- Tennis in brief
- History
- Equipment
- Court
- Rules
- Shots
- Greatest Players
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Tennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles).Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt past a net into the opponent's court. The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis" which has heavy connections to various field/lawn games as well as to the ancient game of real tennis. After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. The rules of tennis have not changed much since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1960 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and then the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the line (or chair) umpire's call of a point. Tennis enjoys millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the "Majors"): the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. |
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Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa. The Courier of July 23, 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.
In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed and patented a similar game — which he called sphairistike (Greek: σφάίρίστική, from ancient Greek meaning "skill at playing at ball"), and was soon known simply as "sticky" — for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales. He likely based his game on the evolving sport of outdoor tennis including real tennis. According to some tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of real tennis and applied them to his new game.
The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877. The first Championships culminated a significant debate on how to standardize the rules.
In America in 1874 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda where she met Major Wingfield. She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club in New Brighton Staten Island, New York. The exact location of the club was under what is now the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The first American National tournament in 1880 was played there. An Englishman named O.E 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 May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions. The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887. Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891. Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. Together these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed from bridge rather than baseball).
The comprehensive International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation, rules promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tie-break system designed by James Van Alen. That 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, and 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 Davis Cup, an annual competition between men's national teams, dates to 1900. The analogous competition for women's national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF.
In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.
In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors 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 (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).
In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.
Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only a racquet and balls.
Racquets
Racquet technology
By far the most drastic change in technology was in the tennis racquet. Every aspect of the tennis racquet from the weight of the racquet to the shape of the racquet changed to better suit modern tennis players.
Size of the racquet
In 1976 Howard Head introduced the first major change to the tennis racquet: the large head which created the racquet size classification that is used today. The large head gave an advantage to the average recreational player so they could play better with a larger hitting area.
Size classification
* Mid - 93 square inches (600 cm2) and below
* Mid-plus - 94–105 square inches (610–680 cm2)
* Oversized - 106–122 square inches (680–790 cm2)
* Super-oversized - 122 square inches (790 cm2) and larger
In addition to head size, the balance point and grip size of a racquet also changed as technology progressed. The balance point of the racquet is now easily changed to the user's preferences. Depending on the player's style of play, the choice is made between a head-heavy racquet and a head-light racquet. Head-heavy racquets provide more power on serves and ground strokes, while head-light racquets provide more control. Along with racquet balance, the size of the grip on the racquet can affect play style as well. With racquets made for personal specifications tennis has grown leaps and bounds. Unlike football, American football and baseball where sporting goods are tightly regulated, tennis has been rather free in the successive innovations of its sporting goods—whether materials, product architecture or weight. While often controversial, innovations are rather ambiguous in their effect on performance and ergonomics so that standards are not as common and more the result of social construction and less due to imposition of regulatory or engineering standards.
Materials
The earliest racquets used in tennis were made of wood which caused a number of inconsistency problems such as the wood warping and the use of different woods in racquets making a different feel when striking the ball. Early designs used metals in their new designs many companies experimented with metals such as aluminum, magnesium and titanium. Then many companies experimented with materials such as boron, ceramics, graphite and composites. Each material had its own desirable qualities but ceramics and graphite were the best picks for being very stiff as well as being very good with vibration reduction. The most advanced of the racquet technologies created by tennis racquet manufacturers are described at Tennis Warehouse.
Strings
The earliest strings were made from cow intestines (now called natural gut), a very reliable string but very expensive. With time and improved technology manufacturers have been trying to duplicate the natural gut feel with synthetic materials. Also, manufacturers are creating strings that are designed to produce more spin, power, and durability. It remains unclear whether the technological innovations in materials, product architecture, and size affected the performance of players, even if such innovations are controversial and even contested by sport-regulatory bodies. The prevailing standards are as much due to advancements in musical string technology as to the social construction of the racquet by the tennis playing public and the manufacturers who furnish the sporting goods. Social construction refers to the framing or interpretation of the physical implement by the community of tennis players some of whom often challenged the putative benefits of certain strings or other aspects of the racket.
Balls
balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties.
- History :
Shakespeare refers to this in Much Ado About Nothing (Act III, Scene II):
- CLAUDIO
- No, but the barber's man hath been seen with him,
- and the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuffed tennis-balls.
