History of Tennis

Tennis is a sport or game that uses a racket to hit a ball into the opponent's area and can be played by two people for singles or four people (two teams) for doubles. Tennis is played by various social classes. The origin of tennis started from a game similar to tennis. According to historians, tennis actually began in France in the 16th century.

The history of tennis began with a game called jeu de paume (palm game). Some historians believe that the jeu de paume played in the 12th century in France is what eventually evolved into tennis. Jeu de paume was called tennis when a racket was used in the game in the 16th century. Mayor Harry Gem and Augurio Perera were the ones who made jeu de paume a racket game. The game was very popular in France and England, although it was only played indoors. Henry VIII of England was a fan of this game. At that time, the first tennis club was founded in Leamington France.

In 1873, Mayor Walter Clopton Wingfield re-popularized tennis by designing and patenting the game of tennis. Wingfield called the game "spairistike" (ball playing skills), which was later known as "sticky." At that time, to entertain his guests at a garden party on his property located in Llanelidan, Wales. Wingfield developed his game into outdoor tennis and real tennis and as a result, Wingfield referred to the game he designed as tennis.

The first tennis championship was held at Wimbledon in London in 1877. The first national tournament in America was held in 1880. The winner of the first national tournament in America was an Englishman named O.E Woodhouse.

During some tennis matches, there were differences in the rules at each tennis club. This led to the formation of the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) on May 21, 1881, as a legal tennis association that could standardize tennis rules and control tennis tournaments. Meanwhile, the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) association, which has jurisdiction over tennis in England, Scotland and Wales, was established in 1888 and then changed to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 1913.