Real Madrid Presentation

Tennis

Name: Khalid Al Junaibi

ID: H00208774

Tennis

Tennis is one of the best sports in our days; many people enjoy watching tennis on T.V. or even go to the stadium and watch the game. Historians believe that it originated in monastic cloisters in France in the 12^th century.  Back then they used to play with the palm of the hand. It was called “Game of the palm” and Louis X of France was an excellent player. However, he became notable as the first person to build indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis didn’t like playing tennis outdoors. His design spread across royal palaces around the world.

The origins of the modern game were between 1859 and 1865; a man called Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera combined racquets and the Basque ball game Pelota; they played on Perera’s croquet lawn in Birmingham, England. They founded the world’s first tennis club.

In December 1873, a British army officer Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game which was called sphairistike, also known as “sticky”. Historians agree that Major Wingfield deserves credit for the development of modern tennis. Major Wingfield produced a bag set which included racquets, poles, net, balls, and especially his rules for the game.

The most important equipment in tennis is the racquet, with a grip connected to a neck which joins elliptical frame that holds a matrix of strings. For the first early years of the modern game, racquets were made of wood and strings were made of animal gut. Then it was developed and made of metal and then composites of carbon graphite, titanium. From these materials the racquet became  over-sized and yielded more power for the player. However, technology led to replacing animal guts with synthetic strings that added more durability.

There were modern rules of tennis for racquets, Rule (1) the hitting area should be composed of strings and the strings should be flat and generally uniform. Rule (2) the frame of hitting area should not be more than 29 inches in length and 12.5 inches in width.

Balls in tennis: no one can play tennis without the balls. Tennis balls came a long way from being made out of cloth strips stitched together with thread. Tennis balls are now made of hollow rubber with a felt of coating. The traditional color of the tennis ball was white, but it was changed to yellow in 20^th century to allow for improved visibility. The tennis ball must have certain criteria for size, deformation, weight. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41-68.58mm, and the ball weight should be between 56g and 59.4g.

About the courts: tennis is played on a rectangular flat surface; there are many courts for example grass courts and clay courts and hard courts of concrete. The court is about 23.77m long, and about 8.23m wide. Tennis can be played as singles matches and doubles matches. There is also a net in the middle of the court, which divides the court into two equal ends. It is held by a metal cable that can be more than 0.8 cm. The net is 1.07m high at the posts and 0.914m high in the center.

Tennis consists of a sequence of points with the player serving. A game in tennis is won if the first player scores at least four points or scores two more games than his opponent. A set in tennis consists of a sequence of games;  to win a set the player should win 6 games or the player should win two more games than his opponent. A match in tennis consists of several sets. The outcome is determined through a best of three or five sets. Men play 5 sets in Grand Slam tournaments, Davis cup, and the final of the Olympic Games, while the women play 3 sets in all tournaments. There is a referee also known as chair umpire who announces the end of the match.

Tournaments are organized by gender and specific number of players. There are tournaments for men’s singles, and doubles. There is also a specific age for some tournaments. The biggest tournament in tennis is The Grand Slam which is considered as the most prestigious tennis event in the whole world. It occurs annually and comprise in chronological order, Australian Open, Wimbledon, the French Open, And the US Open. Many people take tennis seriously and become professionals, like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic. These players were able to dominate most of the grand slams. Roger Federer has won 17 Grand Slams, coming after him two great players Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal with 14 grand slams. Those player names will be written in the history of tennis known as the best players that held a tennis racquet.