Evening journal., 1919-07-30
tennis PLAYERS
OPPOSED TO "LOVE"
Few OF Them Know How
the Word Got Into the
Court Game
"CEUCE" ALSOIS
PUZZLE TO THEM

Tennis players are beginning TO re-
Nive an old campaign against the use
OF the word "love" to indicate moth
ing" in the scoring system. They
argue that this absurd hit OF termin-
olOgy has been the chief reason for
the charge Of effeminacy which for
years has been held against tennis, and
they are probably right. No excuse
has ever been given for the utterly
meaningless tennis terms except that
they are as old as the game itself
which is considerable ago, as athletic
eEes go.
There are answers TO all OF these
Gneries, and, along with the present
agitation in favor Of "he-man tennis"
a commendable spirit OF curiosity and
scholarly research Is growing. Those
who find il a wishy-washy, namby-
pamby game are simply not playing
tennis. and probably have never seen
it played correctly. L. C. Wister, the
old Princeton football star, who made
the All-American team and later devel-
Oped into a flrst-class tennis player,
has gone on record as saying that a
hard flve-set match OF singles takes far
more out Of him than the toughest
football game he ever played in, and
athletes in other trough" lines have
borne testimony to the same effect.
The Origin.
But what OF the history Of the ten
mis- terms themselves2 The toughest
OF the lot is the much-derided "love"
itself. II has always been used for the
chubby, innocent cipher. and no one
has ever been able TO explain its origin.
one possible and perhaps the best so
luton Is offered by a foOtnOte in Sing
er's rare book on playing Cards"
which states that there is an old
Scotch word. "luf," meaning moth
ing" Another word OF similar sound
and the same intention Is said TO be OF
Far Eastern origin. and. as an old form
OF tennis unquestiOnably flourlshed in
The Orient. this word may also have
been the parent OF love
As for deuce it Is merely the
equivalent Of the French "deux,
meaning that two points have TO be
won in succession 10 make the game.
in an old scoring system. In which 10
followed 30, it was customary to call
"a una" when 10 was reached. indicat-
ing one point more for game. But II
this score were tied, the call would
change TO "a due" for in every game
Of racquette. from time immemorial. It
has been decreed that tie within one
point Of game meant the necessity OF
winning two points in succession.
''Racquets" Several Sources.
The important word racquet has
been traced to various sources. the best
etymology deriving IT from the Dutch
and Low German "racken," TO
stretch" referring TO the stretching OF
the strings, and appearing also in the
"rack" upon which victims were
stretched for torture. But there are
two old Romance words. "rachette'.
and "rasquetta." meaning "the palm OF
The hand" and these may easily have
been ancestors Of racquet" For ten
mis- was originally played like hand
ball. the earliest strings being stretch
ed between the fingers. before progress
ing 10 frame and handle Of their
own.
set is easily enough explained as a
group or collection Of games, but into
a possible reference 10 the French
sept" as there were originally seven
games IN set. Vantage" is. OF
course. short for advantage" with its
old Italian and French parallels van
faggio" and "ayauntage.r "Nolley
comes directly from "a Ia volee,P i. e.,
ION the fly."
Whatever the details OF its history,
tennis is surely one OF the most ancient
OF all games, and IL now seems destined
30 hold the affections OF the world for
all time. Chaucer and Shakespeare
both referred to it and France record
ed the deeds OF its famous players even
earlier Queen Elizabeth enjoyed watch
ing her courtiers at play, but later the
game fell into some disrepute because
Of the gambling and cheating" at
tached TO IL. The real start Of the mod
ern game is attributed 20 certain
Major Wingfield. who in 1874 revived u
in England under the weighty name OF
4Sphairistike," which was quickly abb
breviated by It's followers TO sticky
in 1873 the laws Of lawn tennis were
formed al Wimbledon, and now we
hare the Davis cup and Ichiya kumagae
which IS about enough statistics for
those of US who are still struggling
with cases and decisions" follow
through" and keep your eye on the
faur