The first game of tennis originated in the 1100's or 1200's in France. The players batted the ball back and forth over a net with the palm of their hands. Major Walter Wingfield is the father of modern tennis. In 1873 he introduced the modern game and in 1874 he patented tennis equipment and rules for playing the game on grass courts.  Tennis was introduced to the United States in 1874 by Mary Outerbridge.  She was largely responsible for establishing the first court in the United States.  This court was on the lawn of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club.  Tennis caught on quickly and became a fast-moving game of skill.

    How the scoring system evolved, has never really been known.  It is thought that the term "love" probably comes from the French word l' oeuf, meaning "the egg" or "zero".  A theory about the scoring comes from France, where the most common silver piece was worth 60 sous, and each of its four parts was worth 15 sous.  At this time of the game, tennis was played for stakes, so points were worth 15, 30, or 45 sous.  But, after coin denominations were no longer significant, 45 was shortened to 40 because it was easier to say.

    To standardize the rules of tennis pertaining to scoring, equipment, and court dimensions, the United States Lawn and Tennis Association was established in 1881.  It is now called the United States Tennis Association (USTA).  The USTA follows rules and regulations set forth by the International Tennis Federation.

    The four grand slams, or big tournaments of the year are:  The United States Open, The French Open, The Australian Open, and Wimbledon.  They are all two week long tournaments played throughout the year.  The United States Open is played during the first two weeks of September.  The French Open is usually played the last week in May through the first week in June.  The Australian Open is usually played the last two weeks of January.  Wimbledon is usually played during the last week of June through the first week of July.
 

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