Some games are invented spontaneously, and some games develop over long periods of time. Tennis has an ancient history. The Greeks and Romans had ball games which later became a French game called jeu de paume; this was probably the ancestor of modern tennis.

The word tennis probably comes from the French word “Tennez!” which means, “Take it! Play!” Some experts believe the game had its beginnings in Egypt, in Persia and among the Arabs, before Charlemagne.

By the year 1300, the game was known also as “La boude,” and during the fourteenth century it was played throughout France. In fact, the nobility of France was very devoted to the game, and Louis X died from a chill he caught while playing what was then a form of tennis.

Tennis has been called a royal game because of the great interest shown by the kings of France and England. Henry II was considered the best tennis player in France, and later on Louis XIV kept a regular staff to look after his tennis courts. The word “tennis” as the name of the game is first found in a book published in 1400. Henry VIII built a tennis court in 1529 at Hampton Court that is still in use today.

Tennis was introduced to the United States in the 1870’s, by way of Bermuda. The game was played regularly at the Racquet Court Club in New York in 1876. Then Boston built its first court in 1876, Newport, Rhode Island, in 1880, and Chicago in 1893.

“Lawn tennis” was developed from tennis by an Englishman, Major Wingfield, in 1874. But today, especially in the United States, the name lawn tennis has been contracted to the word tennis.