# Tennis

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 2, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969 "2006-07-02T20:39:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969/1 "2006-07-02T20:39:28Z")

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So, [this article by Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_304a.html) says tennis orginated in France in the 12th or 13th century. [This article in Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis) says it originated in England in the 19th century. Clearly Wikipedia is wrong, but I’m curious if anyone knows of a source that supports Cecil’s date and country of origin.

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**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969/2 "2006-07-02T21:07:47Z")

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> [@Kolak of Twilo](#):
>
> So, [this article by Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_304a.html) says tennis orginated in France in the 12th or 13th century. [This article in Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis) says it originated in England in the 19th century. Clearly Wikipedia is wrong, but I’m curious if anyone knows of a source that supports Cecil’s date and country of origin.

I found one pretty reliable cite that backs up Cecil: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_304a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_304a.html)  
Seriously though, I’m no expert but I do know how to use google, and the first hit for “tennis origins” seems to backup Cecil: [Playing & Coaching Tennis](http://tennis.about.com/od/history/a/earlyhistory.htm)

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969/3 "2006-07-02T21:08:20Z")

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Confusion of terms. _Lawn_ tennis originated in the 19th century. _Court_ tennis, also known as “real tennis”, is medieval.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969/4 "2006-07-02T23:35:04Z")

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[Wikipedia for “Real” tennis, whatever that means](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_tennis)

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**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis/362969/5 "2006-07-03T10:30:47Z")

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We have a couple of real tennis courts in our town, which have been in use since the mid-19th century.

> [@](#):
>
> The two [real tennis] courts at Cambridge were built in 1866 and 1890 but the latter was converted into four squash courts in 1933. In 1999 it was re-opened for Tennis and has already hosted many competitions.
> 
> Also in 1933 the walls and floor of the older court were painted white and orange balls were used in an attempt to improve visibility. The original colour was restored in 1960.

[http://www.curtc.net/aboutus/index.php](http://www.curtc.net/aboutus/index.php)

The rules are pretty complicated, and there’s a lot of etiquette involved…

[http://www.curtc.net/thegame/index.php](http://www.curtc.net/thegame/index.php)