Tennis

History of Tennis

The racquet and ball game of lawn tennis is one of the most widely viewed sports in the world and is very popular as a recreational sport too. Tennis as we know it today is derived from the ancient game of Real tennis and the rules of the game have changed very little since the 1890s. Journalists coined the term “real” tennis in the middle 20th century when they were making the distinction between the old form of tennis and the more modern lawn game. International tennis tournaments are widely popular. The four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open are the places to be to watch the best players slog it out.

The sport has separate official bodies for men’s and women’s professional tennis. The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP, formed in 1972 is an alliance of male professional tennis players. It is the organizer of the ATP Tour, the key worldwide tennis tour for men. The Grand Slams, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 series, ATP World Tour 250 series, ATP Challenger Series, and Futures tournaments comprise the ATP World Tour. The main organizing body of women’s professional tennis, the Women’s Tennis Association, was formed in 1973. It manages the WTA Tour, the women’s worldwide professional tennis tour.

Previous Tennis season(s)

Winning a Grand Slam is the pinnacle in the career of a tennis player. The Roland Garros stadium (French Open) and The All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon) are sites where tennis history has been written. Wimbledon, as the oldest tennis tournament in the world and the only one still played on grass, is widely considered as the most prestigious. In 2009, the Australian Open men’s singles title was won by Rafael Nadal and the women’s title by Serena Williams. The French Open saw Roger Federer take home the men’s singles title, while Svetlana Kuznetsova clinched the women’s singles. Roger Federer won the 2009 Wimbledon men’s title, while the women’s title went to Serena Williams. The 2009 US Open saw Juan Martin Del Potro walk away with the men’s title and Kim Clijsters take home the women’s title.