Interesting Facts About Tennis History, Tournaments, Matches, Players, Equipements & Associations

Tennis is a sport in which two or more players use tennis rackets to hit a hollow rubber ball over a net made up of marked, level, and rectangular surfaces while hitting it on a level rectangular surface. There are millions of spectators watching this sport worldwide.

Throughout this article, we explore a few fun facts related to tennis history, tournaments, players, and equipment. 

Fun Facts About Tennis

  • The game of Tennis also became an indirect reason for the death of King James of Scotland.
  • It is an amazing fact that 24 tons of strawberries are consumed during Wimbledon every year.
  • Women wore full-length dresses in early days of Wimbledon Tennis.
  • Roger Federer is the only player won the highest prize money in his career. He earned US $ 129,946,683.
  • It is believed that Boris Backer, who won the Wimbledon title in 1985 at age seventeen, was the youngest player to win the title ever.
  • The loudest grunt that was heard during Wimbledon 2009 was made by Maria Sharapova, whose grunt reached 105 decibels.
  • Venus Williams & Serena Williams are the only sisters in the history of tennis won the Olympic gold medals.
  • The Tennis was first introduced in 1896 and removed in 1924 and again included in 1988 Olympics. It is integral sport that is a part of Olympics since then.
  • The height of the Net is 3 ½ feet at post and it is 3 feet in height at the center point.
  • Wimbledon Tennis Tournament only played on grass surface when US Open is played on three surfaces.
  • Grass courts provide service and bounce ball well, which makes them the fastest type of court.
  • The shortest grand slam final match was continued for 34 minutes in French Open in 1987. The match was played between Steffi Graf and Natasha Zverva and won by Graf by 6-0, 6-0.
  • Arthur Ashe became the first African American player to win the US Open in 1968.
  • Receiving side players are allowed to stand anywhere in the court during the serve except in service box.
  • Those who leave the racquet on the ground or engage in verbal abuse are penalized.
  • Neither players nor teams are allowed to cross over the opponent’s line or touch the net.

Interesting Facts about History of Tennis

  • Tennis was originated in France during 12th century as it resembled with old handball game named as jeu de paume (“game of the palm”) which was played with hand palms.
  • Rackets and balls were developed in 16th century. However, first racket was invented in Italy.
  • The game became famous among elite class of the society including Kings and Nobles in initial period.
  • English King Henry VIII constructed the first Tennis Court at Hampton Court Palace in 1625.
  • Wimbledon Tennis is considered the oldest tennis tournament which is in the name of Wimbledon – a district in London, U.K.

Facts About Tennis Tournaments

Following are the common tennis tournaments you must know.

  1. Wimbledon
  2. US Open
  3. French Open
  4. Australian Open

All the above were introduced in 1877, 1881, 1891, and 1905 respectively. These four are considered major tournaments and are named “Grand Slam” tournaments.

Common Facts About Tennis game (Matches)

  • The play of tennis is divided into three phases: A game, a set and a match.
  •  Wimbledon in 2010 was the site of the longest tennis match ever played, between Jhon Isner and Nicolas Mahut. In three days, eleven hours and five minutes were played.
  • The shortest tennis match finished only in 20 minutes which was played between Susan Tutt and Marion Bandy in1969 at Wimbledon.
  • Sam Groth made the fastest serve at the speed of 263.44 km/h. He was an Australian player.
  • The fastest service recorded in women’s tennis was Germany’s Sabine Lisicki who hit a serve at 210 km/h.
  • Mr. James Van Alen introduced the term of “Tiebreak” for tennis game in 1965.
  • A player runs approximately 3 miles during a tennis match.
  • Henry Austin was first wore shorts at Wimbledon in 1932.

Facts About Tennis Players

  • Andre Aggasi was the king of Hard Court with the collection of 40 titles and Ms. Crish Evert won 53 from women side.
  • In 1992, Jennifer Capriati won the singles title at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona when she was just 16 years old, making her the youngest female Olympic champion.

Facts About Tennis Equipment (Racquet, Ball and Tennis Court)

  • The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has established a standard that a tennis ball must weigh between 56.0 and 59.4 grams.
  • During early days, the color of tennis ball was white, yellow balls were first used at Wimbledon Tournament in 1986.
  • The average allowed length of a tennis racket is “29” inches.
  • The level height of grass is kept 8 mm at Wimbledon Tournament.
  • The Wimbledon tournament uses 54,250 tennis balls.
  • The soccer court can be 78 feet long and 27 feet wide for tennis matches played in singles. The tennis court remains the same length but the width is 36 feet (10.97 m) for soccer matches played in doubles.

There are five types of Court Surfaces:

  1. Clay
  2. Hard
  3. Grass
  4. Carpet and
  5. Wood.

Facts About Tennis Associations

  • The Association of Tennis Professionals was formed in 1972.
  • Tennis is regulated by the International Tennis Federation, which oversees the game’s rules. The company was founded in March 1913 and has its headquarters in London.
  • WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)

Final Words

Tennis has undergone many changes throughout its history, facing off against players of all genders and ages. As a result, tennis is now open to women and men of all ages and genders, as well as to veterans and people with disabilities.

In addition to these interesting facts, there is a long history to this game.

By diving into the game’s facts, you can see how it has evolved and transformed. It offers spectacular moments and memorable experiences. Tennis is an enjoyable game to watch live, and even to play.


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