1 Tennis Was Played by Kings Playing paume circa 1614 Tennis has been around for a long long time It started in France in the 1100s as a game called paume or palm Paume was played like handball Players used the palms of their hands to hit the ball back and forth Tennis became popular 4 among France’s kings King Louis X
Paume played in 17th century France of France was a huge fan of the game However he died of a chill after playing a game in 1316 In 1437 King James I of Scotland tried to hide in a sewer drain to escape assassins who wanted to kill him But the drain had been sealed and James was killed At first the game was played with bare hands Later players wore leather gloves By the 1300s players used racquets with strings made of animal guts in a wooden frame 1789 Year of the French Revolution when people got rid of the king and formed a new government Tennis was seen as a royal game so it was banned The announcement of the Revolution was called the Tennis Court Oath Tennis became even more popular after the Revolution ended WHAT’S IN A NAME Tennis comes from the French word tenez It means Here or Be ready 5
2 Modern Tennis Is Over 125 Years Old The US Open in New York Modern tennis began in 1873 That’s when Major Walter Clopton Wingfield published the first book of tennis rules Wingfield’s game was played on a court shaped like an hourglass Later rectangle shaped courts 6 became popular Even though Wingfield’s court was shaped differently most of his other rules are still used today Another important moment occurred when the All England Croquet Club changed one of its courts in Wimbledon to a grass tennis court Tennis became so popular that the club changed its name to the All England Croquet and Lawn
Lawn tennis circa 1887 Tennis Club Today Wimbledon is one of the top tennis tournaments in the world Meanwhile tennis was also becoming very popular in the US The US National Lawn Tennis Association began in 1881 It held its first tournament that year Today that tournament is known as the US Open 1877 Year the first Wimbledon tournament was held The only event was men’s singles Only 22 players competed The winner was Spencer Gore It didn’t take long before women played in tournaments too The first women’s competition was held at Wimbledon in 1884 In 1887 the US championships opened to women for the first time Maud Watson was the ladies singles champion 1884 7
