Saturday 31st August 2019...all about tennis!!!

Beautiful sunny morning for tennis and we had a new player join our foursome today.

Without being egotistical I am the best player of the group but Andy the new guy is young and extremely good.....it brought up the level of the rest of us and it was a great two hours!!

Andy and I were talking after the game and he was born and raised in England but left when he was six years old to move to the USA....what a small world he was born in Sheffield, my home town and his house was about two miles from where I used to live!!

This is a very long article so don’t feel obliged to read it all!!!

The Origins of Tennis - History of Tennis

Amazingly, the historical development of tennis dates back several thousands of years. So, people who are involve in historical researches of this great sport claim to have found evidence of playing tennis in ancient Greece culture.

The History of tennis game was developed from a  12th century French handball game called "Paume" (palm). In this game the ball was struck with the hand. After some time "Paume" game produced handball "Jeu de Paume" (game of the palm) and there were used racquets. The game was first created by European monks for entertainment roles during ceremonial occasions. At first, the ball was hit with hands. Later, the leather glove came into existence. This leather glove was replaced with an adaptive handle for effective hitting and serving of the ball. That was a birth of tennis racquet.

                                                                                  

Development of tennis racquet , tennis balls also underwent  frequent modifications. First tennis ball was from wood. Later in the history of tennis ball was filled with cellulose material to gave way to a bouncier. Monks from all areas of Europe favored "Jeu de Paume" game during 14th century much to the chagrin of the mother Church. The game spread and evolved in Europe.

The game became very popular, especially in France, where was adopted by the royal family. In the year of 1316 French king Louis X dies after hard  "Jeu de Paume" game (other terms of  this stage of game are Royal Tennis in Great Britain, Royal Tennis in Australia, Court Tennis in the United States), but this death does null to damp the popularity of the recreation.

16th Century - History of Tennis

Between the 16th and 18th centuries the game of the palm was highly regarded by kings and nobleman. The French players would begin the palm game by shouting the word "Tenez" (Play!). The palm game soon came to be called "real tennis" or "royal".

1530s ▪ HISTORY OF TENNIS ▪ English king Henry VIII builds a tennis court at Hampton Court Palace (This court no longer exist but a similar court built there in 1625 and is in use until today).

1583 ▪ FIRST RACKET IN THE HISTORY OF TENNIS ▪ The first racquet was invented in Italy (history of tennis - web source).

19th Century History of Tennis

1870 ▪ WIMBLEDON HISTORY OF TENNIS ▪ In the Wimbledon district of London established All England Croquet Club. Tennis is still an indoor game played by royal and rich benefactors.

1873 ▪ LAWN TENNIS ▪ Major Walter Wingfield invented a version of Real Tennis that can be played outdoors on a lawn. The game called ‘Sphairistike’ (Greek for "playing ball" ) and first introduced it to Wales(UK). Played on hour-glass courts on Manor House lawns by rich English people. This is really where today's tennis developed. Wingfield deals Sphairistike in boxes that feature two net posts, a net, rackets, and India rubber balls, plus instructions about laying out the court and actually playing the game. Wingfield’s boxes kick start the modern form of tennis, though the one thing that doesn’t work is the name, and Wingfield soon realizes that his subtitle "lawn tennis" is much better than greek word "Sphairistike".

                                                              

1874 ▪ FIRST LAWN TENNIS TOURNAMENT IN THE USA ▪ Joseph and Clarence Clark (brothers), take one of Walter Wingfield’s boxes to America, leading to the first lawn tennis tournament in the USA later that year.

1875 ▪ ALL ENGLAND CROQUET CLUB & History of tennis ▪ Henry Cavendish Jones convinced the All England Croquet Club to replace a croquet court with a lawn tennis court. Marylebone Cricket Club followed suit. Marylebone Cricket Club made significant changes to the game. They added Deuce, Advantage, and 2 chances per serve. The hourglass-shaped court also changed to a rectangular court, identical to the measurements we use today.

1877 ▪ FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP & History of tennis ▪ The very first World Tennis Championship was held at Worple Road in Wimbledon,London (UK).The sponsors were the All England Croquet Club. Only 22 players entered the Mens Singles, which was the only event. Spectators paid a mere one shilling to watch the finals. The first winner of this mens event in the tennis history of Wimbledon was Spencer Gore.

1880 ▪ BIRTH OF OVERHEAD SMASH ▪The overhead smash was introduced into the game for the first time in the history of tennis by the Renshaw brothers in Wimbledon. They would dominate Wimbledon for a decade, winning all but 1880 and 1887 championships between them in the history of tennis.Overhead smash is a shot played above the head, hitting the ball downwards, hard and fast into your opponents side of the court.

