The Royal Tennis Court – Hampton Court Palace · south front Hampton Court Palace · main entrance Hampton Court Palace · Tudor garden gilded heraldic beast Pro shop · real tennis balls History The first tennis court at Hampton Court was built for Cardinal Wolsey , between 1526 and 1529. As a young man, Henry VIII was a keen and talented tennis player, who spent hours on court. His second wife Anne Boleyn was gambling on a game of tennis when she was arrested to be taken to the Tower of London . She even complained that she couldn't collect her winnings! There has been a tennis court on this site since 1625, when this one was built for Charles I . Three of the walls of the court in use today are 17th-century, with the other being Cardinal Wolsey's original. One of the first English guides to tennis in 1553 claimed that 'this game has been created for a good purpose, namely, to keep our bodies healthy, to make our young men stronger and more robust, chasing idleness, virtue's mortal enemy, far from them and thus making them of a stronger and more excellent nature'.

The Game The game of real tennis is played in a court divided between the service end and the hazard end. 'Hazards' include the grille window and the winning gallery. Players at the hazard end lost the point if the hazards are hit. However, the game is safer. Since the 1500s the balls have been made with leather and filled with soft stuffing, which included animal and human hair. Before this, balls were more like ammunition, filled with clay, sand and powdered egg shells and could take out an opponent with a single hit! Henry VIII would recognise a game of real tennis if he saw it today: it has changed little since he enjoyed it. The equipment is still hand-made on the tennis court site, as it has been for nearly 500 years. Although the game looks like a strange mixture of tennis and squash, the techniques, strategies and rules are both more difficult and more complex than those of the modern derivatives. Despite this complexity, the game can be played at various speeds allowing for players of all ages and abilities to play. Except at the very highest levels of the professional game - the World Championship Challenge - both singles and doubles matches are mixed gender.

The Club Today the court is home to a thriving club with over 500 members, and is open and in use from 7am to 11pm every day of the year, except Christmas Day. The Royal Tennis Court is one of fewer than fifty real tennis courts in the world, and one of the few courts in the world where the public can watch this intriguing sport. Comfortable Club Rooms , including a dining room with kitchen facilities and a secluded walled garden, are available to members and guests. The club rooms are available for hire by members. The club has an active policy of arranging a number of social events throughout the year. Day-to-day tennis activities at the club are arranged by the Head Professional, Nick Wood, and his assistants . The professional team arranges a wide range of tournaments to suit all playing standards. New members are always welcome, particularly youngsters ages 12 to 21, so why not give the professionals a call and arrange a lesson to try the game. Henry VIII · The Tudor champ As a young man, Henry was athletic, graceful and loved all sports, especially tennis.

Never one to shy away from impressing the ladies, Henry was probably well aware that he cut a fine figure in his flowing white silk shirt. The Venetian Ambassador at court, Sebastian Giustiniani , was also impressed, describing the King in 1519 as 'much handsomer than the King of France. It was the prettiest thing in the world to see him play; his fair skin glowing through a shirt of the finest texture.' However, Henry lost a huge amount of money gambling on the outcomes of his own and other matches. Edward Hall , a 16th-century chronicler recorded in 1510-11 that: 'The King was much enticed to play at tennis and at dice, which appetite, certain crafty persons about him perceiving, brought in.' Elizabeth I · Her Majesty's pleasure Elizabeth I was a keen spectator and she ensured that the courts were well maintained. Her courtiers vied for her approval, and passions often ran high in matches. During one game between her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester , and his rival Lord Norfolk, Dudley took a cloth from the Queen's hand to wipe his sweaty brow.

Incensed by this public show of intimacy Norfolk threatened to strike Dudley in the face with his racquet. The ensuing commotion upset the Queen, who ruled that Norfolk was to blame for overreacting! Charles I · A winning style Charles I was an enthusiastic player, and probably the most talented of the British tennis-playing monarchs. The walls of his new court, built in 1625, are those that still make up the court as it stands today. The King had special tennis suits made, designed to look like fashionable doublets and breeches. They were brightly coloured and made from silk, satin and velvet, and often trimmed with silk lace in an intricate braid. These were worn with special 'tennis stockings' and tennis shoes. Charles II · Bigger and better Charles II spent much of his time in exile in France playing tennis. When he returned to Hampton Court Palace in 1660 he ordered significant improvements to be made to his father's court, including reconstructing the roof. Charles also had special suits, stockings and shoes made for tennis in the latest fashions to impress his onlookers.

