Day.Aversion of Tennis Was Played in Ancient Greece and in France in the 1400S

TENNIS

INTRODUCTION

TennisisamongthemostpopularsportsintheUnited States.Itisplayedbyamateursandprofessionals,children andadults,womenandmen.Itcanbe playedforsheer enjoymentorinfiercely competitivetournaments,suchas thefamousDavisCup,WightmanCupandtheWimbledon tournament.Likebadminton,itrequiresagility,speedand almostcontinuousmotiononthepartoftheplayer.Itisoften recommended as a good means of aerobic exercise.

HISTORYOFTENNIS

Thegamethatweknowas“tennis”today(officiallyknownas“lawntennis”)was createdbyaBritishcitizen,MajorWalterC.Wingfield,whointroducedthegameto Britainin1873.Thefollowingyearsawtheintroductionofthealready-populargame toAmerica.

However,therealhistoryoftennisapparentlygoesbackfarbeyondMajorWingfield’s

day.Aversion of tennis was played in ancient Greece and in France in the 1400s.

ThefirsttennistournamentwasplayedatWimbledoninEnglandin1877.WhileWimble- don is still considered the most famous and prestigious tennis tournament in the world, the Davis Cup andWightman Cup tournaments are also important annual events.

HOWTHE GAME IS PLAYED

Atennisgamealwaysstartswiththeserve.The serverstands behindthebaselineontheright sideofthecourt.Theballistossedintotheairand hitdiagonallyacrossthenetintotheopponent’s court.Theopponentthenhastohittheballafter thefirstbounce,andreturnitbackacrossthenet to the server.

A“fault”iscommittedwhentheserverhitsthenetwiththeballorwhentheballishit outsidetheservicecourt.Thesecondtimeaservertriestoserveandfails,“adouble fault” occurs.The opponent automatically gains a point after a double fault.

Faultscanalsooccurwhentheservertouchesthebaselineoranyotherpartofthecourt with his/her feet while serving.

A“letball”isaservethattouchesthenetbutlandsinthecorrectplace.Thistypeofball does not count; the server must serve again.

Aballthattouchesthenetduringplayis calleda“netball.”Netballsarelegaland must be played.

Oncethefirstpointismade,theserverthen servesfrombehindtheleftbaseline.The servercontinuesuntiltheopponentwinsthe serve or until a fault occurs.

Thefirstpointinatennisgameis15,thesec- ondis30andthethirdis40.Thefinalscore (or fourth point) is the GAME POINT.

Aplayermustscorefourpointsinorder towinagame.Inatiegame,bothsidesor playersmayscorethreepoints,or40-40(a

‘DEUCE”).Ifaplayerorsidewinstwomore points after a deuce, the game is won.

The“AD”orADVANTAGEisthefirstpoint

scoredafterthedeuce.Whenbothplayers

scorea point after a deuce, the game returns to 40-40 again.

Thescore“LOVE”meanszero.Ifa gamehasthescore30-love,itmeansthe scoreis30tozero.Nobodyknowswhy theterm“love”isusedintennis,butitis generallybelievedtohaveoriginatedfrom theFrenchword“l’ouve,”whichmeans “egg.”Aneggisroundlikeacircle,hence its association with a zero.

ASETmeansthatonesideorplayerhaswonsixgames.Thewinnerofthesetmustwin by two games.AMATCH means that two out of three sets have been won.

PLAYINGTECHNIQUES

THESERVE

Thereare four types of serves in tennis: the flatserve, the slice serve,thekickserveandtheAmericantwist.Whilethesliceis themostcommonandeffectiveserve,allfourtypesofserves demand a controlled toss and good follow-through.

Toexecutetheserveproperly,theplayerraisestheracquetback toapointwhereitreachesoverhisorherrightshoulder.The player’selbowiskeptstraightintheair.Theproperstanceis straight,notbentatthewaist.Theballisthentossedupinto theair.Astheballcomesdown,theservermovesforwardand strikestheballwiththeracquet,drivingitoverthenettoward the other player or players.

FOREHANDDRIVE

Thismoveisoneofthetwomainstrokesusedforreturningtheballafteronebounce. Whentheballapproachestheplayer’sracquet-handside,theforehanddriveisused—ba- sically, as a way of blocking the ball.The wrist maintainsa firm position and keeps the racquetfaceopen.Allcontactwiththeballshouldtakeplaceinfrontoftheplayer’s body.

BACKHANDDRIVE

Thismoveistheothermainstrokeusedtoreturnaballafter onebounce.Inthebackhanddrive,theballgoestotheopposite sideoftheracquethand.Theplayermovesthearmacrossthe bodyand,aswiththeforehanddrive,maintainsafirm wrist andelbow.Again,contactwiththeballismadeinfrontofthe player’s body.

VOLLEY

ThefamousMartinaNavratilovaonceofferedthisadvice aboutthevolley: “Keep itshortandsimple.”Theplayer’s kneesshouldbebentandlegsslightlyapartwhiletheweight ofthebodyisforward.Theelbowsshouldbeturnedintoward thebodyasthebodypivotsandtheshoulderturnstowardthe ball.

Thepower of the volley comes not from the swing, but from a firmwrist, goodtiming

andthe ability to keep one’s body weight forward.

LOB

Thelobfeaturesashortbackswing,anopenracquetfaceandanupwardmotion.The follow-throughonthisshotisshorterthanonothershots.Thegoalofthelobistohit the ball over the opponent’s head in order to drive him/her back in the court.

