Evolution Of The 'T' World

Tennis is a sport that captivates the audiences with a thrill and excitement that transcends nationality and other borders; A sport which encompasses six continents and almost 40 countries.

So how and when did all this begin? Here's the answer:

Tennis as a sport first originated in France. Records suggest that in the 11th and the 12th century, the French monks used to play a handball game against the walls of their monastery or sometimes with a rope strung across the courtyard.

When the game became more popular and playing with the hand became uncomfortable and difficult, a webbing was used; either between the fingers or attched to a handle [the predecessor of the modern racquet].

The balls that were used were a wad of wool or animal hair or sometimes cork. Later on as the game further developed, these things used to be stitched which resembled a crude baseball ball.

From the monks the game spread to the French Nobility and became so interesting that the King tried to ban it because of the distraction caused. The ban was although unsuccessful.

From the French the game spread to England where King Henry VII and Henry VIII popularised the game even more and allowed the construction of more courts to encourage the game. The net used in these courts was five feet high on the ends and three feet in the middle.

The racquet in the 14th century was a mere wooden frame strung with sheep gut. They had long handles and small head which resembled a squash racquet.

In 1874, the racquets developed to what are being used now although the shape wasn't quite oval.These wooden racquets got better by the next 100 years as technology further developed, although they still remained heavy with small heads.

Compared to the racquets now used, the best wooden racquets would be haevy, cumbersome and lacking in power.

In 1850, Charles Goodyear invented the process of vulcanisation of rubber and the players started experimenting with rubber balls on grass which led to creation and formulation of new set of rules as the game was previously played indoors.

The yellow tennis balls that are now prevalent were used for the first time in Wimbledon in the year 1986.

1874, Major Walter Wingfield patented the rules and equipment of the modern tennis, but since the rules were criticised all over, he had to revise them accordingly. He also left the further development of the game to others.

Wingfield's original court took the shape of an hourglass, and tapered towards the net. It also was shorter than the modern court.

When the first Wimbledon was introduced in 1877, the tournament committee revised the rules to the ones that are being followed now and decided on the rectangular court.

The game has been subjected to continuous change ever since.

The year 1968 saw the introduction of the Open Era. Prior to the open era only amateurs were allowed to participate in the grand slams and professional tennis players were ignored, moreover the amateurs were also awarded more compensations.

Finally in 1968, a committee overruled the injustice and professional participation was allowed. This led to a surge in the viewing of the sport.

Also, in order to preserve the interest of the tennis players, the Association of Tennis Professionals [ ATP Men's Tennis ]  in 1972 and Women's Tennis Association [WTA Women's Tennis] were introduced. In 1990, the association became the organiser of world wide tennis and the tour thereafter came to be known as the ATP tour.

The Hawkeye also is an important development made in the sport. First used in Cricket, Hawkeye has now made a foray into Tennis and Snooker as well. It is now used in all major Tennis tournaments and is reliable, accurate and practical.

The Grand Slams: There are four major tennis tournaments held in the course of the year. Winning all the four in a calendar year is known as winning the Grand Slam.It starts in Australia in the month of January where it is essentially summer. The next leg is Roland Garros in France, the third is Wimbledon in England which is the oldest tournament to be played and finally culminates at Flushing Meadows in the US in the month of September.

1) Australian Open: The men's event was started in 1905 and the women's in the year 1922. The season of tennis begins with this grand slam. When it was introduced, it used to be played in the month of December but now is played in the second week of January. Maiden tournament was won by Heath [men] and Mallory Bjurstedt [women].

2) French Open: The French Open became an International event in the year 1925 although it began in the year 1891 and is the only major slam to be played on red clay. The playing arena is a three hectare plot which is named after France's heroic wartime advisor Roland Garros. H.Briggs was the first to win in the men's category in the year 1891 and Francoise Masson was the first woman to win the French Open in the year 1897.

3) Wimbledon:  It was first started in 1877 and also known as "All England Lawn Tennis Championship". It is the only Grand Slam event to be played on natural grass. The men's event was started in 1877 and the women's seven years later. The first person to win Wimbledon was S.Gore[men] and M.Watson [women].

4) US Open [Flushing Meadows]: The only Slam to be played on three different courts: since its inception in 1881 till 1974 grass; 1974 till 1977 clay and 1978 onwards on synthetic hard court. Jimmy Connors is the only player to have played and won the US Open on all the three. First person to win was Sears [ men] and Hansell [women, 1887].

As mentioned before, winning all the above championships in a calendar year means winning the Grand Slam and till today there are only five people who managed to achieve this feat: Don Budge-1938, Maureen Conolly-1953, Rod Laver-1962 and 1969, Margaret Court-1970 and Steffi Graf-1989.

Every sport has undergone changes and Tennis too has invariably done that, change is a continuous process and one can expect a lot more in the future, but whatever the change might be, one thing that will not is the interest generated by the sport for the masses of every walk of life!