About Tennis
Tennis is a sport played on three surfaces clay, grass and hard court. The sport is played by two or four players with each player using a racket strung with nylon threads. The ball used is a hollow rubber ball cover in a short felt. The court is divided in two with a net and the players must hit the ball back and forth across the net only allowing it to bounce once on their side of the court. The game is scored with a four point scoring system of 15, 30, 40 and game. Each match is played until the winner wins a best of three or best of five set match. Sets are won with the first player reaching six games and winning by two games or in a tie breaker if both players have six games won.
Tennis is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. All many housing developments, apartment complexes, health clubs and spas you will find tennis courts available for use. The sport has no age limit and is played by youngster and senior citizens alike.
Most believe that tennis started in France around the 12th century but at that time there were no racquets and the ball was hit with the palm of the hand. Not until the 16th century did racquets come into use that is when the game became known as tennis. The game remained an indoor game since a wall was required to hit the ball against.
In the late 18th century in Birmingham, England the world's first tennis club was founded at the Leamington Spa. The first championship in tennis was played at Wimbledon in London in 1877 and at that time a debate was started in order to make the rules more standardized. Rules were set in 1924 by the International Lawn Tennis Federation known today as the International Tennis Federation, and have been pretty much unchanged since that time. The only major change in competition over the last eighty years has been the inclusion of the tiebreaker to help end sets and matches.
Tennis was once an Olympic sport until 1924 and then withdrew from the Games until 1984 when the sport once again starting competition in the Games. There are many annual tournaments on the professional level with four major tournaments know as Grand Slam tournaments and they include the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S Open.
There are a number of different professional tours as well as tours for older players and youngsters.
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