Last updated: June 27, 2023, by the editorial board.
Tennis Tennis is a racket sport played individually against a single opponent or in teams of two. It is also a popular spectator sport worldwide, played by millions of fans. Let's learn more about tennis rackets and balls, players, matches, trophies, stadiums, tennis courts, and the rules of tennis.
83 Interesting Facts About Tennis
1. Tennis is considered to be originated in the monastic cloisters of northern France in the 12th century. Interestingly, the ball was hit with the palm of the hand back then. At that time, the game was called "jeu de paume" ( palm play ). Rackets came into use in the 16th century.
2. The word "tennis" comes from the Anglo-Norman term "Tenez".
3. The modern game of tennis was created in the late 19th century by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield. He received a patent for the game in February 1874.
4. Wimbledon, or the Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, which is also considered the most prestigious.
5. The first Wimbledon tournament It took place in 1877. It is also the first of the four Grand Slams to be founded.
6. The US Open was founded in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905. These four major tournaments are known as the Grand Slam tournaments.
7. The player is considered to be the owner of "« Career Grand Slam", if he wins all four major tournaments at any point in his career;« Grand Slam outside the calendar year"» , if he wins all four major tournaments in a row, but not in the same year; and« Grand Slam, if he wins all four major tournaments in the same year.
8. The longest tennis match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. It featured John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. John Isner ultimately won the match 6–4, 3–6, 6–7, (7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 (final set). The match was played over three days in 2010. During the match, 123 balls were used, and the score became irrelevant – it could only have read 47–47, and the final score was 70–68.
9. Jack Harper scored a sensational 6-0, 6-0 victory over J. Sandiford at the 1946 Surrey County Open Hard Court Tennis Championships. The match lasted just 18 minutes, making it the shortest men's singles match ever.
10. The shortest women's singles match in history took place between Margaret Court and Darlene Hard in 1963 at the Eastern Grass Court Tennis Championships. The match lasted just 24 minutes and ended with a 6-1, 6-1 victory for Margaret Court.
11. Tennis is also Olympic sport, and it can be played by people in wheelchairs.
12. Davis Cup has existed since 1900. It is an annual competition between men's national teams.
13. Did you know that Federation Cup, similar to the tournament for women's national teams, was founded in 1963 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ITF?
14. The year 1968 marked the beginning of the open era in professional tennis. The French Open was the first Grand Slam tournament to be held in the open category.
Facts about tiebreaks in tennis.
15. Did you know that there is a tie-break? was invented by James Van Alen in 1965?
16. Van Alen initially introduced two types of tiebreaks into the game. The tiebreak that ended after reaching the maximum 9 points was called« tie-break until the first victory", and a tie-break up to 12 points is a "tie-break" until the last victory »" The tie-break to 12 points continues until one of the players or teams wins with an advantage of at least two points and at least 7 points.
17. В The Davis Cup adopted a tiebreak for the first time in all sets except the final in 1989, and in 2016 the rules were amended to include tiebreaks in all five sets.
18. 1971 – The tie-break was introduced at Wimbledon.
19. French Open - the only major tournament where a tiebreak is not used in the final set of a singles match .
20. Don Budge is the only tennis player in history , who managed to win six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles, starting with Wimbledon in 1937 and ending with the US Open in 1938.
21. In tennis history, only five players have won all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year, and the last to do so was Steffi Graf in 1988. Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) were the only men to achieve this feat.
22. The most fast feed The fastest shot in men's tennis was achieved by Australian Sam Groth at 263.44 km/h.
23. Germany's Sabine Lisicki served at 210 km/h, the fastest speed ever recorded in women's tennis.
24. In 2007 prize money for Wimbledon winners became equal for men and women. The 1968 Wimbledon tournament became the first in history to include prize money.
25. The 2022 US Open offered a $2,600,000 prize to the winner, making it the largest prize pool to date.
26. The term "Love," used in tennis scoring, is believed to derive from the French word for "egg," l'oeuf, because the zero on the scoreboard resembles an egg. However, these claims have not been substantiated.
27. Serena Williams has 23 Grand Slam singles titles. She also holds 14 women's doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles, making her the most successful tennis player in the world.
28. In men's tennis, Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles and in women's tennis, 24 Grand Slam titles.
