ancient Greek adjective meaning "of or pertaining to use of a ball, globe or sphere"), which was soon corrupted to "sticky". Wingfield claimed that he had invented his version of the game for the amusement of his guests at a weekend garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in [[Llanelidan]], Wales in 1874, but research has demonstrated that even his game was not likely played during that country weekend in Wales.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/sphairistiké-anyone|title=Sphairistiké, Anyone?|publisher=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]|author=E. M. Halliday|date=June 1971}}</ref><ref name=THoT>[https://archive.today/20120712030229/http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltenns.htm The History of Tennis] – Mary Bellis</ref> He had likely based his game on both the evolving sport of outdoor tennis and on real tennis. Much of modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, for Wingfield and others borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of real tennis, and applied them to their variations of real tennis.<ref name="eot1974">{{cite book |title= Encyclopedia of Tennis |publisher=The Viking Press |author=Robertson, Max |year=1974 |pages=22–24}}</ref> In the scholarly work ''Tennis: A Cultural History'', Heiner Gillmeister reveals that on 8 December 1874, Wingfield had written to Harry Gem, commenting that he had been experimenting with his version of lawn tennis for a year and a half.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150205084258/http://www.leamingtonrealtennis.co.uk/history-of-the-game/leamington-and-tennis.html Leamington Tennis Court Club]</ref> Gem himself had largely credited Perera with the invention of the game.

Wingfield did patent his hourglass court <ref name="Feb23">{{cite web |url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1874/february_23_1874_58421.html |title=23 February 1874 in History |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref> in 1874, but not his eight-page rule book titled "Sphairistike or Lawn Tennis",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=umpress_wtg |title=When the Girls Came Out to Play: The Birth of American Sportswear |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref> but he failed in enforcing his patent.<ref name="USCL">

[http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/tennis/lawn.html The Beginnings Of Lawn Tennis] – University of South Carolina Libraries</ref> In his version, the game was played on an hourglass-shaped court, and the net was higher (4 feet 8 inches) than it is in official lawn tennis. The service had to be made from a diamond-shaped box in the middle of one side of the court only, and the service had to bounce beyond the service line instead of in front of it. He adopted the rackets-based system of scoring where games consisted of 15 points (called 'aces').<ref name=barrett>{{cite book|last=Barrett|first=John|title=The Original Rules of Tennis|year=2010|publisher=Bodleian Library|location=Oxford|isbn=9781851243181|pages=13–19}}</ref> None of these quirks survived the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]]'s 1875 ''Rules of Lawn Tennis'' that have been official, with periodic slight modifications, ever since then. Those rules were adopted by the [[All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club]] for the first Lawn Tennis Championship, at Wimbledon in 1877 (the men who devised those rules were members of both clubs). Wingfield does deserve great credit for popularizing the game of lawn tennis, as he marketed, in one boxed set, all the equipment needed to play his or other versions of it, equipment that had been available previously only at several different outlets. Because of this convenience, versions of the game spread like wildfire in Britain, and by 1875 lawn tennis had virtually supplanted [[croquet]] and [[badminton]] as outdoor games for both men and women.

[[Mary Ewing Outerbridge]] played the game in Bermuda at Clermont, a house with a spacious lawn in Paget parish.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bermuda's Place in Tennis History|url=http://www.blackburneds.com/html/history.html|publisher=Blackburne}}</ref> Innumerable histories claim that in 1874, Mary returned from Bermuda onboard the ship S.S. ''Canima'' and introduced lawn tennis to the United States,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ictennis.net/bermuda/TheICofBermuda/tabid/845/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/473/Bermudas-Place-in-Tennis-History.aspx|title=Bermudas Place in Tennis History > The IC of Bermuda|website=Ictennis.net|access-date=8 October 2017}}</ref> setting up supposedly the first tennis court in the United States on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club, which was near where the Staten Island Ferry Terminal is today.<ref name="statenislandtennisassociation.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.statenislandtennisassociation.com/our-history.html|title=Our History|website=Staten Island Tennis Association|access-date=8 October 2017|archive-date=20 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220155726/http://www.statenislandtennisassociation.com/our-history.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The club was founded on or about 22 March 1872. She is also mistakenly said to have played the first tennis game in the U.S. against her sister Laura in Staten Island, New York on an hourglass-shaped court.<ref name="statenislandtennisassociation.com"/> However, all this would have been impossible, as the tennis equipment she is said to have brought back from Bermuda was not available in Bermuda until 1875, and her next trip to Bermuda, when it was available there, was in 1877. In fact, lawn tennis was first introduced in the United States on a grass court on Col. William Appleton's Estate in Nahant, Massachusetts by Dr. James Dwight ("the Father of American Lawn Tennis"), Henry Slocum, Richard Dudley Sears and Sears' half-brother Fred Sears, in 1874.

