Tennis

Tennis History

Tennis is arguably the most popular and most storied racquet sport in the world. Other racquet sports such as ping pong and paddle ball have taken the rules and equipment found in tennis and modified them slightly.

In 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association created an official rule book, solidifying the rules that would govern tennis over the next 100 plus years. That organization is now known as the U.S. Tennis Association and is in charge of promoting the sport and hosting tournaments all over the country.

Fifteen years later, tennis made its first appearance in the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where an Irishman named John Pius Boland won the first Olympic medal in singles tennis.

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the game was dominated by a few top names: Germany's Boris Becker and United States' John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Sampras and Agassi traded No. 1 rankings in the world regularly from 1993 to 2003, popularizing the sport and drawing significant viewership throughout America in the process.

The current top player in the world is Spain's Rafael Nadal, a 24 year old who took the top spot from Switzerland's Roger Federer after Federer held the position for more than four years between 2004 and 2008.

The women's game has much more parity. Currently, the top female player in the world is Serbia's Jelena Jankovich, while the top players in the United States are the well known Williams sisters (Serena and Venus). Eastern Europe is considered a hot bed of tennis talent, as nine of the top 11 women's tennis players are from Russia, Serbia or Poland.