Tennisssssssssssss

موضوع: Tennisssssssssssss الخميس فبراير 19, 2009 2:46 pm

Tennis is a sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt (most of the time Optic Yellow,^[1] but can be any color or even two-tone) over a net into the opponent's court.
The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the
late 19th century as "lawn tennis" and had heavy connections to the
ancient game of real tennis.
After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class
English-speaking population before spreading around the world. Tennis
is an Olympic
sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can
be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in
wheelchairs. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit
organized by the National Collegiate Athletics Association.
Except for the adoption of the tiebreaker
in the 1970s, the rules of tennis have changed very little since the
1890s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption
of "instant replay" technology coupled with a point challenge system,
which allows a player to challenge the official call of a point.
Along with its millions of players, millions of people worldwide follow tennis as a spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (sometimes referred to as the "majors"): the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
History

Tennis as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets similar to the game of Poona or Badminton many British soldiers brought from being stationed in India and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet Birmingham, United Kingdom.^[2]^[3] In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.^[4] The Courier of July 23, 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.^[5] lawn in
In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game — which he called sphairistike (Greek: σφάίρίστική,
meaning "skill at playing at ball"), and was soon known simply as
"sticky" — for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his
estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales.^[6] He based the game on the newer sport of outdoor tennis or real tennis.
According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also
derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much
of the French vocabulary of real tennis and applied them to his new game

The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877.^[7] On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions.^[8] The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island.^[9]^[10] Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891.^[11] Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis.^[7]^[12] Together these four events are called the Grand Slam (a term borrowed from bridge).^[13] The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887.
The comprehensive International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation,
rules promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the
ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tiebreaker system designed by James Van Alen.^[14]
The Davis Cup, an annual competition between national teams, dates to 1900.^[15]
In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional
tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing
exhibition matches to paying audiences.^[12]^[16]Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen.^[12]^[17] Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.^[12] The most notable of these early professionals were the American
In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking
money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction,
inaugurating the open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis.^[18]^[19] (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).^[19]^[20]^[21]
With the beginning of the open era, the establishment of an
international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale
of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the
sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image
In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island.^[22]
The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well
as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from
all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.