Amongst the top sports today, one of the most popular and exciting is tennis. Governed by the International Tennis Federation, it is truly fun and entertaining to watch, thanks to its highly interesting rules and other fundamental aspects. The popularity of the sport is highly attributed to its rich television exposure, particularly in the coverage of major tennis events like the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the French Open. In addition, the Australian Open is also part of the Grand Slam tournaments of the sport. Learn more about the game by looking back at its colorful history including who invented tennis.

The Invention of Tennis

Who invented tennis? According to many sports historians, Walter Clopton Wingfield invented the modern version of the game. Some time in December 1873, he created the design and patented the sport referred to as sphairistike, which shares many similarities with the modern-day form of the game. By 1877, the first Wimbledon championships were held in London, England.

Additional Facts and Other Interesting Information

Tennis is played basically with tennis balls and tennis racquets. In terms of play, it is important to take note of the different important aspects involved in the game such as the scoring, single point plays and lines. Likewise, it is important to become familiar with the different parts and limits of a tennis court in order to become great players of the game.

Generally, the game is played in four different types of surfaces, namely carpet, grass, hard and clay. Major events like the U.S. Open and the Australian Open use hard surfaces. On the other hand, Wimbledon events use grass as surface, while the French Open games are usually set on clay courts.

Players can execute eight different kinds of shots in the game of tennis. These include the lob, drop shot, overhead smash and half volley. In addition, an athlete is not a complete tennis player if that individual cannot perform other basic shots such as the volley, backhand, forehand and serve.

There are actually four different Grand Slam tournaments in the game. In January, the Australian Open is held annually in the City of Melbourne. From May to June, players converge in Paris, France, to compete in the French Open. From June to July, players go to London in England to compete at Wimbledon. From August to September, the entire tennis world is focused on the U.S. Open, which is held yearly in New York City.

Besides the Grand Slam tournaments, there is also the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, which is comprised of nine different tennis tournaments. For 2009, the scheduled events for March are the Sony Ericcson Open and the BNP Paribas Open. For April, the events are the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Additionally, the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid is held in May, the Shanghai Masters 1000 in October and the BNP Paribas Masters in November. Two tournaments are scheduled for the month of August, one in the City of Cincinnati in Ohio and the other in Montreal, Canada.