1881 ▪ FIRST US OPEN - history of tennis ▪ America founded The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) , and in the same year it holds its first National Championship, the forerunner of the US Open but then restricted to American residents. It is held at Newport, Rhode Island. First winner in the history of tennis US National Championships was Dick Sears.

1884 ▪ FIRST M/W DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS ▪  The Wimbledon Championships are open to women for the first time. There are only 13 participants. Mens doubles was also introduced for the first time in the history of tennis.

1887 ▪ WOMEN U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS & history of tennis ▪ U.S. Championships are open to women for the first time. Lottie Dod wins her first Wimbledon Ladies Singles (Lottie win her first singles match with only 15 years).

1888 ▪ LTA & history of tennis ▪ Lawn Tennis Association founded (LTA) in order to maintain the new rules and standards of tennis.

1891 ▪ FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIPS & history of tennis ▪ The very first French Championships are played, these Championships were open for French residents only.

1896 ▪ OLYMPIC GAMES ▪ Tennis became one of the core sports in the first modern Olympic Games.

1897 ▪ WOMEN ON FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIPS ▪ The French Championships are open to women for the first time in the french tennis history.

1899 ▪ ALL ENGLAND TENNIS & CROQUET CLUB ▪ The England Croquet

Tennis History of 20th Century

1900 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF DAVIS CUP ▪ Dwight F.Davis, a Harvard university student decides to degree a team challenge match between the United States and the British Isles. The cup was engraved as "International Lawn Tennis Challenge Trophy", later known as the Davis Cup.

1905 ▪ AUSTRALIAN OPEN FOUNDED ▪ The Australasian National Championships, later became known as Australian Open are founded, with the venue alternating between centers in Australia and New Zealand.

1912 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAWN TENNIS FEDERATION ▪ The International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) is born with an aim of operating the 4 major tennis championships (Wimbledon Championships, U.S. Championships, Australasian Championships and French Championships).

1913 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF ILTF ▪ Founded with 13 members representing 14 countries. The aim is to ensure the sport grows with regular scoring and minimum difference between country members (1977. became ITF).

1919 ▪ SUZANNE LENGLEN WON FIRST WIMBLEDON TITLE ▪ Suzanne Lenglen, the first tennis sensation wins the Wimbledon Ladies Championships title, the first of 12 titles at what are later become the Grand Slam tournaments. She mixes relentless accuracy with balletic elegance, and enchances tennis's profile as a popular sport and very contributed to history of tennis.

                                        

1922 ▪ AUSTRALASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN FOR WOMEN ▪ The Australasian Championships are open to women for the first time(tennis history source from web).

1924 ▪ TENNIS WITDRAWN FROM OLYMPIC GAMES ▪ Tennis retired from the Olympic Games referring a lack of professionalism in the arrangement and Olyimpic Games desire to not schedule Wimbledon Championships in an year of the Olympic Games.

1925 ▪ FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIPS RULE "FRENCH RESIDENTS ONLY" DROPPED ▪ Finally "French residents only" rule is dropped by the French Championships. Australasian championships became Australian Championships and would be hosted only in territory of Australia.

1927 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF ROLAND GARROS ▪ In the Wimbledon Championships idea of seeding players was presented for the first time. The French win the davis Cup , The French national association gets land ont the edge of Paris from the city authorities, builds a new tennis stadium, and names it Roland Garros (he was French war hero in First World War).

1928 ▪ ROLAND GARROS HOSTED FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIPS ▪ The Stade Roland Garros hosts the French Championships for the first time in the history of tennis.

1930 ▪ TENNIS RACQUETS IMPROVED ▪ One-piece Ash wood tennis racquets reaplaced with laminted wood.

1933 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF JACK CRAWFORD ▪ Australian Jack Crawford comes within one set of winning all four major titles in the same year. There are mutterings that he is on the verge of a "Grand Slam" - taken from the card game Bridge.It was truly an extraordinary sporting achievement Until today, it managed only a handful of outstanding tennis players, really a great moment in the history of tennis, right?

                            

1938 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF DON BUDGE ▪ The first tennis player to complete the tennis history of Grand Slam of all 4 Championships in the same year was the American Don Budge.The New York Times tennis correspondent Allison Danzig uses the phrase ‘a Grand Slam in tennis’, thereby entrenching the term in tennis vocabulary of tennis history.