In 1480, Louis XI of France forbade the filling of tennis balls with chalk, sand, sawdust, or earth, and stated that they were to be made of good leather well-stuffed with wool. Other early tennis balls were made by Scottish craftsmen from a wool-wrapped stomach of a sheep or goat and tied with rope. Those recovered from the hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall during a period of recent restoration were found to have been manufactured from a combination of putty and human hair, and were dated to the reign of Henry VIII. Other versions, using materials such as animal fur, rope made from animal intestines and muscles, and pine wood, were found in Scottish castles dating back to the 16th century. In the 18th century, ¾" strips of wool were wound tightly around a nucleus made by rolling a number of strips into a little ball. String was then tied in many directions around the ball and a white cloth covering sewn around the ball. This explains why modern rubber tennis balls still have a cloth covering (in the early days of lawn tennis, it proved quite difficult to get the cloth to adhere very well to the rubber). This type of cloth ball, with a cork core, is still used for the original game of tennis, today called real tennis. With the introduction of lawn tennis in the 1870s, vulcanized rubber was first used to manufacture balls, often in tubes of four with a package, but not with the name of the brand.
Pressure-less balls usually have a stiffer, woodier feel than pressurized balls, and except for the Tretorn brand, do not bounce as high as brand new pressurized balls. Unlike pressurized balls, though, they do not lose bounce over time. In fact, they get bouncier as they get lighter, due to fuzz loss. The balder they get, the more their flight, bounce, and spin response changes from what you would expect of tennis balls.
Miscellaneous
Advanced players improve their performance through a number of accoutrements. Vibration dampers may be interlaced in the proximal part of the string array for improved feel. Racket handles may be customized with absorbent materials to improve the players' grip. Players often use sweat bands on their wrists to keep their hands dry as well. Finally, although the game can be played in a variety of shoes, specialized tennis shoes have wide, flat soles for stability and a built-up front structure to avoid excess wear.
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.
Types of tennis courts
There are four main types of courts depending on the materials used for the court surface: clay courts, hard courts, grass courts and carpet courts. Each playing surface has its own characteristics which affect the playing style of the game.
Of the Grand Slam tournaments, the U.S. Open and Australian Open use hardcourts (though both used grass courts in the past, and the U.S. Open also used clay courts from 1975 through 1977), the French Open is played on clay (though it too was played on grass before 1928), and Wimbledon is played on grass.
Clay courts
Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower[clarification needed] than the green, Har-Tru, "North-American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, unlike the other three Grand Slam tournaments of each year.
Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce[citation needed] when compared to grass courts or hard courts. This is because clay courts have more grab and when the ball lands there is more friction pushing against the ball's horizontal path, therefore slowing it and creating a higher bounce. For this reason, the clay court takes away some advantage of big serves, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface.
Clay courts are cheaper to construct than other types of tennis courts, but the maintenance costs of a clay surface are higher than those of hard courts. Clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The clay's water content must be balanced; green courts generally require the courts to be sloped[citation needed] to allow water run-off.
Clay courts are more common in Europe and Latin America than in North America and tend to heavily favor baseline players.
Grass courts
Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use (AstroTurf is faster but is primarily only used for personal courts). They consist of grass grown on very hard-packed soil, which adds an additional variable: bounces depend on how healthy the grass is, how recently it has been mown, and the wear and tear of recent play. Points are usually very quick where fast, low bounces keep rallies short, and the serve plays a more important role than on other surfaces. Grass courts tend to favor serve-and-volley tennis players, such as John McEnroe and Pete Sampras among men and Martina Navratilova among women. The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., comprises grass courts. The surface is less firm and more slippery than hard courts, causing the ball to slide and bounce lower, and so players must reach the ball faster. Serve-and-volley players take advantage of the surface by serving the ball (usually a slice serve because of its effectiveness on grass) and then running to the net to cut off the return of serve, leaving their opponent with little time to reach the low-bouncing, fast-moving ball. Players often hit flatter shots to increase power and allow the ball to travel faster after and before the ball hits the ground.
However, Wimbledon, the most famous grass tournament, slowed down its grass courts as recently as 2001. Players have said that the courts of Wimbledon have become slower, heavier, and high bouncing. In 2001, Wimbledon organizers had changed the grass to 100% perennial rye in addition to changing to a harder and denser soil with both providing for a higher bounce to the ball. Grass specialist Tim Henman spoke out against this change in 2002, stating "What on earth is going on here? I'm on a grass court and it's the slowest court I've played on this year". As a result, serving and volleying has become rare at Wimbledon and dominant baseliners such as Roger Federer have won the most recent titles.
Grass courts were once among the most common tennis surfaces, but are now rare due to high maintenance costs, as they must be watered and mown often, and take a longer time to dry after rain than hard courts. For a more extensive discussion of the skills most advantageous on grass court, see grass-court specialist.
