Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1522745
#1 Tennis dates back to 12th century France Historians think the game originated in northern France in the 12th century, when a ball was struck with the palm of the hand. Louis X of France was an avid player of jeu de paume ("game of the palm"), which evolved into actual tennis, and is credited with being the first to build modern indoor tennis courts. Because Louis disliked playing tennis outside, he had indoor, covered courts built in Paris near the end of the 13th century. #2 Only two major rules have changed since the 19thcentury Since the 1890s, the rules of contemporary tennis have remained mostly unchanged. e server was required to maintain one foot on the ground at all times until 1961 and the tiebreak was adopted in the 1970s. Electronic review equipment combined with a point-challenge system, known as Hawk-Eye, is a new innovation to professional tennis. It enables a player to argue the line call of a point. #3 Tennis balls were originally made with feathers wrapped in strips of cloth Originally, tennis balls were constructed of textile strips, sewn together with thread, and filled with feathers. Modern tennis balls are comprised of felt-coated hollow vulcanized rubber. Originally white, the prevailing color was progressively altered to optic yellow in the late 20th century to increase visibility. #4 Singles play tennis on a 27-foot wide court and doubles on 36 feet Tennis is a sport that takes place on a rectangular, flat surface. For singles matches, the court is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide; for doubles matches, it is 36 feet. In order for players to reach overrun balls, there is additional open space surrounding the court. #5 A clock face is believed to be the inspiration for tennis' scoring system It's been suggested that clock faces were used to keep score on the court, with a quarter motion of the minute hand indicating a score of 15, 30, or 45. e game ended when the hand reached 60. e concept of "deuce" was added to guarantee that the game could not be won by a one-point differential in player scores. e 45 was altered to 40 to keep the score inside the "60" ticks on the clock face. As a result, if both players have 40 points, the first person to score receives 10 points, bringing the clock to 50. If the player scores a second time before the opponent, they are rewarded with an additional 10 points and the clock is reset to 60 seconds. e number 60 denotes the finish of the game. If a player fails to score twice in a row, the clock will reset to 40 and a new "deuce" will be established. ~ Shirley Ferguson, Basha Tennis, May 30, 2022 TENNIS TITANS | LIFE IN SOLERA | JULY 2024 | 43 FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT TENNIS