The Appearance of Tennis
Ball games date from the ancient times and the oldest representations can be found in the Egyptian temples in 1500 BC. The ancient Egyptians used to play ball games during their religious rituals. This entire concept of ball games spread in Europe in the eighth century, the influence aching even the South of France. At a certain point, the Christian monks became interested in these religious rituals, being the first Europeans to play the sport we know today as tennis.
The oldest version of tennis was called “La Soule”, the players sending the ball to one another either with their hands or with a stick. Players discovered they had more control over the ball using their hands, so they created a leather glove. It was then just a matter of time until they added a wooden handle to the glove, this turning into the first tennis racket.
The balls were refined, being made of harder or softer wood and leather. The game soon became very popular, especially in France, where the royal family also played it. Therefore, the sport we know today as tennis was developed in France. The French tennis players called this sport “teens”, the sport then being known as royal tennis or real tennis.
This was an inside sport, which was played in spacious areas, with well-built roofs and the winners had to hit the ball against the walls of the gallery. This game is very different from the tennis we know today, the courts today being on grass. Then, the first tennis clubs and tennis courts appeared. This is when tennis started being played on grass. Tennis players could only play in open air after the invention of vulcanized rubber, which prevented the court from being destroyed by the rubber balls.
Winfield was the one who led tennis towards the success it has today. In 1874, he patented a game called Sphairiatike and started announcing the press about it, everybody finding out that tennis was first played in Wales in December 1873. In 1875, Mary Ewing saw the English officers playing tennis in the Bermudas and introduced it in the United States of America, where it was first played at Staten Island Croquet and Baseball Club, where her brother worked as a secretary.
Marylebone Cricket Club was the first club to have a set of rules with this sport in 1875. The sport started being played by members of All England Croquet Club in Wimbledon, a club which changed its name in 1877. It became All Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and it changes its set of rules, also organizing the first lawn tennis tournament. This is how Wimbledon turned into the spiritual place of this sport, being very well-known for the strawberries and for the creams the organizers used to serve. According to different studies, over twenty-seven thousand kilograms of strawberries and over seven thousand liters of cream were consumed throughout the two weeks the tournament lasted for. Of course, the symbols of Wimbledon are no longer related to strawberries and cream, but to the performances and to the atmosphere specific to this competition.