1947 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF JACK KRAMER ▪ Jack Kramer wins Wimbledon. He had involved to turn professional the previous year but was determined to win Wimbledon once, to give credibility to his assault on the professional circuit, both as a player and as an entrepreneur. He was to become one of the most influential figures of the modern tennis world.

1950 ▪ PRO TOUR BECAME POPULAR ▪ Pro Tour created by Jack Cramer becomes very popular with both amateur tennis players and the public (history of tennis web source).

1953 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF MAUREEN CONNELLY ▪ She was first woman who win all 4 Chamiponships in history of tennis and complete the "Grand Slam".

1960 ▪ DEBATE FOR THE IDEA OF OPEN TENNIS ▪ Determined by years of charges of ‘shamateurism’, the ILTF annual meeting debates a move to get tennis ‘open’ (to end the split amateur and professional circuits that had plagued the sport since the 1920s). The idea is defeated by five votes. It meant the four Grand Slam tournaments remained purely for ‘amateurs’, and any man who had won a couple of majors in their early 20s of tennis history was likely to leave the official circuit to earn money as a touring professional.

1967 ▪ WILSON'S FIRST METAL RACQUET ▪ The first metal tennis racquet appears thanks to Wilson. Wimbledon holds a demonstration tournament for professionals, and declares that its 1968 championships will be open to all participants, amateurs and professionals. It's the sign for tennis to go "open".

20th Century - Open Era of Tennis History

1968 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF OPEN ERA ▪ The first official "open" tournament takes place at Bournemouth on the English south coast, and the first Grand Slam, the newly named French Open, leads in a new era. Ken Rosewall, a returning professional won both events.

1969 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF ROD LAVER ▪ Rodney George "Rod" Laver of Australia becomes the first man to win a pure "open" Grand Slam, by taking all four major titles in the same year.Rod Laver completed his first Grand Slam in 1962 and second in 1969 - he is the only player in history to achieve two Grand Slams.

                                                   

1970 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF TIE BREAK ▪ The tiebreak is introduced to Grand Slam tennis, as the US Open adopts the nine-point shootout (sudden death at 4-4). The winner of the tie-break was the first person to reach five points. Jack Kramer introduces a point system for tennis tournaments depending on how far players go in tournaments and on the end of season prize money goes to player who had most points (tennis history web sources).

1972 ▪ ATP ASSOCIATION FORMED ▪ The Association of Tennis Professionals is formed and Jack Kramer is chosen as first Executive Director in tennis history.

1973 ▪ NIKKI PILIC SUSPENSION ▪ Wimbledon is boycotted by the ATP following the suspension of Yugoslav Nikki Pilic.

1976 ▪ FIRST GRAPHITE AND FIBERGLASS RACQUET ▪ Thanks to Howard Head first graphite and fiberglass racquets appear on the tennis scene in the tennis history. In the Wimbledon Championships Swedish player Bjorn Borg won his first title in singles.

1977 ▪ US OPEN MOVED TO FLUSHING MEADOWS ▪ As Wimbledon celebrates its centenary, the US Open offers farewell to the private setting of the Westside Club at Forest Hills, to move to a non-club national tennis centre nearby at Flushing Meadows. The last US Open at Forest Hills begins with Renée Richards, a transsexual who had played in the men’s singles as Richard Raskind in 1960, becoming the first (and only) person to have played in both the men’s and women’s singles at Grand Slam level.

1980 ▪ TIE BREAK SHOOTOUT RECORD ▪ The tiebreak comes of age in a 34 point shootout in the Wimbledon Championships final when Bjorn Borg has seven championship points to beat John McEnroe in four sets, but McEnroe saves them all, and converts his seventh point to take the match into a fifth set. Borg wins it 8-6. Great piece of tennis history.

1984 ▪ CLAY INDOOR SURFACE & TENNIS ON OLYMPICS AGAIN ▪ Clay develops into a temporary indoor surface when Sweden becomes the first country to install a makeshift clay court for a Davis Cup tie. And no ordinary tie – it’s the final, and the visit to Gothenburg’s Scandinavium arena of one of the strongest Davis Cup teams in tennis history: world No. 1 John McEnroe, No. 2 Jimmy Connors, and the world’s best doubles team, McEnroe and Peter Fleming. By Saturday night, Sweden is the champion for the loss of one set, and clay is established as a surface option for indoor ties. Tennis also returns to the Olympic Games as a test event for under-21 players at Los Angeles and is won by Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf.

1985 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF BORIS BECKER ▪ The German player Boris Becker was the youngest ever and first unseeded Wimbledon Mens Singles Champion with only 17 years (precisely 17 years and 227 days old).

