History of Tennis
Tennis is a sport that has been round for hundreds of years. It is believed by the people that the game was originally invented by European monks. The racquets and ball used in playing the game were of different types.
The game was extremely popular amongst the monks in the monasteries in Europe. Though, there was a point when the church was contemplating on banning the game.
However, it was Major Walter C Wingfield, who patented the tennis equipment and created the rules for the game.
These rules were quite similar to the rules of present day’s tennis. The patenting took place in the same year when tennis courts started appearing in the United States.
Within a short span of one year, tennis equipment started making an appearance in other countries outside the US also.
This was the time when croquet was the most popular game in the European countries especially in England. In order to play tennis, people started making use of croquet courts. They set up the courts for tennis.
Wimbledon held the oldest tennis tournament, in 1877 after that is all a tradition and the venue is considered as the Mecca of the Tennis game.
The courts used in Wimbledon then were slightly different from the courts in play today. Though, the rules were generally the same as today.
The 1930s saw tennis being evolved into a chic sport with outfits specially designed for tennis being introduced.
These outfits were different from the ones players wear today. Tennis outfits in those days were long and constricting.
Shorts made an appearance in tennis in 1933 with Bunny Austin who was the first tennis player to wear one. This sport has gained a lot of popularity across the globe.
The popularity is so much that in 1986, the tennis association was force to introduce yellow balls to ensure that viewers sitting at home watching a tennis match could spot it easily on television.