Here’s some tennis trivia for you: Would you believe that the racket sport of tennis has been played since the 16th century? It was developed from an earlier game played in monasteries where the monks used gloves to hit the ball back and forth. How many of your friends will be impressed with that one the next time you’re on the courts? Tell them that one and more from our list of…
13 Crazy Things About Tennis You May Not Have Known
- Back to the origins of tennis, did you know the word racket derives from the Arabic word, “rakhat,” which means the palm of the hand?
- A player can’t hit the ball into anything other than the court or net before it lands. (Ahem…Djokovic).
- In an un-officiated match, a player can only make calls for his/her side of the court, however, any player can call a let. (This should solve a lot of arguments).
- The first Wimbledon was played in 1877. The US Open was founded in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905. These four tournaments have been designated as “Grand Slam” tournaments. The term, “Grand Slam” was not originally used to refer to each tournament individually. So they aren’t “Grand Slams” plural. They are properly known collectively as “The Grand Slam.” However, we now colloquially call each of them a “Grand Slam.”
1877 Wimbledon Championships - 1968 marks the beginning of the “open” era in professional tennis. The French Open was the first “Grand Slam” event to go open. This meant that amateurs were invited to play, so long as they met the tournament requirements.
- Rufus – a Harris Hawk – is stationed at Wimbledon to keep its skies clear of pigeons. @RufusTheHawk currently has over 10,000 followers on Twitter.
- Players must submit their clothing to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for approval before participating in the Wimbledon Championships. So when we say we’ve got authentic tennis apparel that your favs wear at Wimbledon, we mean it!
- Does money make you the best? If so, then Roger Federer has a valid claim to the Best Ever title. To date, he’s collected US $129,946,683 in career prize money.
- Goran Ivanisevic is the only Wimbledon winner whose name alternates consonants and vowels. He might be the only person in the world with a name that does that. LOL
Goran Ivanisevic - But did she win!? The loudest grunt (105 decibels) came from Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2009.
- There was virtually no women’s professional tennis until 1967 when Billie Jean King, Ann Jones, Francoise Duerr, and Rosies Casals were signed to a men’s tour for two years. In 1970, King and Casals prompted a boycott after being offered $7,500 in prize money versus the men’s prize of $50,000. Finally, in 1973, the U.S. Open became the first tournament to offer equal prize money to women and men. Wimbledon finally got with the program in 2007.
- This is some interesting tennis trivia… Did you know that players are not allowed to use the ball to wipe off sweat? Ewww…
- A player must get permission before a match to wear an Apple watch from an official because messages can be transmitted. They didn’t mention Garmin watches…
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