Let's start talking about this wonderful sport called Tennis, the accounts of the beginning of the sport are from different periods.
The first practitioners were in Egypt and in some European countries. Its supporters used only a ball and their hands.
Afterwards, the sport became more similar to the one currently played, despite still not using the racket, the palm of the hands fulfilled this role. The disputes were held indoors.
Initially, the game consisted of throwing the ball against the wall, which over time was modified to a rectangular space, with larger dimensions, markings on the floor and an object to hit the ball.
After a while the nobles approved the novelty and soon several courts were built in France, even arriving in England.
After Napoleon's war, most of the courts were destroyed, consequently decreasing their practice. The renaissance happened around the 19th century and this time tennis came to stay.
The English liked the modality so much that they opened spaces where another sport was very disputed, croquet.
When the Olympic Games reopened in 1896 in the city of Athens, Tennis debuted in competition. Brazil discovered the modality at the end of the 19th century, through the English and French. It all started with people from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and then spread throughout the country.
Today there are two million players of these 33,675 are registered by the Brazilian Tennis Confederation.
How do you play Tennis?
The word tennis comes from the French which means to play or catch. Nowadays the sport consists of throwing and hitting the ball.
The point is won when the ball hits the opponent's side of the court, going over the net and the opponent does not hit it back.
Today there are simple competitions, with one player against another and in pairs. In this case, there are two athletes in a team, which can even be mixed, a man and a woman.
The court can be made of dirt, synthetic floor or grass. It is divided in the middle by a net 1.07 meters high at the ends and 0.914 meters in the center.
In addition to the option of being in open or covered environments, the court has dimensions that vary according to the type of dispute.
- Simple: 23.77 meters long by 8.23 wide.
- Doubles: The length is the same, but the width is 10.97 meters.
The disputes begin with the service performed from the back of the court and last for 3 or 5 sets, depending on the competition. In each one, the athlete who wins 6 games, with at least 2 games of difference, wins.
Game points are counted as follows:
- First point: 15
Second point: 30
Third point: 40
Fourth point: Game - Equals: When there is a tie of points.
If there is a tie in the game, it goes to tie-break. Therefore, the player must reach 7 games first to leave with the victory.
However, the match only ends when the tennis player manages to get 2 games apart, even if he has already scored the 7 games. So in the end someone will be the victor.