1988 ▪ AUSTRALIAN OPEN MOVES -The Australian Open Championships moves into the modern era of tennis history with a new national tennis centre at Flinders Park (later renamed Melbourne Park), characterised by the first tennis stadium with a retractable roof. Steffi Graf beats Chris Evert in the first ‘indoor’ Grand Slam final.

                                                  

1989 ▪ ATP TOUR TRANSFORMATION TENNIS HISTORY ▪ The ATP transforms itself from a players’ union into a tour body. In an announcement made in the US Open’s parking lot, it says it will take over the running of the men’s tour in January 1990 from the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council, that had operated under the ITF’s auspices, and henceforth be known as the ‘ATP Tour’. A feature of the new tour is an elite series of nine events, the ‘Super Nine’ (now the Masters Series). With the breakaway denoting a form of civil war in tennis, the Grand Slam tournaments form their own year-ending tournament to start in 1990 called ‘The Grand Slam Cup’. It will share a prize money pool of (a then massive) $1.5 million among 16 players and two reserves. The rival year-ending events were to last another 10 years in the tennis history before peace broke out in 1999

1990 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF MARTINA NAVRATILOVA ▪ Martina Navratilova became the Wimbledon ladies Singles Champion for a record 9th time.

1994 ▪ INDOOR GRASS TENNIS COURT ▪ Tennis on grass is played in indoor conditions for the first time in the tennis history, when the new retractable roof on the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany, is closed to allow play to continue during rain.Martina Navratilova retires from singles tennis, having won a record 167 singles titles, a record 1438 matches won, and an 9 Wimbledon titles.

21st Century - A New Open Era of Tennis History

2001 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF GORAN IVANISEVIC ▪ In Wimbledon Championships tennis history Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia became the first Wimbledon wildcard in history of tennis to win the Mens Singles title.

2002 ▪ VENUS & SERENA WILIAMS ▪ Venus and Serena Williams become the first sisters in tennis history to be ranked #1 and #2 in the WTA world rankings list.

2003 ▪ PETE SAMPRAS ▪ Pete Sampras retires from tennis at a US Open farewell ceremony. He won 64 singles titles (4th highest ever) including a record 14 Grand Slam titles - 2 AO, 5 US Open and 7 Wimbledon.

2004 ▪ YEAR OF ROGER FEDERER IN TENNIS HISTORY ▪ Roger Federer becomes the first man in tennis history since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three of the four grand slam events (Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) in a calendar year. He also captured an ATP-best 11 titles in as many finals, including the end-of-season Masters Cup. And also set an Open Era record by winning 13 consecutive finals (dating back to 2003), surpassing Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe who won 12 straight finals.

2005 ▪ NEW DOUBLES TIE BREAK SCORING SYSTEM ▪ The ATP (having dropped the word ‘Tour’ from its name in 2000) introduces a different scoring system for doubles matches, with sudden death points at deuce (‘no advantage’) and a first-to-ten-points tiebreak in place of a final set. Roger Federer's 25-match winning streak (the longest in men's tennis since 1984) ended at the hands of 18-year-old Richard Gasquet in Monte Carlo. Another great moment in tennis history.

2006 ▪ ANDRE AGASSI RETIRES ▪ The greatest showman in tennis history - Andre Agassi - retires on 3 September 2006 following a 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 defeat to Benjamin Becker (GER) in the third round of the US Open.The right for players to challenge dubious line calls by electronic review is introduced in the Miami Masters Series tournament and makes its Grand Slam debut at the US Open later that year.

2007 ▪ TENNIS HISTORY OF RAFAEL NADAL ▪ On the 19 May, Rafael Nadal claims 81 straight wins on clay to set a new all surface record. His run was ended by Roger Federer in the Hamburg Masters final the following day. On the 9 September, Roger Federer became the first man in tennis history since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win 4 US Open titles in a row, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

2009 ▪ ROGER FEDERER ▪ On 7 June, Roger Federer became arguably the greatest tennis player of all time in tennis history with his victory at the French Open. Federer joins Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi as winner of all four Grand Slam titles, and equals the 14 Grand Slam titles claimed by Pete Sampras - who never managed to win on the clay of Roland Garros. On 20 April, Marat Safin and Dinara Safina became the first brother and sister to reach world number one in tennis history. Marat became achieved the top ranking on 20 November 2000. Roger Federer secure No. 1 postion on the end of seson with victory over Andy Murray in three sets at London ATP Finals on 25 November. Winning a championship takes years of hard work, quick reflexes and amazing senses. Without great eyesight your chances of winning a match would be low. 

I will end with a funny...

Yashi Kochi!!