SLICE

Theforehandandbackhandslicesareusedto make the ball spin and bounce crookedly. In the forehandslice,theplayer’sshouldersshouldturn astheracquetisbroughtbackabovethelevelof theball.Theracquetheadistiltedupwardatthis point,whiletheplayer’sweightiskeptforward. Ideally,thefollow-throughonthisshotiskept short.

Inthebackhandslice,theplayerturnsasthe

racquetisbroughtbackabovetheleveloftheball.Thewristiskeptstiffascontactwith the ball occurs in front of the player’s body.

EQUIPMENTAND CLOTHING

Tennisisusuallyplayedinloose-fittingshortsformenorshortskirtsforwomen.Athletic shoesareneededtobracethefeetandanklesduringviolentmaneuvers.Lightpoloshirts or blouses are worn to provide freedom of movement.

TENNISNOTESAND NEWS

Wimbledon

Thefinalofthewomen’ssinglescompetitionincluded sixthseed,2002and2003WimbledonChampionSer- enaWilliamsandseventhseed,2000,2001,2005and

2007championVenusWilliamswhometforthethird timeinaWimbledonfinal,andfortheseventhtime overallinGrandSlamfinals,withSerenawinningfiveofthesixpreviousencounters.Serenamadethestron- gerstart,breakinghersisterinherfirstservicegame, andquicklytooka4–2lead,asVenusstruggledwith herreturn.Themomentumofthefirstsetthenshifted, whenVenusstartedtoplaymoreaggressively,breaking Serenatoeventhescore,andbreakingheragaininthe lastgametowintheset7–5afterfifty-threeminutes. Venusstruggledagainwithherserveinthebeginning ofthesecondset,savingabreakpointinherfirstser-

vicegame,Shewasbrokeninhersecond,butbrokebackto2–2.Bothplayersthenheld theirserveupto5–4,whenSerenafoundherselfservingtostayinthematchat15-40, savingthefirstmatchpoint,butlosingthesecondonanunforcederrortogiveVenus thebreakanda7–5,6–4victoryafteronehourandelevenminutesofplay.Thewin allowedVenustodefendhertitleandwasherfifthWimbledontitle,herseventhGrand Slam title overall.

Afterplayingtheirsingle’smatch,Serena WilliamsandVenus Williams,metsixteenth- seededLisaRaymond,and2002championSamanthaStosur,toplaythemixeddoubles finalinthetournament.TheWilliamssistersprovedtobeasdominantthroughthefinalastheywereduringthewholecompetition,inwhichtheylostnosetandknockedout severalseededteams,amongthemFrenchOpenchampionsAnabelMedinaGarrigues

andVirginiaRuanoPascual,asSerenaandVenusbroke twiceineachofthesets,savingthreebreakpointsin thefirstset,andnotfacingasingleoneinthesecond, toclaimthe2008Wimbledondoublestitleaftera merefifty-eightminutesofplay,onthescoreof6–2,6–2.ThedoublestitlewasSerenaandVenus’thirdin Wimbledon,andtheseventhoveralltogether,sincethe1999FrenchOpen.Thewinalsomarkedthethirdtime thesisterswonthedoublestitleofWimbledonwhile oneofthemwonthesinglestitle,andthesecondin whichtheywonthedoubleswhilebothofthemplayed the singles final.

Themen’ssinglesmatchsawRafaelNadalwinthefirstWimbledontitleofhiscareer andfifthGrandSlamtournament.No.1seedandfivetimechampionRogerFederer wasaimingtoequalWilliamRenshaw’srecordofsixconsecutiveWimbledontitles (1881–86),andedgeeverclosertoPeteSampras’srecordof14GrandSlamtitles,of whichFedererhad12.Nadal,theNo.2seedandfour-timeFrenchOpenchampionwas Federer’schallengerforthethirdconsecutiveyear,andwasaimingtobecomethefirstmansinceBjörnBorgtowintheFrenchOpenandWimbledoninthesameyear.Nadal’s countryman,ManuelSantana,thelastSpaniardtohavewontheWimbledontitle(in

1966),saidNadalcouldtakeinspirationfromSpain’svictoryintherecentEuropean

Championships,which Spain had last won in 1964.

Nadalbeganwell,winningthefirstset6–4injustunderanhour,andtakingthesecond bythesamescoreline,despitehavingbeendown4–1atonepoint.Thethirdsetwasin- terruptedbyraindelaysbuttheplayersreturnedtofinishthesetwithatiebreak,which Federerwonbysevenpointstofive.Thefourthmirroredthethirdbyalsogoingtoatie break,inwhichNadaltooka5–2lead.Nadalwasonservebutservedadoublefaultand thenwasforcedbyFedererintoahittingabackhandintothenet.Laterinthetiebreak, Nadalhadtwochampionshippoints,includingoneonhisserve,whichhesquandered, withFederertriumphing10-8,andforcingafinalset.Thefifthsetwentonlyfourgames beforeanotherraindelay;thescorewas2–2(40–40)whentheyreturned.Nadaleventually prevailed,winningthefinal set9–7.Nadalcelebratedhiswinbyclimbingtohisfam- ily in the crowd, including coachToni Nadal, and then traversed a roofed area to shake handswithmembersofSpanishroyalty.Punditandthree-timeWimbledonchampion John McEnroe lauded it as “the greatest match I have ever seen.”