WIMBLEDON: Facts, Figures and Fun (Facts, Figures & Fun) [Hardcover]

Everyone has heard of Wimbledon, but how many people know that tennis was invented in the 18th century? This elegant little book is packed with facts, figures, records, statistics and fun! it covers the history of the game and the development of modern championships. There are anecdotes and information about many of the great names since the championships began. This is a true little gem for any fan of tennis or Wimbledon

Everyone has heard of Wimbledon but how many people know that the game of lawn tennis was invented in the late 19th Century and was at first called Sphairistike? This elegant little book, written by publisher Cameron Brown, a resident of Wimbledon since 1970, is packed with facts, figures, records and statistics, with space left for you to keep the details up-to-date. It covers the history of the game, starting out with handball in the French monasteries of the middle ages, moving on to Real (or Royal) Tennis at the court of Henry VIII, to the modern game patented in 1874 by Major Walter Wingfield. The book also describes the history of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbledon’s proper name) and the development of the modern championships. There are anecdotes and information about many of the great names of the 125 years or so since the championships began and, finally, a bit of backgound on the "village" of Wimbledon, where it all happens for 2 weeks a year.

A book for every tennis fan!

Cameron Brown is a book-publisher who has lived in Wimbledon since 1970 with wife, daughter, cats, two dogs and a horse. He is a part-time helper at The Wimbledon Society Museum who will benefit from all royalties earned on sales of this book.

"The Gullikson twins here. An interesting pair, both from Wisconsin." - Dan Maskell
"She comes from a tennis-playing family. Her father's a dentist." - BBC 2
"McEnroe has got to sit down and work out where he stands" - Fred Perry

Cameron Brown is a book publisher and resident of Wimbledon since 1970. All of his royalties from sales of this book will go to The Wimbledon Society Museum of Local History.

Lawn Tennis

In 1858, Major T.H. Gem and J.B. Perara invented an outdoor version of Real Tennis adapted for play on grass.and called it Pelota, after the Spanish game.

In his book , Sphairistike or Lawn Tennis, of 1874, Wingfield listed some of the people who had already bought a set of Sphairistike. They included 10 princes and princesses, 7 dukes, 14 marquises, 1 marchioness, 1 governor-general (of Canada), 49 earls, 10 countesses, 8 viscounts and page upon page of lords, ladies, knights and baronets, honourables and right honourables.

The first boxed sets cost 5 guineas (£5.25p / $9.50) and comprised a net and posts, 4 bats [sic], balls, mallett, line-brush and a book of rules. Loose rubber balls were 5 shillings (25p /45cents) per dozen, kid-covered 10 shillings.

Arguably it was the ‘portability’ of the Sphairistike equipment set that was responsible for the game’s speedy introduction (probably by Mary Outerbridge) to the USA, also in 1874. She obtained a Sphairistike set while on holiday in Bermuda and took it back to her Staten Island home, though there is still some argument as to exactly when this happened.

In the year of 1874 sets were exported to USA, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, South Africa, China, India, Greece and Russia. There are thought to be around 750,000 tennis courts around the world today.

The Vocabulary of Tennis

JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan, once commented:
"What a polite game tennis is; the chief word seems to be "sorry"!".
Ace: a good serve untouched by the opponent.
Alley: the area between the singles and doubles line.
Backcourt: the back half of the court between the
service and baselines.
Break: when the player serving loses the game.
Clay Court: a court with a crushed brick or
stone surface.
Deuce: a tie at 40 points.
Double Fault: two service faults in a row.
Dropshot: a sliced, spinning shot which stops
quickly with little bounce.
Fault: when the ball is hit into the net.
Foot Fault: the server steps onto or over the
baseline before hitting the ball.
Game point: the point required to win a game.
Groundstroke: a shot played after the ball has bounced.
Half Volley: shot played immediately after the
ball has bounced.
Hard court: a court with an asphalt or concrete surface.
Let: called when an otherwise good serve touches
the net and the point is replayed.
Lob: A high shot with the ball intended to
land behind the opponent.
Love: zero points.
Match: a series of 3 or 5 sets.
Passing shot: a shot played when the opponent is
close to the net and cannot reach the ball.
The Other
Competitions

The US Lawn Tennis Association was formed in 1881 but the first championship competition took place the previous year at the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club. The first National Championship, precursor to the US Open of today, was held in 1881. Until 1974 it was played on grass, switching then to clay courts, but changing again in 1978 to hard court. Jimmy Connors won on all 3 surfaces.

The first French Open took place in 1891 and was played on grass. Women were first invited in 1897 and it was opened to non-French players in 1925. The French Open tends to be known today after the stadium where it is played, "Roland Garros". Yannick Noah was the last Frenchman to win there, in 1983.

In 1896 men’s singles and doubles play was included on the programme for the first modern Olympic Games.