Tennis is descended from Court Tennis, which was played in the Middle Ages in England and France. The first official Court Tennis court in the U.S. was built in Boston in 1876 and there are still seven in use in the U.S. today. They are concrete with glass skylights.
The modern game dates from 1873, when Walter C. Wingfield, a British army officer, adapted the game from Court Tennis so that it could be played on grass; it became known as Lawn Tennis and eventually, simply, tennis. The game was played with a rubber ball and an oval racquet. Tennis was first played in the U.S. in 1874.
Tennis can be played either outdoors or indoors, on a rectangular court by two persons (singles) or by four persons (doubles) who use rackets to hit a ball back and forth across a net. The object is to hit the ball so that the player on the opposite side of the net cannot return it.
There are four major tennis tournaments on the world circuit that are held annually. Collectively, the four tournaments are known as the Grand Slam. To win the Grand Slam, a single player or doubles team must win all four tournaments in the same calendar year. The four are: Wimbledon Championships, the French Open, the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open.
Other major tennis tournaments are the Association of Tennis Pros (ATP) Tour for men and the Virginia Slims Circuit for women.
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