Tennis is descended from a handball game (longue paume) played in the fossés of French and Italian châteaux in the middle ages. By the 14th century enclosed courts were common in France, and shortly afterwards some form of racket was introduced, but the prototype of the modern implement was of so elementary a character that another century elapsed before it superseded hand play. The numerous allusions to tennis found in English literature, from Chaucer onwards, prove that it has been played in England since the 14th century. It was the favourite pastime of several of the kings, and at one time became so popular that laws were passed prohibiting it. The expense of building and keeping up a court has confined the game to the aristocracy, but the fact that nearly a dozen courts were built during 1881-91 proves that it is by no means out of favour.
Scarcely two courts in existence are identical in
Plan of Tennis Court :
a, a, last gallery; b, b, second gallery; c, c, doors; d, d, first gallery. A, marker's box; B, basket for balls; C, the grille; D, the tambour; E, pass line; F, chase, last gallery; G, chase, a yard worse than last gallery; H, net. all respects; the dimensions given below are therefore taken from the typical court in Mr Marshall's Annals of Tennis. The dedans and corridor are covered by a sloping wooden roof, 7 feet 2 inches from the floor, called the penthouse. The dedans, galleries, and grille are openings in the wall below the eaves of the penthouse. The net is 3 feet high at the centre, 5 feet at the sides. The racket consists of a strong hoop of ash tightly strung with black gut, with a wooden handle, the whole being 2 feet 2 inches long, and weighing about 16 oz. The ball is made of woollen material covered with white cloth, and weighs 2½ oz. A set of six dozen balls is in use at one time, and a set will last fifty years or more if re-covered and moulded into shape from time to time.
The game may be played by two or four players. The server stands anywhere on the service side of the court and strikes the ball, so that it drops in the service-court after first touching the side pent-house. The striker-out must return it over the net either at the volley or first bound. A player scores a stroke (1) when he hits the ball into a winning hazard, viz. dedans, grille, or last gallery on the hazard side; (2) when his opponent hits the ball into the net, out of court, or loses a 'chase.' The latter term requires some explanation. When a ball falls—i.e. touches the floor for the second time—on or between any of the lines marked across the court, or enters any of the galleries except the winning gallery, the marker calls out 'chase six,' 'second gallery,' 'better than two,' according as it falls 6 yards from the end wall, in or opposite the second gallery, or between the 1½ and 2 yard lines. When two chases have been made, or one if either of the players is within a stroke of the game, they change sides, and if the striker-out succeeds in making the ball fall nearer the end wall than his opponent had done, he wins the chase. If he makes the same chase it is called 'chase off,' and the score is not affected. When a player wins a stroke the score is called '15—love.' His next stroke brings him to 30, then 40, then game. Thus four strokes may win a game, but if both players reach 40 the game is called 'dence,' and it is necessary to win two strokes more in succession to secure the game. A 'set' is the best of eleven games. The origin of this method of scoring is doubtful. The most obvious explanation is that in French courts there were fourteen chases, and so they began scoring at 15 to avoid confusion; but there seems to be conclusive evidence that this system of scoring was introduced before chases were in use.
LAWN-TENNIS, though the offspring of tennis, quickly surpassed her parent in importance; she has even usurped her name. The prescriptive right of centuries is of no avail against the fiat of the people, and now probably 99 per cent. of those who use the word tennis refer to the younger game. Major Wingfield is generally credited with the invention of lawn-tennis in 1874, and perhaps he had more to do with its introduction than any one else. His 'sphairistiké' was a compromise between tennis and badminton, and in principle—viz. hitting a ball over a net into a space marked out on a lawn—was identical with the lawn-tennis of the present day, but most of the details have been altered. The tendency of the age is towards increased pace in all things, and lawn-tennis is no exception to the rule. The net has been lowered from 5 feet at the sides and 4 feet in the middle to 3 feet 6 inches at the sides and 3 feet in the middle. The balls have become more lively, the rackets more tightly strung. The result of these developments was to give the server a great advantage, and this had to be obviated by bringing the service-line nearer the net—from 26 feet to 21 feet.
The tactics of the game have altered no less than the implements. In early days play was confined for the most part to the back of the court, then it
Plan of Lawn-tennis Court.
was found that a volley at the net was a deadly form of attack; but it is now generally recognised that both for the single and double game the service-line is the strongest position to occupy, as from here it is easy to run forward to kill a ball by a 'smash,' or retreat when it is necessary to get back a severe stroke of the opponent or return a 'lob.' The game is usually played on grass, the lines being marked out with 'whiting;' but asphalt, cinders, and various other substances have been tried, and covered courts with wooden floors enable it to be played in wet weather. The racket should weigh from 14 to 15 oz.; for ladies, 12½ to 13½ oz. The balls are made of hollow india-rubber, covered with white cloth, and weigh 2 oz.
All legislation relating to the game is now in the hands of the Lawn-tennis Association. The inner court, 27 feet wide, is used for the single game, the 36-feet court when four are playing.
The name tennis—also formerly spelt tennise, tennys, tenys, tennes, &c.—would appear to be of old French origin; but no such old French name for the jeu de paume has been discovered. The long-accepted etymology—that the name comes from a presumed cry of tenez, 'hold' or 'take,' is apparently quite baseless. The palmy period of the old game—le roi des jeux et le jeu des rois, as it was called—lasted in France till the time of Louis XIV. The most historically famous tennis-court was that of Versailles, in which the French National Assembly met in 1789. The old game is sometimes called court-tennis to distinguish it from lawn-tennis. RACKETS (q.v.) and FIVES (q.v.) are cognate games.
See the Badminton Library book on Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, and Fives, by J. M. and C. G. Heathcote (1890); the Annals of Tennis (1878), and Tennis (1889) by Julian Marshall; and works on Lawn Tennis by 'Cavendish,' Brownlee, Crawley, Dwight, Peile, Smythe, Wilberforce, and others.