Brief History of Tennis

 Dyan Gershman received her juris doctor degree from Boston College Law School, where she was also executive editor of the Boston College Law Review. She has been practicing law for over 25 years and is a resident of New York City, where she is the founder and partner of Gershman Law, PLLC, a boutique corporate law firm serving both U.S. and international clients. Away from work, Dyan Gershman enjoys playing tennis.

The sport of tennis, in which two or four players hit a ball back and forth over a net using rackets, has a long history. Tennis was invented in the 12th century in France and was first played with just the palms and a ball. It was initially known as jeu de paume (game of the palm), a tough indoor ball game. King Louis X of France was the first documented tennis player. In the 16th century, the game evolved to being played with rackets and balls made with wood. It later became known as lawn tennis (courte paume), a name coined by the British, who started playing on grass courts.

The game grew in popularity over the next few hundred years, eventually reaching across Europe. Henry VII and Henry VIII, both of whom commissioned tennis courts across England, were enthusiasts of the game. Competitive tennis grew in the United States over time. The first court in the United States (a grass court) was established in 1874 in Massachusetts. Only men's singles were played in the first year of the Wimbledon Championships (1877), and women weren't allowed to compete until 1884. In the late 1960s, significant championships became available to both pros and amateurs, and this trend continued into the 1970s with increased television coverage of the tournaments.