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Tennis (officially called "lawn tennis" to distinguish it from royal tennis or court tennis, an older form of the game, played indoors) is a racquet sport played between either two players (singles) or two teams of two players (doubles). Tennis
is played on a 78' x 27' (78' x 36' for doubles) court, which is divided in
the middle by a net, such as that each side measures 39' in length.
Players attempt to hit a tennis ball with a tennis racquet such that it bounces in the opposition's side of the court and the
opposition is unable to return it. A legal return is made by hitting the ball over the net, after not more than one bounce on
one's side of the court. Each point is started by a player who initiates play by "serving" the ball into a designated area on the
other side of the court. Tennis is an Olympic sport which is played in
many countries around the world.
A tennis match is won by the first side to win 2 out of 3 sets or 3 out of 5 sets. Traditionally, matches played by ladies
last 3 sets while those played by men last five. However, at many lower-level tournaments 3 sets remains the norm for all, while
at a few tournaments, ladies play 5-set matches as well. A set is won by the first side to win 6 games, with at least 2 more
games won than the other side. A game is won by the first side to win 4 points, with at least 2 more points won than the other
side. Points are awarded as follows:
- 0 points - "Love"
- 1 point - "Fifteen"
- 2 points - "Thirty"
- 3 points - "Forty"
(These terms derive from French: see History of Tennis,
below.)
The server's score is always announced first. If the server has won 2 points and the receiver has won 1 point, the score would
be "Thirty-Fifteen". A player who wins a fourth point is awarded a game, unless each side previously had 3 points. This score,
corresponding to "Forty-All" is called "Deuce". The player who wins the subsequent point has a score of "Advantage". If this
player also wins the next point, game is awarded. Otherwise the score reverts to "Deuce".
In most tournaments, if the game score in a set reaches 6-6, a series of points called a tiebreak takes place. The first side
to win 7 points, with at least 2 more points than the other side, wins the tiebreak. The score of the set is recorded as 7-6.
However, in several tournaments, no tiebreak is played during the final and deciding set (third or fifth set, depending on the
length of the match); rather, the set is played until one side leads by two games.
A tennis player usually has several types of swinging shots at his or her disposal: the forehand, backhand, volley, overhead
smash, slice, drop shot, and lob. When a player serves the ball to the other player at the beginning of each point, he or she
will use either a flat, top-spin, or slice serve.
The backhand, useful for chasing shots from the opposite strong hand, can be employed with either one hand or two hands. Two
hands offer the player more power, while one hand can utilize a slice shot, applying backspin on the tennis ball to fool the
opponent. A small number of players, most notably Monica Seles, use two
hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.
Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men's singles,
women's singles, doubles (where two players of the same sex play on each side), and mixed doubles (with a member of each sex per
side). There are also often tournaments for specific ages, such as for youth and seniors.
History of tennis
Unlike most modern sports, lawn tennis has a very short history, and its invention can be precisely dated. In December
1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield devised the game for the amusement of his guests at a
garden party on his estate at Nantclywd, Wales. He based the game on the older sport of
indoor tennis or Real tennis, which had been invented in France in the 12th century and played by French aristocrats down to the time of the French Revolution.
Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of royal tennis and applied them to his new game.
- tennis comes from the French tenez, the imperative form of the verb tenir, to hold: it
thus means "Hold!" This was a cry used by the player serving in royal tennis, meaning "I am about to serve!" (rather like the cry
"Fore!" in golf).
- Racquet comes from the French raquette, although it ultimately derives from the Arabic rakhat, meaning the palm of the hand.
- Deuce comes from the French expression ā deux le jeu, meaning "to both is the game" (that is, the
two players have equal scores).
- love comes from the French l'oeuf, the egg: a reference to the egg-shaped zero symbol
- The convention of numbering scores "15," "30" and "40" comes from the French quinze, trente and
quarante, which to French ears makes a euphonious sequence.