* Tennis comes from the French tenez, the formal imperative form of the verb tenir, to hold, meaning "hold!", "receive!" or "take!", an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent to indicate that he is about to serve.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tennis |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |date=1927-06-10 |access-date=2013-05-15}}</ref>

* Racket (or racquet) derives from the Arabic rakhat, meaning the palm of the hand.<ref name="Beijing">{{cite web |url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/05/75/article212057505.shtml |title=Tennis from Beijing Olympics 2008 |access-date=2007-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101084658/http://en.beijing2008.cn/05/75/article212057505.shtml |archive-date=2007-11-01 }}</ref>

* Deuce comes from "a deux du jeu" - two points away from game (that is, two consecutive points must be scored to win the game).<ref name="Trad">{{cite web |url=http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Tennis.htm |title=The Online Guide to Traditional Games |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref>

* The origin of the use of love for zero is disputed. It is ascribed to derive from l'œuf, French for "the egg", traditionally representing the shape of a zero.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSr4fO2zYrIC&pg=PA245 |title=Speaking of animals: a dictionary of animal metaphors |last1=Palmatier |first1=Robert |page=245 |year=1995|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780313294907 }}</ref><ref>Horn, Geoffrey. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tQoY647Kk-wC&pg=PA13 Rafael Nadal], page 13 (2006).</ref> Another possibility is that it derives from the Dutch expression "iets voor lof doen", which means to do something for praise, implying no monetary stakes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bondt|first=Cees de|title=Heeft yemant lust met bal, of met reket te spelen...?|year=1993|publisher=Verloren|location=Hilversum|isbn=9789065503794|page=10}}</ref>

* The reason for the numbering of scores being "15", "30" and "40" is unknown. Historical sources suggest the system was originally 15, 30, 45 with the 45 simplified to 40 over time. Common theories are that it originated from the quarters of a clock, or from gambling stakes or just a trick from royal families to confuse the servants and maids so they wouldn't understand the system of scoring (that's why they use 40 in their system and not 45).

==Tournaments and tours of the Amateur Era==

The four majors or [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] tournaments, the four biggest competitions on the tennis circuit, are [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]], the [[US Open (tennis)|US Open]], the [[French Open]], and the [[Australian Open]]. Since the mid-1920s they became and have remained the more prestigious events in tennis.<ref name="TS1">{{cite web |url=http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_99_10_31.html |title=Suzanne Lenglen and the First Pro Tour |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref><ref name="AUSslam">[http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/info/grandslam/index.html Grand Slam] – Australian Open</ref> Winning these four tournaments in the same year is called the Calendar Grand Slam (a term borrowed from [[Contract bridge|bridge]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hickoksports.com/history/grandslm.shtml |title=Originality of the phrase "Grand Slam" |access-date=2007-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906072321/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/grandslm.shtml |archive-date=2012-09-06 }}</ref>

[[The Championships, Wimbledon]], were founded by the [[All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club]] in 1877 to raise money for the club.<ref name=History>{{cite web|url=http://www.itftennis.com/abouttheitf/worldwide/history.asp|title=History of Tennis|publisher=[[International Tennis Federation]]|access-date=2008-07-28}}</ref> The first Championships were contested by 22 men and the winner received a Silver Gilt Cup proclaiming the winner to be "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/trophies.html |title=The Trophies |publisher=wimbledon.org |access-date=2010-11-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427055957/http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/trophies.html |archive-date=2009-04-27 }}</ref> The first Championships culminated a significant debate on how to standardize the rules. The following year, it was recognized as the official British Championships, although it was open to international competitors. In 1884 the Ladies Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles Championships were inaugurated, followed by the Ladies and Mixed Doubles in 1913.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/rolls/index.html |title=Roll of Honour |publisher=wimbledon.org |access-date=2010-11-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209063108/http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/rolls/index.html |archive-date=2010-12-09 }}</ref>

