8 Tennis Facts You Probably Don’t Know About – Although the game of tennis was introduced as a professional sport decades back in 1926, the game rose to an undeniable prominence only in the last few years. According to reports and statistics, over a billion fans watch tennis actively throughout the world. With the introduction of highly competitive leagues and high-stakes tennis tournaments, including the Grand Slams, Wimbledon, and the US Open, tennis as a sport has garnered an enormous fan base over the years.
Moreover, with the active dominance of tennis stalwarts of the modern era, including, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and many others, the sport has witnessed an incredible transformation and has scaled to unprecedented heights. While tennis aficionados often know the rules and regulations of the tennis court thoroughly, they lack the knowledge and insight of fascinating facts that exist beyond the scoreboard and tennis court.
In this article, we will take a look at the top eight fascinating tennis facts that you might not know about.
The Origin of Tennis
One of the most popular sports of the modern era, tennis has its roots embedded in French history. Back in the 12th century, Northern France had a popular game called “jeu de paume” which translated to “game of the palm”. Although initially it was played with bare hands, later in the early 16th century French people started playing the game with racquets, making the revolutionary transition into the modern game of tennis from the game that was played with bare hands.
The Transition of Tennis Balls
The game of tennis has undergone numerous transformations over the years. The color change of the tennis ball is one such transformation that took place in 1986. Before 1986, only white-colored tennis balls were used across all formats and championships.
Tennis players back then faced quite a lot of challenges while hitting the tennis ball across the tennis court with a vibrant background or on open fields with a bright cloudy sky. The transition of the tennis ball from white to yellow/green proved to be a complete game changer that was appreciated by tennis players around the world as it made it possible for them to track the trajectory of the ball with precision and accuracy.
The First Player to Wear Shorts at Wimbledon
The year 1932 witnessed a revolutionary move by the English tennis player, Henry Bunny Austin, who took an active step to break through the decades-old tradition of wearing long trousers on the tennis court.
Although Austin’s bold move to wear shorts at Wimbledon faced quite a lot of criticism in the beginning, it successfully revolutionized the concept of traditional attire on the tennis court and ignited a wave of interest among the tennis players of his era to make the switch from traditional trousers to shorts.
The Fastest Serve in the Tennis History
An Australian politician and a former professional tennis player took the tennis world by storm with his record-breaking serve of 163.4mph on the tennis court. The high-velocity serve garnered him enormous fame, and he was instantly revered as one of the most formidable players in the world of tennis.
The World’s Oldest Tennis Court
The Royal Tennis Court, situated at Hampton Court Palace in London, took a period of three years to be constructed from 1526 to 1529. King Henry VIII was also referred to as the interceptor of tennis and referred to the Royal Tennis Court as his favorite location to play tennis. After almost 500 years, the Royal Tennis Court is still serviceable. Contrary to most of the league matches, the tennis matches played at the Royal Tennis Court are indoors and are often referred to as “the real tennis”.
The Only Player to Clinch US Open at Three Different Surfaces
Often regarded as one of the greatest champions of tennis, Jimmy Connors achieved the historic feat of clinching the U.S. Open on three different surfaces, including the Forest Hills in 1974, on clay at the same venue in 1976, and then on hard court in 1978 at Flushing Meadows. The trailblazer of tennis, Jimmy Connors, is the only player to achieve this feat, which has never been surpassed by any other tennis player to date.
The Longest Match in the History of Tennis
Wimbledon 2010 has been etched in the history of tennis as the longest showdown in the history of the sport. Although the tussle between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 was initiated as a standard match, it continued for an astonishing length of 11 hours and 5 minutes, making it the longest match in the history of tennis.
The Disparity in Prize Money at the Wimbledon
Although women players have been treated equally to their counterparts in the game of tennis in terms of game and fair play, there was a major disparity in prize money between men and women tennis players until 2007 when Wimbledon finally, decided to raise the prize money of women tennis players to match it with the alluring prize money of male tennis players. This revolutionary move was appreciated and commemorated not just by female tennis players but also by tennis fans throughout the world.
