History of the Game
- Walter Clopton Wingfield patented the game of tennis on February 23, 1874. The 25 rules for play were defined in May 1875. The old French game of Paume was a heavy influence on the rules of tennis. The first championship ever played was at Wimbleton in July 1877 and the first international championship was held in the United States in 1881.
Tennis Vocabulary
- Ace - A scoring serve that did not get touched by the opponent's racket.
- Cross Court Shot - I shot that travels diagonally across the court and over the net.
- Doubles - A match played between teams of two.
- Ground stroke - A forehand or backhand stroke that is made after the ball has bounced.
- Lob - A ball that is hit high enough into the air to pass over the head of the player or players at the net.
- Mixed Doubles - A team comprised of both a male and a female player.
- Rally - Volleying the ball back-and-forth between opponents.
- Singles - A match play between two people, one versus one.
- Slice - I shot with backspin hit with the racket traveling down through the ball at less than a 45° angle to the ground.
- Smash - overhead shot traveling at a high velocity.
- Topspin - A fast-forward spinning motion imparted into a ball when throwing or kidding it is a racket, often resulting in a curved shaft or a strong forward motion on rebounding.
- Volley – do you hit the ball before it bounces
Object of the game
-The goal of the game is to win each rally by hitting the ball over the net so that your opponent cannot return it.
Scoring
- The first player or team to score 45 points wins. However, you must win by two scores. The tennis scoring system is as follows:
- Love = 0 scores
- 15 = 1 scores
- 30 = 2 scores
- 40 = 3 scores
- 45 = Game
- Deuce = tied at 40
- Advantage "In" = 1 point ahead
- Advantage "Out" = 1 point behind
- Game = must win by 2 scores
