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Tennis is a sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt (most of the time Optic Yellow,[1] but can be any color or even two-tone) over 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" and had heavy connections 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. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit organized by the National Collegiate Athletics Association.

Except for the adoption of the tiebreaker in the 1970s, the rules of tennis have changed very little since the 1890s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of "instant replay" technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the official call of a point.

Along with its millions of players, millions of people worldwide follow tennis as a spectator sport, especially the fourGrand Slam tournaments (sometimes referred to as the "majors"): the Australian Open, the French Open,Wimbledon, and the US Open.

• 1 History
• 2 Manner of play
  • 2.1 Court
    • 2.1.1 Lines
  • 2.2 Play of a single point
  • 2.3 Scoring
  • 2.4 Rules variations
• 3 Surface
• 4 Officials
• 5 Juniors
• 6 Match play
• 7 Shots
  • 7.1 Serve
  • 7.2 Grips
  • 7.3 Forehand
  • 7.4 Backhand
  • 7.5 Other shots
• 8 Tournaments
  • 8.1 Grand Slam tournaments
  • 8.2 Masters 1000
  • 8.3 250 and 500 Series
  • 8.4 Challenger Series and Futures Tournaments
  • 8.5 Premier events
• 9 Grand Slam winners
• 10 Greatest male singles players
• 11 See also
  • 11.1 General
  • 11.2 Other forms
  • 11.3 Statistics
• 12 References
• 13 Further reading
• 14 External links

Tennis as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets similar to the game of Poona or Badminton many British soldiers brought from being stationed in India and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom.[2][3] In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.[4]The Courier of July 23, 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.[5]

In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game — which he called sphairistike (Greek: σφάίρίστική, 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.[6] He based the game on the newer sport of outdoor tennis or real tennis. According to most 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.[citation needed]

Lawn tennis in the U.S., 1887

The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877.[7] 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.[8] The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island.[9] The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887.[10] Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891.[11] 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.[7][12] Together these four events are called the Grand Slam (a term borrowed from bridge).[13]

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 tiebreaker system designed by James Van Alen.[14]

The Davis Cup, an annual competition between national teams, dates to 1900.[15]

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.[12][16] The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen.[12][17] Once a player turned prohe or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.[12]

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.[18] 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[19] (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).[19][20][21]

In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island.[22] 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.

The dimensions of a tennis court, in metric units. (See imperial version).