An Introduction To The Game Of Tennis
By Paul Duxbury, Fri Dec 9th
For any future athlete that intends to start a new activity,knowing a little bit of history about the sport is always a goodidea.
Ball games can be traced back for hundreds and thousands ofyears. Usually played for entertainment or during religiousceremonies, ball games became highly popular in countlesscivilizations worldwide. European monks probably created thegame of tennis. The players quickly found out that instead ofhitting the ball off walls they had better control using theirhand. A leather glove was soon created, and not long after, anadapted handle completed the first racquet. As the racquetsevolved, so did the balls that were used. A bouncier typestuffed with bran material soon replaced the first primitivewooden balls. The game became highly popular amongst monasteriesall around Europe during the 14th century. At one time, thechurch considered forbidding the game.
In1874, Major Walter C. Wingfield patented in London theequipment and rules for a game fairly similar to modern tennis.In the same year, the first courts appeared in the UnitedStates. By the following year, equipment sets had been sold foruse in Russia, India, Canada, and China. Croquet was highlypopular at this time, and the smooth croquet courts provedreadily adaptable for tennis. Wingfield's original court had theshape of an hourglass, narrowest at the net, and it was shorterthan the modern court. His rules were subjected to considerablecriticism, and he revised them in 1875, but he soon left thefurther development of the game to others.
In 1877, the All England Club held the first Wimbledontournament, and its tournament committee came up with arectangular court and a set of rules that are essentially thegame we know today. The net was still five feet high at thesides, a carryover from the game's indoor ancestor, and theservice boxes were 26 feet deep, but by 1882, the specificationshad evolved to their current form. The growth of tenniscontinued and the 1927 Championship saw the first ever radiobroadcast of a event. This increased its popularityfurther and in the 1930s the game became highly fashionable, ledby British stars such as Fred Perry and Don Budge andInternational Champions such as Henri Lacoste. You'll noticefrom the photographs that fashions were somewhatdifferent in those days! Long trousers were the order of the dayfor men, and for women it was long dresses and stockings.
Fashion trends became a development in their own right and BunnyAustin from the USA shocked the crowds in 1933 when he becamethe first player to step out on to centre court wearing shorts!The 1930's became Wimbledon's boom time and in 1937, thechampionship was broadcast on the radio for the first time. Thiswas a significant event, truly introducing to the world.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the game became dominated by thenew legion of international players and crowds became captivatedby the likes of Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe. Inthe ladies game stars such as Sue Barker, Chris Evert Lloyd andMartina Navratilova filled the courts with fans. Britain'sforemost ladies player was Virginia Wade, the last Brit to winthe Championships in 1977. The prize money went up, as did thehemlines of players clothing! In 1986 the Championships adoptedyellow balls for the first time - partly to make thespeeding balls more visible for television cameras.
About the author:Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisationwith a wealth of experience in personal development, managementdevelopment, e-learning and operational management. In additionhe owns PK eBooks (http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) and has justpublished for Everyone which can be found athttp://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk/tennis_for_everyone.htm
Cops: Connors arrested for not complying (AP)
Tennis great Jimmy Connors was arrested outside the campus arena where UC Santa Barbara and top-ranked North Carolina were playing a basketball game. The eight-time Grand Slam champion was taken into custody Friday night after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation, police Sgt.
Spain wins doubles, takes Davis Cup lead (AP)
Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco sent a chill through Argentine tennis Saturday, winning their doubles match to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final. Lopez and Verdasco defeated David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-3, boosting Spain's hopes of winning the best-of-five championship on the road despite the absence of an ailing Rafael Nadal.
Wimbledon to regain All England Club (AP)
Wimbledon organizers will pay $83 million to regain total control of the All England Club, buying back the 50 percent it gave away in 1934. The amount will be paid to Britain's Lawn Tennis Association in installments over a likely five-year period from 2013, after the existing agreement expires, All England Club chairman Tim Phillips told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Ex-No. 1 doubles player Graebner dies (AP)
Carole Caldwell Graebner, who won doubles titles at the U.S. and Australian Championships in the 1960s, died Wednesday. She was 65. Graebner died in New York City following a brief battle with cancer, said her daughter, Cameron Graebner Mark. The top-ranked doubles player in the United States in 1963, Graebner teamed with Nancy Richey to capture doubles titles at the 1965 U.S.
Federer beats Blake in exhibition match (AP)
Roger Federer overcame an ailing back to beat James Blake in a one-set exhibition Tuesday. Federer rallied from 3-1 down to win 7-6, taking the tiebreaker 10-7. His victory came days after a sore back contributed his struggles at the Masters Cup, where he failed to reach the semifinals. John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg also played at the "Showdown of Champions," which included four one-set matches.
Djokovic wins season-ending Masters Cup (AP)
Novak Djokovic is trying his best to complete Serbia's ascension to the top of the tennis world. Jelena Jankovic, the U.S. Open runner-up, already is No. 1 on the women's side. Compatriot Ana Ivanovic, the French Open winner, held the spot earlier in the year before slipping to No. 5. Nenad Zimonjic became the top doubles player when he and Canada's Daniel Nestor teamed to beat Bob and Mike Bryan for...
]]>
Nestor, Zimonjic win Masters Cup doubles (AP)
Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia beat Americans Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (3), 6-2 Sunday to win the Masters Cup doubles title and clinch the year-end ATP No. 1 ranking. The Bryan twins, who were playing for their third title here, held the top ranking and won Olympic bronze at Beijing in August.
