According to historians, tennis was first played in France in the 12th century. Today this sport is loved and played by millions of people, currently there are four Grand Slam events each year where the best players in the world go head-to-head in a bid to etch their names forever in the tennis history books.
Lets take a look at some interesting facts about tennis:
The era prior to rackets
Prior to the use of rackets, players would use their palms to hit the ball back and forth. The palm method was replaced in the 1500s when the first rackets were introduced. For the first one hundred years of the sport, the rackets were made from the guts of animals.
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A cricketer or a tennis player?
Spencer Gore was the player to win the first Wimbledon tournament in 1877, beating his opponent in straight sets. He was not only an astute tennis player but also a first-class cricketer playing for Surrey County Club simultaneous.
The Curious case of Charles VIII
There are a lot of contradictions when it comes to the death of Charles VIII of France however the most probable cause of death was cranial trauma after he hit his head on the door of a primitive tennis court.
Tennis, an accessory to a crime?
King James
I established the first strong monarchy the Scots had seen in his thirteen-year tenure as king. In those thirteen years, he ruled with an iron fist making enemies along the way. In an attempt to flee from his attackers during his assassination, he tried to escape through an underground passage however he had this route sealed off, apparently due to the amount of tennis balls he was losing through the sewage drain. His murderers were soon captured and brutally executed.
Correct tennis attire
Each player needs to submit their match attire to the respective federation of each tournament. Serena Williams’ 2018 cat suite outfit at the French Open was condemned by the French Tennis Federation as they claim it didn’t “
respect the game and place.” Her outfit has caused mixed reactions within the tennis community since.
Infamous tennis grunts
From Nadal’s chainsaw wail to Djokovic’s shriek, professional tennis players’ grunt has been interesting to witness. The loudest grunt recorded was from Maria Sharapova in 2009 during Wimbledon. Her grunt reached 105 decibels, as loud as a helicopter flying close.
The match that played for 3 days
The longest match recorded took place in 2010 between big hitter John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. Their epic match spanned three days and lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Unfortunately the game had to end just when things were getting good!
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