In 1874 Wingfield, seeing the commercial potential of the game, patented it, but he
never succeeded in enforcing his patent. It spread rapidly among the leisured classes in Britain and the United States. It was first played
in the US at the home of Mary Ewing Outerbridge on Staten Island, New York, in 1874.
In 1881 the desire to play tennis competitively led to the establishment of tennis
clubs. The first championships at Wimbledon, in
London were played in 1877. In 1881 the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardise the rules and organise
competitions. The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the U.S. Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. the U.S. National Women's
Singles Championships were first held in 1887. The Davis Cup, an annual competition between national teams, dates from 1900.
In 1926 a group of American tennis players established a professional tennis circuit,
playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. For 40 years professional and amateur tennis remained strictly separate: once a
player had "turned pro" he or she could not compete at the major titles. In 1968, however,
commercial pressures led to the abandonment of this principle and the "Open Era" began, in which all players could compete in all
tournaments and most players made their living from tennis.
Tennis was for many years predominantly a sport of the English-speaking world, dominated by the United States, Britain and
Australia, although it was also popular in France: the French Open dates from 1891. Thus Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open (dating from 1905) became and have remained the most
prestigious events in tennis. Together these four events are called the Grand Slams (a term borrowed from bridge), and winning the Grand Slams is the highest ambition of most tennis
players.
Since the beginning of the Open era and the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, fed by revenues
from the sale of television rights, tennis has spread all over the world and has lost its upper-class English-speaking image.
Since the 1970s great champions have emerged from Germany (Boris Becker, Steffi Graf), the
former Czechoslovakia (Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova),
Sweden (Björn Borg), Brazil (Gustavo Kuerten), Russia (Yevgeni Kafelnikov)
and many other countries. Recently African American players such as
Venus and Serena Williams have become a force in the game.
Among the greatest male players of the Open era are Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, John Newcombe, Stan Smith, Bjorn Borg, John
McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi, and Pete Sampras. Among the women are Chris Evert,
Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and the Williams sisters.
It must be remembered, however, that many of the greatest players who ever lived played in the days before Open tennis. Most
of them, even those who were were quite prominent in their time, are now completely forgotten by modern sports fans. Among them,
in more or less chronological order, are Bill Tilden, Ellsworth Vines, Fred Perry, Don Budge, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Pancho Segura, Frank
Sedgman, Pancho Gonzales, Ken Rosewall, and Lew Hoad. For many years
most observers considered Tilden to be the greatest player who ever lived. In the 1950s
and 1960s, there was general agreement that Gonzales had replaced Tilden as the best to
ever step on a court. Whatever the case, any one of these 12 would be more than competitive in today's game.
Who is the greatest player of all time? It is impossible to give a clear answer, as new techniques and improved equipment have
changed the game greatly in the last hundred years. There is no reason to believe, however, that a 1920s Bill Tilden, for
instance, who was notable for his intelligence, adaptability, and tennis athleticism, would not be able to change his game and
strokes to emulate those of the modern players. And, as we see in the countless upsets of the top seeds in the major tournaments
by much lower ranked players, there is probably very little difference in the quality of play among the top several hundred
players. Just as there is no reason to believe that the great baseball stars of the pre-1968 Open tennis era such as Ty Cobb,
Babe Ruth, Lefty Grove, Ted Williams, and Stan Musial would not excel in today's Major Leagues, there is no reason (save
ignorance of the history of tennis and a narrow focus on the present) to believe that the greatest of the old-time players would
not be able to hold their own against the Pete Samprases and Andre Agassis of today.
A possible listing of the six greatest players of all time is, in strictly chronological order: Bill Tilden, Don Budge, Pancho
Gonzales, Rod Laver, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras. A careful, objective study of their actual records against other players
would support an argument that any one of these six was the best player who ever lived. A similar case could possibly be made for
Jack Kramer. Kramer himself, who began playing in the early 1940s, believes that Ellsworth Vines was the greatest of all time....
And so it goes -- a fascinating topic for never-ending speculation.
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