29. As of June 2023, Novak Djokovic holds the world record for most Grand Slam titles in men's tennis, with 23. Rafael Nadal, with 22 Grand Slam singles titles, ranks second on the men's list for most Grand Slam singles titles.
30. Did you know that if the ball hits a player's body or any part of his clothing before it lands, it's a point for the opponent (even if it goes out of bounds)?
31. Arthur Ashe was the first African American to win the US Open. He won his first and only victory in this tournament in 1968. He said:
«"Start with what you have. Use what you have. Do what you can.".
32. The average age of the boys and girls serving at Wimbledon is 15 years old. Each year, 250 of these young athletes are selected to serve at the tournament.
33. Rufus - Harris's hawk – is located in Wimbledon , to clear the sky of local pigeons. Would you believe this hawk has over 10,000 Twitter followers?
34. Before participating in the Wimbledon Championships, players must submit their clothing to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for approval.
Did you know?
35. Every year during Wimbledon, 24 tons of strawberries .
36. Playing tennis also became an indirect cause of the death of King James I of Scotland.
37. In the early years of Wimbledon, women wore full-length dresses.
38. Novak Djokovic holds the record for career prize money. He's earned an estimated $170 million in tennis earnings. That's $35 million more than Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer is third in the amount of prize money for his career. He earned $131 million.
39. 1972 is the year of foundation Association of Professional Tennis Players .
40. Roger Federer has hit 11,478 aces to date , which places him third on the list of players with the most aces, while John Isner Tops the list with 14,260 aces.
Interesting facts about tennis balls and rackets.
41. According to the International Tennis Federation, weight of a tennis ball should weigh between 56.0 and 59.4 grams and have a diameter of 2.5 to 2.8 inches.
42. Initially, tennis balls were white. Yellow balls were introduced for the first time at Wimbledon in 1986.
43. Acceptable overall length of a tennis racket is 29 inches.
44. Metal racket frames appeared in early 1967, after Wilson Sporting Goods created a metal racket. Before that, wooden frames were used.
45. Until 1975, three of the four Grand Slam tournaments – Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open – were played on grass.
46. According to the International Tennis Federation, hard courts were used in official tournaments as early as the 1940s.
47. Clay, hard soil, glass, carpet and wood — five types of court surfaces, used in professional tennis.
48. At Wimbledon during the tournament the grass is mown to a height of exactly 8 mm .
49. It is estimated that during Wimbledon 54,250 tennis balls are used . Of these, about 700 disappear by the end of the tournament, as spectators take the lost balls home as souvenirs.
About us – players, matches, trophies and stadiums
50. Goran Ivanisevic - the only winner of Wimbledon , whose name alternates between consonants and vowels.
51. Boris Becker is the youngest player in history to win the Wimbledon tournament. He is also the only unseeded player in history to win this prestigious title. He was 17 years old when he won it in 1985.
52. The shortest tennis match lasted only 20 minutes. It took place between Susan Tutt and Marion Bundy in 1969 at Wimbledon.
53. Roland Garros Stadium, which hosts the French Open tennis championship, is named after a French pilot - Roland Garros.
54. In February 2020, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played in front of a record crowd. The tennis match, held at a stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, was attended by 51,954 people.
55. The Wimbledon winner's trophy remains on display in the All England Lawn Tennis Club museum, as winners do not take their trophies with them. However, they are given small replicas of the official trophies.
56. Golden Cup, The trophy awarded to the male winner appeared in 1887, and the trophy awarded to women, called a "tray," appeared in 1864.
57. In tennis, the term "tanking" »" means losing a match or "rigging" the results in order to gain some advantage.
58. «Tennis elbow» - is an inflammation of the tendons that connect the muscles of the forearm to the outside of the elbow.
59. The loudest groan, reaching 105 decibels, was heard from Maria Sharapova in 2009 during Wimbledon.
60. The first sisters to win Olympic gold medals in tennis, became Venus and Serena Williams.
61. Tennis was included in the Olympic Games program in 1896. , and was excluded in 1924. However, tennis was reintroduced to the Olympic program in 1988 and remains part of the Games to this day.
62. In 1900, at the Summer Olympics in Paris, Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain became the first woman in history to win first place in tennis (medals were not awarded until 1904).
63. During World War II, on October 11, 1940, a bomb struck Wimbledon's Centre Court. It damaged a corner of the members' stand, and Wimbledon was unable to repair the damaged area until 1947.
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