History of Tennis: 

• The game was first created by European country to be played for entertainment purposes during religious ceremonies.
• The modern game of tennis developed in United Kingdom (and known as “lawn tennis”)
• The first tennis ball was wooden.

Tennis:

• Played on flat rectangular surfaces, with a tennis ball and a tennis racquet
• Game involving tennis racquet and tennis ball
• Usually played between two players (singles) or
• Two teams of two player each (doubles) or
• It is also played by men and women together (mixed)

Racquet:

• The components of a tennis racquet are a handle and neck joining a roughly elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings.
• Racquet has a flat (elliptical) area, composed of strings, used for hitting the ball.
• Hitting area is 29inches (32inches until1997) in length and12.5 inches in width.

Ball: 

• Hollow  rubber ball with feather coating.
• Earlier white later turned to opaque yellow for better visibility.

Court:

• Played on flat rectangular surfaces
• Surfaces are usually grass, clay or hard court (concrete/asphalt)
• Also played on carpets in indoor games

*Court is 23.77m long and 8.23 meter wide for singles matches (width is increased to10.97m for doubles matches)

The net:

• A net is stretched across the full width of the court, dividing it into two equal ends.
• The net is 1.07 m high at the posts and 91.4 cm high in the center.

Shots in tennis: (8 basic shots)

1.    The serve
2.    The forehand
3.    The backhand
4.    The volley
5.    The half-volley
6.    The overhead
7.    The drop shot
8.    The lob.

Major tournaments : 4 grand slam tournaments (the most prestigious tournaments in tennis)

1.    The Australian open –January- Melbourne- Hard surface (plexocushio)
2.    The French open- May-June – Paris – Clay surface
3.    The Wimbledon- June-Jiuly – London – Grass surface
4.    The US open-  August-September – Hard surface (deco turf)

Apart from that other important tournaments are the Olympic Games, the Fed cup, the Davis cup and the Hopman cup.

*These are the only 8 tournaments regulated by international Tennis Federation (ITF)

Tennis officials: 

• A senior umpire sitting on a chair adjacent to the net announces the points won.
• The line judges make a decision whether a ball is in or out, (an electronic machine to aid the line judge)
• The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. Has the power to overrule umpire’s decision, if the tennis rules are violated.

*ball boys and girls are employed to retrieve and pass balls and towels to players.

Normal rules and regulations:

•    There are mainly two main forms of the tennis: Singles and Doubles.
•    The opposition players stand at the two ends of the net and use a racket to hit the tennis ball.
•    The players have to try and hit the ball back into the opposition`s court before it bounces for a second time.
•    The ball has to be hit above the net but should land inside the opponent`s court.
•    In case none of the above happens, the other player wins a point.
•    The players have to try and win maximum number of points, games and sets so that he or she ends up victorious.
•    In order to win a set, the players need to win six games and lead by two clear games. E.g.: You win a set if you are leading 6-4 or 7-5.
•    In case the score line is 6-6, then a tiebreak is held to decide the result of the set.
•    In women’s tennis, there are best of three sets while in most men`s tournaments, matches are best of five affairs