1877: [[Grass court|Grass]]

Tennis was first played in the U.S. on a grass court set up on the Estate of Col. William Appleton in [[Nahant, Massachusetts]] by [[James Dwight]], [[Richard Sears (tennis)|Richard Dudley Sears]] and Fred Sears in 1874.<ref name="MEO">{{cite web |url=http://www.therooms.ca/archives/wis/tennis.asp |title=Women In Sport |access-date=2007-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614004114/http://www.therooms.ca/archives/wis/tennis.asp |archive-date=2007-06-14 }}</ref> In 1881, the desire to play tennis competitively led to the establishment of tennis clubs.<ref name="TS1"/>

The first American National tournament was played in 1880 at the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club in New York. An Englishman named [[Otway Woodhouse]] won the singles match. There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one normally used in NY. On 21 May 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the [[United States Tennis Association]]) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions.<ref name=USTA>{{cite web|url=http://www.usta.com/communitytennis/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=95424&icategoryid=437|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030214640/http://www.usta.com/communitytennis/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=95424&icategoryid=437|archive-date=2007-10-30|title=History of United States Tennis Association|access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref>

The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the [[US Open (tennis)|US Open]], was first held in 1881 at [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ri.gov/facts/trivia.php |title=Fact & History of Rhodes Island |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref> The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887 in Philadelphia.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/us_open/2136087.stm Leading The Way] – BBC Sport</ref>

1881: [[Grass court|Grass]]<br />

1978: [[Hardcourt|Hard]] [[DecoTurf]]

Tennis was predominantly a sport of the English-speaking world, dominated by Great Britain and the United States.<ref name="Buzzle">{{cite web |url=http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-3-2005-83054.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060225160924/http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-3-2005-83054.asp |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2006-02-25 |title=Tennis: Britain Misses Out on World Party That Once Roused Fury of the Fuhrer |access-date=2007-05-29 }}</ref> It was also popular in France, where the [[French Open (tennis)|French Open]] dates to 1891 as the Championat de France International de Tennis. This tournament was not recognised as a Major or Grand Slam tournament until it was opened to all nationalities in 1925.

1909: Clay<br />

1905: [[Grass court|Grass]]<br />

1988: [[Hardcourt|Hard]] [[Rebound Ace]]<br />

2008: Hard [[Plexicushion]]<br />

2020: Hard [[GreenSet]]

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Davis Cup 1920 cropped.jpg|right|thumb|The [[1920 International Lawn Tennis Challenge|1920]] finals, U.S. against Australia]] -->

In 1898, [[Dwight F. Davis]] of the Harvard University tennis team designed a tournament format with the idea of challenging the British to a tennis showdown.<ref name="maker">{{cite web|url=http://www.daviscup.com/en/history/davis-cup-history.aspx|title=Davis Cup History|publisher=daviscup.com|access-date=2010-12-05}}</ref> The first match, between the [[United States Davis Cup team|United States]] and [[Great Britain Davis Cup team|Great Britain]] was held in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] in [[1900 International Lawn Tennis Challenge|1900]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tennis.bnpparibas.com/en/professional-tournaments/page.asp?Code=SBUS-6D4DTB |title=Davis Cup by BNP Paribas |access-date=2007-05-29 |archive-date=2007-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070727071809/http://tennis.bnpparibas.com/en/professional-tournaments/page.asp?Code=SBUS-6D4DTB |url-status=dead }}</ref> The American team, of which Dwight Davis was a part, surprised the British by winning the first three matches. By [[1905 International Lawn Tennis Challenge|1905]] the tournament had expanded to include [[Belgium Davis Cup team|Belgium]], [[Austria Davis Cup team|Austria]], [[France Davis Cup team|France]], and [[Australasia Davis Cup team|Australasia]], a combined team from Australia and New Zealand that competed jointly until [[1913 International Lawn Tennis Challenge|1913]].

The tournament initially was known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge. It was renamed the Davis Cup following the death of Dwight Davis in 1945. The tournament has vastly expanded and, on its 100th anniversary in 1999, 130 nations competed.

