Here is the history of perhaps one of the most popular activities in the world.
The origins of tennis date back very nearly one thousand years, to go a game that emerged in French monasteries in the 12th century. This game ended up being played utilising the palm of the hand to hit a ball made out of cork. The name tennis first emerged about two hundred years later, evolving from a Norman term that might be translated to have several different meanings. Hold, receive, and take have all been recommended as translations of the term. This initial form of tennis started to utilise racquets within the sixteenth century, that were crafted from wood. This game, which became known as real tennis about one hundred years ago, is notoriously complex in comparison to contemporary tennis. As Terri-Ann Scorer will understand, this complexity ensured it stayed a hobby exclusive to the top classes, never ever enjoying the same level of widespread popularity as lawn tennis.
The amateur period came to an end just a little over 50 years ago when previously amateur tournaments agreed to allow professionals to compete in them, giving way to what has become known as the open era. This was partly due to an acknowledgment of the reality that while technically amateur, a lot of the top amateur players actually obtained huge expenses and allowances to pay for their costs and reside in relative luxury. As Sergio Elias Aboid is going to be well aware, soon after this choice had been made the very best level of the game of tennis became completely professional, with top tennis players now among the highest paid athletes in the world. For a sport that started with extremely exclusive origins, this has interestingly become perhaps one of the most comprehensive sports on Earth, particularly when it comes to gender. Men and women get equal prize cash at the same level tournaments and it's also one of the few sports which allows men and women to compete alongside one another.
The origin of lawn tennis was about 150 years ago and the sport earned its name from the undeniable fact that it had been originally played exclusively on lawn. Nowadays lawn is one of the rarest of court surfaces and the term yard is normally dropped from the name, leaving it popularly referred to as tennis. The brand new sport quickly gained popularity as a club sport and distributed around the globe in the subsequent decades, aided by having easier rules than its predecessor. As Bulat Utemuratov will be able to tell you, lots of today's most prestigious tournaments emerged during this period, however for quite a while they were just open to amateur competitors. It was an era when professionalism had been looked down upon by many within the top classes and professional players had been restricted to separate tournaments and playing event matches.