Tennis

Overview

Popular throughout the world and governed on a global level by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), tennis is played on a variety of surfaces: clay, grass, and hard courts in both indoor and outdoor settings. The most common matches are men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Professional tennis has introduced to the world some of the most charismatic, pioneering, and controversial figures in sports, including Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, and Andre Agassi.

Central to men’s professional tennis is the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour, a series of tournaments held all over the world. Every year, the ATP hosts dozens of tournaments for qualified male professionals. Female tennis players play in the Women’s Tennis Association, which shares a large number of ATP events as well as hosting their own tournaments. The four best-known ATP and WTA events are the “Grand Slam” tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. The Grand Slam provides players with an opportunity to compete for the largest prizes in front of the most fans in the stands as well as on television.

Professional tennis maintains a strong following, particularly in Europe, North America, and Australasia. In the United States, the sport had a particularly strong following because of the success of American men and women at Grand Slam events until the early 2000s, but it has seen a decline in fan support based on a lack of American victories at subsequent tournaments. The US Tennis Association has been working diligently to recruit and train a new set of potential US Grand Slam champions in an effort to revitalize the sport’s popularity in the United States.

Origins and History

There remains a great deal of debate over the origins of tennis, both in terms of its ancient roots and the formation of the modern sport. Historians believe, for example, that a rudimentary game was played in ancient Egypt, involving two or more players who used their hands to pass a ball back and forth (an act that was based on religious ritual). Similar “handball” games were also evident in ancient Greece and Rome. According to another theory, tennis’s true origins can be traced to around 1000 BCE, when French monks played a game of handball in a courtyard, either using a wall or a rope to divide the court. This theory also suggests the origins of the game’s name, as the monks would, when serving the ball, call out “tenez” (meaning “to take” or “to grasp”), although other historians believe that word was not used until the twelfth century.

This handball game spread in popularity throughout France, Italy, and eventually England. Moving out of the monastery and into the courtyards of the nobility, jeu de paume (“game of the hand”) became a phenomenon, with courtyards and facilities built throughout the region. Meanwhile, the use of the hand gave way to a variety of alternatives for hitting the ball, including modified gloves and small wooden paddles. By the start of the sixteenth century, a racquet—laced with sheep gut—became the piece of equipment of choice among players. The sport was eventually dubbed “tennis” and reached a fever pitch in the sixteenth century. According to historical accounts, the famous wife of British monarch Henry VIII (who was himself a great fan of the game), Anne Boleyn, was arrested while attending a tennis match. (This original version of the game had several differences with the modern version; it still survives as a niche sport and is now known as “real tennis” to distinguish it from its more popular cousin.)

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the sport’s popularity underwent a decline. During this period, however, other racquet sports (including squash) survived. During the 1850s, the invention of vulcanization (a process for hardening natural rubber) was put to good use in tennis, as the traditional stuffed leather ball was replaced with a far bouncier rubber, making “lawn tennis” possible and more palatable for enthusiasts. Two decades later, Englishman Major Walter C. Wingfield invented a game called sphairistikè (Greek for “playing at ball”), the rules for which would (after significant changes) become the basis for modern tennis. In 1877, the All England Croquet Club (soon to be renamed the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club) held the first Wimbledon tennis tournament.

The success at Wimbledon fostered the creation of what would become the US Open in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905, all of which comprise the modern Grand Slam of tennis. In 1968, the Grand Slam tournaments became open to both amateurs and professionals (the tournaments then adopting the name “open”). Male players formed the ATP in 1972, and women formed the WTA a year later.

Rules and Regulations

There are a wide range of rules and regulations in the modern version of tennis, many of which are rooted in practices that are centuries old. The game is played on a rectangular court that is most commonly covered with one of three types of surfaces: short-cut grass, clay, or “hard court” (a surface made of concrete or asphalt, often with a synthetic top layer such as acrylic). The court is divided in two, with a net stretched across the midpoint. On either side of the net is the service line (drawn about halfway between the end of the court—called the baseline—and the net). Drawn in perpendicular fashion from the middle of the service line to the net is the “center service line.”

The opponents in a match stand at opposite ends of the court, usually diagonally across from one another. One player serves the ball by standing in his or her service area and hitting the ball into the opposite service area, where the opponent (the receiver) must return it on one bounce, keeping the ball on the court. The player who will serve is determined by a coin toss, and that player serves for the whole game. If the server fails to hit the ball into his or her opponent’s service area (either by hitting it long, wide, or into the net), the server is charged with a fault (a second fault in a row, or double fault, results in a loss of a point). If the ball strikes the net but still falls into the legal service area, the serve is void and the server must serve again.