1913 also saw 12 national tennis associations agree at a Paris conference to form the [[International Lawn Tennis Federation]] (ILTF), renamed in 1977 as the current [[International Tennis Federation]] (ITF).<ref name="itfhistory">

[http://www.itftennis.com/abouttheitf/abouttheitf/history.asp History of The Davis Cup]. Retrieved 2007-09-10.</ref> The rules the association promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing century, the one major change being the addition of the tie-break system designed by [[Jimmy Van Alen|James Van Alen]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=126 |title=James Henry Van Alen in the Tennis Hall of Fame |access-date=2007-05-29 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153610/http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=126 |archive-date = 30 September 2007}}</ref>

The same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in 1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts by the then ITF President [[Philippe Chatrier]], ITF General Secretary David Gray and ITF Vice President Pablo Llorens as well as support from IOC President [[Juan Antonio Samaranch]]. The success of the event was overwhelming, and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988.

The idea of a Davis Cup-style tournament for national women's teams is surprisingly old—it was first proposed in 1919 by [[Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman]]. After she was turned down, she donated a trophy in 1923 that would be known as the [[Wightman Cup]], awarded in an annual match between the two strongest women's tennis nations of the time, the United States and Great Britain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fedcup.com/en/organisation/fed-cup-history.aspx |title=Fed Cup History |publisher=[[International Tennis Federation]] (ITF) |access-date=27 May 2015 |archive-date=26 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826073908/https://www.fedcup.com/en/organisation/fed-cup-history.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===The professional circuit===

In 1926, promoter [[C.C. Pyle]] established the first professional tour with a group of American and French players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.<ref name="TS1" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_01_03_01.html |title=History of the Pro Tennis Wars Chapter 2, part 1 1927–1928 |access-date=2007-05-29}}</ref> The most notable early professionals were American [[Vinnie Richards]] and Frenchwoman [[Suzanne Lenglen]].<ref name="TS1" /><ref name="Open Minded"/> Players turning pro could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.<ref name="TS1" />

Before the Open Era, the leading professional players were under contract with a professional promoter who controlled their appearances. For example, in 1926, Lenglen and Richards toured North America along with [[Paul Féret]] and [[Mary K. Browne]] under contract to Charles C. Pyle. The main events of the professional circuit comprised head-to-head competition and by-invitation Pro Championships, which were the equivalent of the Grand Slam tournaments on the professional circuit.

Suzanne Lenglen was the leading player in the first year of the professional circuit, and after she retired in February 1927, few female players played on the professional circuit before the Open Era.

The [[Tournament of Champions (tennis)|Tournament of Champions]] was held between 1957 and 1959, the 1957 Australian editions taking place in Sydney White City and Melbourne Kooyong, while the U.S. editions in 1957, 1958 and 1959 took place at [[Forest Hills, Queens]]. There was also the [[Wimbledon Pro]] tournament held in August 1967, the first tournament where professional tennis players were allowed to play at Wimbledon.

The '''Open Era''' began in 1968 when [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete with amateurs.<ref name="Open tennis accepted for Wimbledon">{{cite web|title=Open tennis accepted for Wimbledon|url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/moment001214tennis.html|website=[[ESPN]]|publisher=ESPN|date=14 December 1967}}</ref>

During the first years of the Open Era, power struggles between the ILTF and the commercial promoters led to boycotts of Grand Slam events. The first Open Era event was the [[1968 British Hard Court Championships]] held in April at [[The West Hants Club]] in [[Bournemouth, England]],<ref>{{cite news |title = Now I'd choose tennis |first = Jon |last = Henderson |url = https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/jun/15/tennis.rugbyunion |newspaper = [[The Observer]] |date = 15 June 2008 |quote = 'Yes, "open" tennis has come at last and Bournemouth has been entrusted with the task of a world shaking launching,' said the programme notes for the 1968 Hard Court Championships of Great Britain, which brought an end to the sport's segregation of amateur and professional players.}}</ref> while the first open Grand Slam tournament was the [[1968 French Open]] in May.<ref>{{cite web |title = Event Guide / History: Roland-Garros, a never-ending story |url = http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/about/history.html |work = [[French Open|Roland Garros Official Website]] |publisher = [[IBM Corporation]] and [[Fédération Française de Tennis]] |quote = Another significant turning point came in 1968 when the French Internationals became the first Grand Slam tournament to join the "Open"" era. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704064149/http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/about/history.html |archive-date=2008-07-04}}</ref> Both tournaments were won by [[Ken Rosewall]].

