History

The history of the game is varied and ancient. Philologists have suggested that the name tennis was adopted from the French exclamation 'tenez'. Another view associates the term tennis with an Egyptian town on the Nile known as Tinnis in Arabic. Together with court tennis, the 12th century crusaders brought some of its terms to Europe. Thus, racket is derived form the Arab word 'rahat' meaning 'the palm of hand'.

After 1800, the game become popular in Europe and rules become formalised. Finally in 1877, the game became totally standardised.

How the game is played

Lawn Tennis is a game played indoors or outdoors on a rectangular court by two persons (in singles) or by four persons (doubles). The players use rackets to strike a ball back and forth across a net. The object is to score points by hitting the ball out of the opponents reach or in such a way that he cannot return it successfully.

A player who gains 4 points with an advantage of two or more points over the opponent wins a game. 6 games make one set. Both in singles doubles, men compete in 3-set matches. A player who gains two out of 3 sets wins a match. To win the final match, however, a player who gains 3 out of 5 sets. In the other events (singles for women, doubles for women, and mixed doubles), the 3-set system is adopted; in this system, a player must gain two out of 3 sets to win a match.

To win a game, it is necessary to gain 4 points, with an advantage of two or more points over the opponent. In case of deuce, a player must gain two straight points to win the game. To win a set, it is necessary to win 6 games, with an advantage of two or more games. If the score is 5-5, the player who then gains two consecutive games wins. If the score is 6-6, the tie-break system is used to decide the winner.