The game is won by the first player to score four points, as long as that player is ahead by two. Points in tennis are identified by a unique system: zero is identified as “love,” and the first three points are 15, 30, and 40; the fourth point has no numerical value and is just called “game,” if the player who scores it was already ahead. However, because the winner must win by two, if the score ties at 40-40 (called “deuce”), the next point is identified as the “advantage” of the scoring player (“ad in” if the server scores, “ad out” if the receiver scores). If the player with the advantage scores again, he or she wins; if the player without the advantage scores, the score goes back to deuce. Then the next player to score has the advantage, and so on. After each game, the sides switch, and the server becomes the receiver.

Games are organized into sets. The first player to win six games (or, if the competitors are tied at five, seven games) wins the set. Sets are organized into a match. In men’s tennis, a match consists of a best-of-five sets competition. In women’s tennis, a match consists of a best-of-three sets competition.

Strategy and Tactics

Tennis is a sport of accuracy and stamina. Particularly at the championship level, players must be well-conditioned and be able, even when physically exhausted, to place the ball exactly where they need to hit it. Forced errors (which are caused by the exceptional play of the opponent) already can jeopardize a match—unforced errors (caused by a player’s own mistakes) only hasten a loss.

Professional tennis matches can sometimes last for more than three hours. In fact, many Grand Slam matches have exceeded four hours in length. There are short breaks between every two games and between sets, but these rest periods allow only a short reprieve from the fast-paced physical challenges of the match. There is a high risk for both muscle pulls and dehydration, especially in outdoor matches.

Physical exhaustion can affect another key element of the game: accuracy. Tennis players must cover a lot of ground and hit the ball in spots where it is most difficult for their opponents to return the ball. From the serve—which must be delivered with great power as well as accuracy—to the return, players must quickly plan how to keep their opponents running and off-balance. Such an approach minimizes the chance that the opponents will gain the advantage. Precise shots can also drain the opponents’ energy and force them to make errors.

Professional Leagues and Series

There are a wide range of leagues and clubs available for professional- and championship-level tennis players. Some are regional in nature, offering tournaments and opportunities for international play. The United States Tennis Association, for example, sponsors professional-level tournaments at venues across the United States, including one of the Grand Slam events, the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. In Australia, a similar organization, Tennis Australia, offers a wide range of tournaments for high-level players, including another of the Grand Slam events, the Australian Open.

On the international level, the main organization governing men’s and women’s tennis is the International Tennis Federation. The ITF establishes the rules and regulations governing professional tennis around the world. The ITF works with regional tennis organizations (such as the USTA) and the ATP and WTA to ensure uniformity in each of the Grand Slam events as well as other major international professional tournaments. The ITF also works with these organizations to generate interest in playing tennis, either at a recreational or professional level. This component of the ITF includes a wide range of tournaments in which certain age groups and qualified players can participate.

The Grand Slam consists of (in calendar order) the Australian Open (played on hard court), the French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), and the US Open (hard court). Winning any of these tournaments greatly bolsters the player’s (or in the case of doubles, players’) international ranking and visibility. A player who wins all four tournaments within a calendar year is dubbed a true Grand Slam winner—it is a feat relatively few players have accomplished since the Grand Slam events were first introduced. Other players, however, may be considered career Grand Slam winners, having won each tournament at least once in their respective careers. Only one individual—German Steffi Graf—has ever won the “Golden Slam”: winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year and a gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics.

In addition to professional tennis’s Grand Slam tournaments, the ITF organizes the Davis Cup. The Davis Cup has been played since the beginning of the twentieth century, when a team from Harvard University challenged a team from Great Britain to compete in Boston. Thereafter, the tournament grew exponentially. This international tournament features the top players from each participating nation playing against one another over the course of a year (between January and November). As of 2014, there were 122 participating national teams, playing at officially sponsored venues around the world. Sixteen teams eventually proceed to the quarter- and semifinals before the championships.

Popularity

Initially a sport played for and by the nobility, tennis has become an international sport open to all. Grand Slam tournaments in particular are broadcast around the world, generating viewers consistently in the markets in which they are shown. In the United States and Great Britain, for example, recent US Open and Wimbledon tournaments have shown strong viewership, with the BBC, ESPN, and other major sports networks showing the events.

However, as is the case with many sports that are played on the international stage, popularity frequently hinges on the success of the players. In tennis, American, French, German, Czech, and British players meet on every Grand Slam court. Although American tennis saw great popularity, thanks to the success in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s of such players as McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Agassi, the last American to win the US Open men’s singles tournament was Andy Roddick in 2003. Top men's singles competitors in the 2000s through the 2020s included Serbia's Novak Djokovic, Spain's Rafael Nadal, and Switzerland's Roger Federer. Conversely, the success of American sisters Venus Williams and Serena Williams at women’s Grand Slam events has generated strong viewership and interest in women’s tennis. Still, despite the sometimes inconsistent interest in tennis in some regions, the excitement and pageantry of the Grand Slam continue to attract capacity crowds to each venue.

Bibliography

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