In 1968, a few professionals were independent, including [[Lew Hoad]], [[Mal Anderson]], [[Luis Ayala (tennis)|Luis Ayala]], and [[Owen Davidson]], but most of the best players were under contract. George McCall operated the [[National Tennis League|National Tennis League (NTL)]] and managed [[Rod Laver]], [[Ken Rosewall]], [[Andrés Gimeno]], [[Pancho Gonzales]], [[Fred Stolle]] and [[Roy Emerson]]. Meanwhile Dave Dixon (later succeeded by [[Lamar Hunt]]) ran the [[World Championship Tennis|World Championship Tennis (WCT)]] and managed the "[[Handsome Eight]]": [[John Newcombe]], [[Tony Roche]], [[Nikola Pilić]], [[Roger Taylor (tennis)|Roger Taylor]], [[Pierre Barthès]], [[Earl "Butch" Buchholz]], [[Cliff Drysdale]] and [[Dennis Ralston]]. In 1968, none of the original Handsome Eight WCT players participated in the [[French Open]]. In 1970, NTL players did not play in the [[Australian Open]] because their organization did not receive a guarantee. In 1970, neither WCT nor NTL players played in the French Open.

In the first two years of the Open Era, the National Tennis League and WCT promoters began to take control of the game. To outmaneuver them, [[Jack Kramer]], the best player of the late 1940s / early 1950s, and at that time a promoter, conceived the [[Grand Prix tennis circuit]] in late 1969. He described it as: <blockquote>. . . a series of tournaments with a money bonus pool that would be split up on the basis of a cumulative point system. This would encourage the best players to compete regularly in the series, so that they could share in the bonus at the end and qualify for a special championship tournament that would climax the year.<ref>''THE GAME My 40 Years in Tennis'', by Jack Kramer with Frank Deford, pages 275–276</ref></blockquote>

In 1970, none of the contract players participated in the [[1970 French Open|French Open]]. The International Lawn Tennis Federation, alarmed by the control of the promoters, approved Kramer's Grand Prix. Twenty-seven tournaments, including the three Grand Slams (French Open, Wimbledon and US Open), were played that year, with Stockholm tournament ending on 1 November. The independent professional players along with a few contract players, entered the Grand Prix circuit. Contract players could play Grand Prix events provided their contracts allowed it, and that they had adequate time apart from their own circuit.

In 1978 the ILTF Grand Prix and WCT circuits merged. However, In 1982, the WCT circuit separated again and created a more complex WCT ranking, similar to the ATP ranking. The WCT was not as successful in the 1980s, and the Grand Prix circuit became the primary circuit. The Grand Prix's governance was led by the [[Men's International Professional Tennis Council]] (also called the Men's Tennis Council).<ref name="atphistory">{{cite web | url=http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/corporate/history | title=ATP corporate history | access-date=14 September 2016}}</ref> The [[WCT Finals]] in Dallas continued being held until the end of the 1980s, and then disbanded with the creation of the [[ATP World Tour|ATP Tour]] for 1990.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

The Open Era, the global professional circuit, and television helped tennis spread globally and shed its elitist, [[anglocentric]] image. In the United States, since the 1970s, courts have been a common feature of public recreational facilities. Accordingly, in the 1970s, the U.S. Open moved from the private [[West Side Tennis Club]] to a public park (the [[USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center|USTA National Tennis Center]], [[Flushing Meadows Park]]) that is accessible to anyone who buys a ticket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foresthillstennis.com/wstcnew/about%20wstc/wstchistory.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040519005057/http://www.foresthillstennis.com/wstcnew/about%20wstc/wstchistory.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2004-05-19 |title=History of the West Side Tennis Club |access-date=2007-05-29 }}</ref> About the same time, the ruling body's name changed from the United States Lawn Tennis Association to the [[United States Tennis Association]].<ref name="HUSTA">{{cite web |url=http://www.usta.com/communitytennis/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=95424&icategoryid=437 |title=History of USTA |access-date=2007-05-29 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061112145318/http://www.usta.com/communitytennis/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=95424&icategoryid=437 |archive-date = 12 November 2006}}</ref>

