Tennis is a sport invented in England in the late 19th century, based on a French game called “jeu de paume”.

Tennis is played on a court that is divided in two by a net. Courts' surfaces may be hard (concrete for instance), grass or clay.

Tennis players have to throw the ball with a racket over the net in the opponent's court. The aim is to realize hard shots as to make it difficult for your opponent to catch them. Players can play “singles” (one vs one) or “doubles” (2 vs 2). Lateral bands of the course are only workable in doubles. In singles, if the ball touches down a band, it is considered as a fault.

Points are counted in a very specific way: one point makes 15, the following 30 and the last 40. If the players score equally 40, then the game continue until 2 points difference are reached. The player who scores a point is said to have the “advantage”, and if if wins the next point, therefore, he wins the game. A set is won when one player has won several games, usually 6, with at least 2 games difference with the opponent.

The Grand Slam is the most famous and prestigious championship. Four tournaments make the Grand Slam among the French Open and the US Open. Winning the fourth the same year is the performance many tennis players are trying to accomplish. Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras among many others achieved this amazing performance. The Davis Cup is another famous tournament competed by national teams.

Jimmy Connors is the one who holds the record of the greatest number of “singles” tournaments won: 105 between 1972 and 1992!

If you wish to play tennis during your vacation or in a more relaxing way, you should try to play beach tennis! It is a lot of fun and you can even discover this sport in our flash games online!