Tennis in general
Tennis is one of the most famous racquet sports around the
world. Tennis can be played in singles (with two players) or doubles (which can
be taken by two teams of two players each; also it could be mixed).Tennis has
its own equipment such as racquet, balls, shoes, clothes and bags. Also it has three types of court (in professional), a clay
or sand (like what’s in French open), a hard court (like what are in US open
and Australian open); the third one is grass (like what in Wimbledon). The
three types have a standard measurement with a low net stretched in the middle
of a court. The court is 23.77 m long and 8.23 m wide in single matches and
10.97 m in double. Before starting the game the player can toss a coin or flip
the racquet to see who serves first, also to choose what side the player wants
to start on. The one who is serving the ball must be behind the base line also
on the opposite side of the opponent. Then the server must hit the ball inside
the center service line of his opponent’s side; also the ball mustn’t hit the
net otherwise it counts as a fault. The server could make two mistakes during a
serve but if the third doesn’t go into the correct court it is called fault and
the opponent wins a point. There are two things you need to know about scoring
first love (which means zero in French) and second is all (which means the
score is tied). In tennis it takes four point to win the game, six games to win
a set and two sets to win a match. Sometimes you need to get six points to win
a game, which happened when both players get 40-all and it’s called deuce.
After that you need to get the advantage and game point. If the players score
reaches six games all, they could play a tie break.
The history of tennis
There are many stories about the history of the tennis but
surely tennis started thousands of years ago in the hands of ancient Egyptian, French
and Romans. In fact that the meaning of the palm of hand in Arabic is (rahat)
which is similar word to racket. Also one of the towns in Egypt is called
Tinnis which is similar to tennis. In France they use to called Jeu de paume
(game of the palm); it was an indoor game because the king of France back then
(Louis X) didn’t like an outdoor court.
Between 1859 and 1865 a British guy named Harry Gem and a
guy form Spain Augurio Perera developed a game that combined racquets and a
game called Pelota which is similar to squash and they called it lawn tennis.
In 1872 they founded the first tennis club and it took place in Leamingtion
Spa. In 1873 a British officer named Walter Wingfield invented a similar game
to entertain his guests at a party in Wales. The tennis word comes from a
French word tenez (which means to hold or receive).
Grand
Slam tournaments
There are four grand
slam tournaments and they are considered as the most prestigious events in the
history of tennis. Those events happen every year. If you compared it to football
those events are equals to World Cup and because the best players are working
hard to win it. The four events are Australian open, US open, French open
(Roland Garros) and Wimbledon. Each event has its own history and rules; also
they carry huge prizes, more than any tour event. Because of that it’s still a
major championship.
First of all I want to start with Australian open because
it’s the opening of the season. It takes place in Melbourne between January and
February. The first event was held in 1905 and it’s the newest if you compared
it with the other grand slams. The court surface is hard (Plexicushion) and
they start using it form 2008 until nowadays. Between 1905-1987 they used a
grass court, then they changed to hard
in 1988.The prize money for 2014 was $33,000,000 which is higher than last year
$30,000,000. The one who has the most singles titles is Roy emerson with 6
titles more than anyone else. In doubles the most is Adrian Quist and in women’s
singles the legendary Margaret Court.
Secondly is France’s open or Roland Garros. It takes place
in Paris between May and June. It was founded in 1891 and until 1927 they didn’t
allow any foreigners to participate in the tournament. The surface is clay in
outdoor and sand for indoor. The prize money for 2014 was 25,018,900. The most single titles
winner is Rafael Nadal with 9 titles and for singles women is Chris Evert with
7 titles.
The third is the oldest tournament in tennis history, Wimbledon.
It was founded in 1877 in London; it takes place between June and July. The
court surface is grass and the players are wearing white clothes in this
tournament because of a long time tradition. The prize of this tournament is higher
than the other grand slams, however winning or participating in this tournament
is more important than money for most of
the players. There are three players in most title winning one of them is
William Renshaw with seven titles, Peter Sampras and the best player in the
history of tennis Roger Federer.
And the last grand slam is the US open which is at the
end of the season. They start between August and September. It was founded in
1881 so it’s second in the list for oldest tournaments in history. The surface
of US open is hard from 1978 until nowadays but back in 1881 to 1974 they used
to play on grass; also they had a short time for clay court and it was between
1975-1977. The prize money of this tournament in 2014 is 34,000,000. The most
winning titles in US open are Bill Tilden and Richard Sears. In the women’s
championship, Serena Williams.
Top 5 players in history (Men’s)
1. Roger Federer(17titles)
2. Pete Sampras(14 titles)
3. Rafeal Nadal(14 titles)
4. Roy Emerson(12 titles)
5. Rod Laver(11titles)
Top 5 players in history (women’s)
1. Margaret Court (24 titles)
2. Steffi Graf (22 titles)
3. Helen Wills Moody (19titles)
4. Chris Evert (18titles)
5. Martina Navratilova(18 titles)
In the end I hope you enjoy watching this video.
