Tennis Anyone?

Our next blog is about the history of tennis. Tennis is famous for its Grand Slam tournaments: Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. When the tournament begins, there is always a great amount of media and publicity about the current "it" players and the prediction of who will be the winner. As time continues on new players and new technology evolve the sport, but it's the legacy/traditions of this great sport that keeps tennis fans glued to the t.v. or internet to find out about each upcoming match and tournament.
Thank you Casey for sharing the history of Tennis. Like you I was once a tennis player and this brings me right back to my tennis days.

Historical Context:

Many people in the world believe that the sport of tennis has been around for a few centuries, but as a matter of fact it dates back several thousand years! During the early years of tennis, the game was first created by European monks to be played for entertainment purposes during religious ceremonies. Unlike modern day tennis, (usually played with a racquet) monks had use their hands to hit the ball across a net with a wooden ball instead of an air-filled rubber ball. Relating to our studies, a fascinating detail about the “historic tennis ball” was that in 1480, King Louis XI of France forbade the filling of tennis balls with chalk, sand, sawdust, or earth, and stated that they were to be made of good leather and stuffed with wool. Monasteries across Europe has cherished this sport so much that it eventually became increasingly popular in France where it was adopted by royal families.

Summary:
Why is the sport called “tennis”? The sport was referred as Jeu de paumme or hand of the palm during the 16^th-18^th century; the French players would start the game by shouting out “Tenez!” which meant play. That term eventually led to the English translation of tennis.
Dating back to several thousands of years, the sport of tennis has upgraded and advanced into becoming one of the most popular sports around the world. The most renowned tennis events are the Open Tournaments that are hosted every year in different stadiums around the world in which the top professional tennis players and new rankers compete in order to win the Grand Slam. Each and every day as I am playing tennis, I will be reminded that hundreds of years ago; people had been playing the sport as I am.

About our Blogger:

My name is Casey Tran and I'm a sophomore. My hobbies are spending time with family and friends and playing tennis. I chose to write about the history of tennis because I am truly amazed of how long tennis has been around. It has changed drastically over the years from using a rough ball to a rubberized ball and playing with your hand instead of a racquet. Tennis interests me because it's a sport that's solely based on skill, hard work, dedication, and motivation.