Tennis Fun Facts You Need to Know

Posted on October 25th, 2022

Tennis is a sport that is enjoyed by people of all ages and all levels. The sport of tennis has been admired by both spectators and players since the early 12th century. Here are some facts and interesting developments that have occurred since the early history of tennis.

Before tennis players used rackets, people would use the palm of their hands to hit the ball back and forth over the net.

People in the 12th century suffered from swollen and red hands in a game called ”jeu de paume” meaning “game of the palm.” It was not until the 16th century that racquets were used.

Before yellow tennis balls, they were white.

It wasn’t until Wimbledon in 1986 when yellow tennis balls were used. Officials believed that a yellow ball would be easier for spectators to follow on TV.

The origin of the tennis term “love” is unknown.

The word “love” or zero in tennis possibly derives from the French word “l’oeuf” meaning “egg,” which may represent the figure zero.

During a match, a player on average runs 3 miles.

Due to the restricted length of a tennis court, that is a difficult 3 miles of continuous back and forth moving!

Racket versus racquet.

The spelling racket is the typical way to spell the device used in net games like tennis. The alternative spelling is racquet. Racquet is more commonly used in sports such as squash and racketball. Even though most websites will tell you that racket is the correct spelling, the USTA consistently uses the spelling racquet.

Venus and Serena Williams were the first ever set of sisters to win Olympic gold medals in tennis.

The sisters won their first Olympic gold medal in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. They now have two additional gold medals from Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Another tennis dynamic duo is Elite Sports Clubs’ tennis pros, Jeff and Jordan Aranda. 

Jeff and Jordan have been part of the Elite team since 2005. They both have over 30 years of tennis teaching and experience. Jeff has been a top-10 nationally ranked player since college. As a junior player, Jeff has been ranked in the state, Midwest, and the country. As a high school player, Jordan won WIAA High School doubles crown in 1985 and 1986. Jordan, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, became the player with the most wins in school history. Jeff and Jordan reached a national ranking of #17 for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in doubles and they were also ranked #2 in the country. The Aranda brothers were inducted into the UWM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

Source