Modern tennis traces its history back to the second half of the XIX century, its predecessors: real tennis, court tennis (the game of the palm). There are two versions about the time and place of the game’s birth: the first – in Ancient Egypt, the second – in France in XI-XII centuries. The first tennis players were French monks. They played g-de-pom, a game reminiscent of modern tennis, in which up to 12 people could participate simultaneously.

In the Middle Ages, tennis was at the peak of popularity. It was played by kings, princes, peers and other nobles, not for nothing it is called “royal”. Universities had halls, open courts in the streets. In 1604 in France there were twice as many tennis halls as churches.

The birth and development of modern tennis

The date of birth of professional tennis is considered 1872, due to the foundation of the first tennis club. The first competitions were held on a small grass field. Walter Wingfield invented and patented the rules in 1873, assuming he would profit commercially from the new game. He did not make much money, but managed to attract attention to the new game not only in Britain, but also beyond its borders.

In 1875 a major change took place: the Marylebone Cricket Club developed a set of new rules.
The first tennis tournament was held at Wimbledon in July 1877. Women’s, as part of the same Wimbledon, in 1884. In 1913 mixed doubles competitions were held.
In 1888, the Tennis Association was registered and 43 rules were established, most of which are still in force today.
Grand tennis began to conquer the world. Lancet tennis clubs were established in India, Brazil, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, Finland, Germany and other countries.
The Davis Cup, a world-renowned annual tournament, appeared in 1899. Students at Harvard University proposed the idea of holding the tournament among national teams. One of them, Dwight Davis, came up with the scheme for the contest and bought the prize with his own money – a silver cup.
Since the 1920s, professional tennis players began to earn good money by participating in competitions and exhibition matches. After a while, attendance at competitions became a fee.
For 40 years, amateur and professional tennis were separated. In 1968 the Wimbledon tournament was held, where for the first time both professionals and amateurs competed together. This was the beginning of a new era of modern tennis, when every player could take part in tournaments of this level.

During the development of tennis stroke technique changed, the racket was modified, electronic apparatus appeared and consequently the quality of refereeing improved, tennis fashion, rules, playing time, scoring system, the draws changed.
In the beginning the ball was kicked with hands, later bats and gloves were used, and only in the 16th century a racket and a net came into play. The first balls were made from the wool of sheep, filled with wool, sawdust and sand. Then balls made of cloth are a thing of the past, they were replaced by rubber, then covered with flannel. Later balls became hollow and started to be inflated with gas. The International Federation in 1972 introduced a yellow ball, and already since 1986 they are used everywhere. The yellow color is explained very simply, they are best seen on television screens.

In 1896, during the first Olympics Greater Tennis was included in the program of the Games. However, after that followed a huge break and only in 1988, it was back on the Olympics.
Numerous competitions are held in the world each year. Let’s list only the most prestigious of them – the Grand Slam, Davis Cup, the final tournament ATP.