In 1990, the Association of Tennis Professionals, led by [[Hamilton Jordan]], replaced the MTC as the governing body of men's professional tennis. They established the [[ATP Tour]], and packaged the nine most prestigious events as the "Championship Series – Single Tournament Week", and beginning in 1996, as the [[ATP World Tour Masters 1000|"Super Nine"]]. Twelve of the Grand Prix which were slightly less prestigious than the first nine events were renamed as the "Championship Series – Double Week" (meaning in most cases, 2 of those tournaments occurred the same week). Winning a Super Nine tournament was worth roughly half the points (370) of winning a Grand Slam tournament (750), while Championship Series tournaments were worth as much as 360 points depending on the total prize money. The format continued until 2000, at which time the Super Nine were renamed the Masters Series (the winner being awarded 500 points), occupying the rank below the Grand Slams (1000 points for the winner), and the Championship Series was renamed to simply the International Series Gold (worth 250 to 300 points for the winner). In 2000, the Grand Slam tournaments and the Masters Series tournaments became mandatory professional events if a player's ranking qualifies them for the tournament. Players were automatically entered and Masters and Slam events became the baseline for player rankings with up to an additional 5 tournaments also counted (18 in all plus the ATP Finals if they qualify). Before 2000, a players' best 14 tournaments were counted towards the ATP Point Rankings.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

In 2009, the Masters events were renamed the [[ATP World Tour Masters 1000]] with the [[Monte-Carlo Masters]] becoming a non-mandatory event, meaning a player could use his results from a lower-level tournament in place of it. International Series Gold became the [[ATP World Tour 500]] and the remaining events became the [[ATP World Tour 250]]. The numbers in the tournament type name indicate the winners' ranking points. By way of comparison, a winner of one of the four Grand Slam tournaments is awarded 2000 points. In 2009, a greater emphasis began to be placed on winning a tournament, as the points awarded to the runner-up dropped from 70% of the champion's points to 60% (i.e. from 700 points to 600 points in a Masters 1000 event). Points also began to be awarded for Davis Cup singles play.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

==Women's professional tennis==

Women's professional tennis began in 1926, when world number one female player [[Suzanne Lenglen]] accepted $50,000 for a series of matches against three-time U.S. Champion [[Mary K. Browne]]. The series ended in 1927, and the women did not compete as professionals again until 1941 when [[Alice Marble]] headlined a tour against [[Mary Hardwick]]. World War II hindered most professional competitions and many players were involved with entertaining the troops.

[[Gladys Heldman]], American publisher of ''World Tennis'' magazine, responded with a separate women's tour under the sponsorship of [[Virginia Slims]] cigarettes. In 1971 and 1972, the WT Women's Pro Tour offered nearly 10 times the prize money of other pro women's tennis events. The USLTA initially would not sanction the tour; however, the two groups determined to give Virginia Slims the individual events, and the USLTA the tour, thus resolving the conflict. In 1973, the U.S. Open made history by offering equal prize money to men and women. Billie Jean King, the most visible advocate for the women's cause, earned over $100,000 in 1971 and 1972.<ref>Max Robertson, p. 70</ref>

The [[Women's Tennis Association]], formed in 1973, is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis, organizing the worldwide, professional [[WTA Tour]]. From 1984 to 1998, the finals matches of the championship event were best-of-five, uniquely among women's tournaments. In 1999, the finals reverted to best-of-three. The WTA Tour Championships are generally considered to be the women's fifth most prestigious event (after the four [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] tournaments.) Sponsors have included Virginia Slims (1971–78), [[Avon Products|Avon]] (1979–82), Virginia Slims again (1983–94), [[J.P. Morgan Chase]] (1996–2000), [[Sanex]] (2001) [[Home Depot]] (2002), [[Sony Ericsson]] (2006–2010), and [[Hologic]] (2022–present)

In 1954, [[Jimmy Van Alen|James Van Alen]] founded the [[International Tennis Hall of Fame]], a non-profit museum in [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tennisfame.com/tennisfame.aspx?pgID=866 |title=International Tennis Hall of Fame Information |access-date=2007-05-29 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518085009/http://www.tennisfame.com/tennisfame.aspx?pgID=866 |archive-date = 18 May 2007}}</ref> The building contains a large collection of memorabilia as well as honoring prominent players and others. Each year, a grass-court tournament takes place on its grounds, as well as an induction ceremony honoring new members.

{{History of sports}}

[[Category:Sports originating in England]]