Hard courts
Hard courts (usually made of asphalt) are very fast types of tennis courts, where fast hard-hitting players have a slight advantage. Hard courts can vary in speed; they are faster than clay but not as fast as grass courts. Depending on the amount of sand added to the paint the amount the ball slows down can vary greatly. These courts are considered the most equal for all playing styles. The U.S. Open is played on an acrylic hard court, while the Australian Open is played on a synthetic hard court. The main difference between a synthetic hard court and a true hard court surface is the level of hardness. When the ball bounces on this surface it is faster than all other surfaces if there is not much sand in the top paint. The amount of sand used in the top paint and the size of the sand also determines the speed – more sand means less speed and larger sand particles will slow the speed of play. The amount of friction can also be altered and more friction will produce a clay court effect, where topspin is magnified. The extra grip and friction will resist the sliding effect of the ball and the resistance will force the ball to change its rotation. The extra grip provided by the surface can resist the movement of the player and can cause injury.
Carpet courts
Carpet is a tennis term for any removable court covering. A short form of articial turf weighted with sand is common in Asia. Indoor arenas store rolls of rubber-backed court surfacing and install it temporarily for tennis events.
Indoor courts
The same surface will play faster indoors than outdoors. Hard courts are most common indoors. Slower, higher bouncing rubberized surfaces are used for a cushioned feel. Clay courts are installed indoors with underground watering systems. Barnstorming professionals played on canvas laid over wooden basketball courts up to the 1960's.
Smaller courts
The ITF campaign Play and Stay aims to increase tennis participation worldwide, by improving the way beginners are introduced to the game. The campaign promotes playing on smaller courts with slower red, orange and green balls. This gives players more time and control so that they can serve, rally and score (play the game) from the first lesson.
- Dimensions :
The dimensions of a tennis court.
Tennis is played on a rectangular flat surface, usually of grass, clay, concrete (hard court) or a synthetic suspended court. The court is 78 feet (23.78 m) long, 39 feet on a side. Its width is 27 feet (8.23 m) for singles matches and 36 feet (10.97 m) for doubles matches.[1] The service line is 21 feet (6.40 m) from the net. Additional clear space around the court is needed in order for players to reach overrun balls for a total of 60 feet (18.3 m) wide and 120 feet (36.7 m) long. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts, and 3 feet (0.914 m) high in the center.
- Orientation
A North/South orientation is desirable for outdoor courts to avoid background glare at dawn or dusk.
Complete rules 2010 in Pdf (41 pages)
- Basic Rules :
Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, a hardcourt of concrete and/or asphalt and occasionally carpet (indoor). The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches. Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (91.4 cm) high in the center.
The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, patented a court much the same as the current one for his stické tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield's version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.
Lines
The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the center of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the center mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines. These are the boundaries used when doubles is being played. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines and are used as boundaries in singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, which is considered playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the center of a player's side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve. The line dividing the service line in two is called the center line or center service line. The boxes this center line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player's position, he will have to hit the ball into one of these when serving. A ball is out only if none of it has hit the line or the area inside the lines upon its first bounce. All the lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (51 mm) in width. The baseline can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide if so desired.
The players (or teams) start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player is the receiver. Service alternates game by game between the two players (or teams.) For each point, the server starts behind his baseline, between the center mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server.
In a legal service, the ball travels past the net (without touching it) and into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service, which is void, and the server gets to retake that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that falls long or wide of the service box, or does not clear the net. There is also a "foot fault", which occurs when a player's foot touches the baseline or an extension of the center mark before the ball is hit. If the second service is also faulty, this is a double fault, and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service.
A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of the player or team hitting the ball exactly once before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net, provided that it still falls in the server's court. The ball then travels back past the net and bounces in the court on the opposite side. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point.
Scoring
A tennis match is determined through the best of 3 or 5 sets. Typically for both men's and women's matches, the first player to win two sets wins the match. At certain important tennis tournaments for men, including all four Grand Slam tournaments and the final of the Olympic Games, the first man to win three sets wins the match. A set consists of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.
A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as "love", "fifteen", "thirty", and "forty" respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each player, and the scores are equal, the score is "deuce". If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is "advantage" for the player in the lead. During informal games, "advantage" can also be called "ad in" or "ad out", depending on whether the serving player or receiving player is ahead, respectively.
In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., "fifteen-love") after each point. The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the serving player's score first. After a match, the score is always read with the winning player's score first. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.
A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.
A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a game point. Break points are of particular importance because serving is generally advantageous. A receiver who has two (score of 15-40) or three (score of love-40) consecutive chances to win the game has double break point or triple break point, respectively.
A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game, a tie-break is played. A tie-break, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. Only in the final sets of matches at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, and Fed Cup are tie-breaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead. A "love" set means that the loser of the set won zero games. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score.
In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase "Game, set, match" followed by the winning person's or team's name.
There are eight basic shots in the game of tennis:
Each shot is made by using a racquet to strike a ball with the intent to hit the ball over the net. Tennis shots are therefore named for when they are struck (in the case of the serve) or the manner in which they are struck.