James II · Stuart -vs- Stuart As a prince, James (later James II) often played against his elder brother King Charles II. After the Restoration in 1660, James was granted his own apartments at Hampton Court Palace, so he was on hand if Charles felt like a game or two. Frederick, Duke of York · The passionate gambler ' The Grand Old Duke of York ,' son of George III , was a tennis fanatic. His daily games prompted the Times newspaper to comment that he was neglecting his military duties: 'The tennis court now takes up more of the Duke of York's time than the Parade; His Royal Highness paying more respect to the top of the ball that the step of the soldier.' The Duke loved to gamble on tennis matches and in one year he ran up a debt of over £60,000. Frederick's demeanour on court was described as too hot and passionate'; and that he 'leaps over the net with great agility'. When he played he wore a 'dress of flannel - stockings, breeches and shirt, all joined together which is put off and on in a moment'.

Prince Albert · The unconvinced prince Queen Victoria wrote in her journal how ' Albert went to Hampton Court to play at tennis' in 1848. A brass plaque was fixed to a locker set aside for his exclusive use, although it seems he didn't warm to the sport at Hampton Court and never returned. The plaque remains in the changing room to this day. Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane , the splendidly named President of the Royal Tennis Court club from 1896-1915, remarked of the contents: 'Some flannel garments and a racquet remained fr many years, until moth and corruption eventually consumed them.' The Earl of Wessex · A modern royal Today the club and court are still enjoyed by members of The Royal Family . The Earl of Wessex is a regular player on this court. Social: Real Tennis History - Tennis & Rackets Association TENNIS HISTORIC RESULTS A History of the Royal Game of Tennis Scholars tell us that hand-ball (jeu de paume in French) was played by the Greeks and the Romans, and by even earlier civilisations.

There are references in the classics to a game that was played in a stone court, as is fives in our country today. Pilare, in Latin, was to play ball and pila was the word for a ball. Hence, palla in Latin and pelote in French. The Roman legionaries, moving into Gaul, perhaps brought the custom of hand-ball with them. What is certain is that the game came to be played against the walls of town buildings and keeps of castles, and in and outside monasteries and ecclesiastical buildings. At a time when England held vast territories in France, the game was not slow to spread to our island. Indeed, the origin of the word tennis is thought to stem from the Anglo-Norman imperative tenetz! The cry of warning given by the server, “Take this! Play!” The shape of the court, as we know it today, evolved slowly over the Middle Ages, but by the end of the 15th Century, approximate dimensions had been agreed, an overall length of 90 ft and a breadth of the 30 ft.

Though tennis is traditionally styled the Game of Kings early records show that it was the ecclesiastical high-ups who first put their stamp of approval on the game. Prelates, Abbots and minor clergy played it with almost religious fervour. In certain provincial towns in France, the bishop of the diocese received a tithe of tennis balls on Easter Day. With choristers and schoolboys, the sport became a veritable craze and was frequently cited as a cause of truancy. The monastic type of building clearly lent itself to wall games, and it is thought that the eteufs or tennis balls were made from the discarded robes of monks. During the Middle Ages, players began to protect their hands with a leather glove. Later this glove was to acquire gut strings in the style of a guitar. As this somewhat imperfect instrument evolved, a short six-inch handle came to be added to it. Early drawings depict this battoir and indicate that it was covered with vellum, a practice which led to the stealing of manuscripts by unscrupulous persons. A scholarly performer was once aghast to observe that his hired battoir was covered with still faintly decipherable fragments of a lost decade of Livy.

Throughout the history of the game great stress is laid on its therapeutic value. The Greek doctor Galen recommended it as the most salutary of all exercise. The first rules of tennis ever published- Hulpeau’s Ordonnance du Royal et honourable Jeu de la Paulme, Paris, 1592, began ”You gentlemen who desire to strive with another at tennis must play for the recreation of the body and the delectation of the mind, and must not indulge in swearing or in blasphemy against the name of God”. Pepys, in a diary entry of April 4th, 1668, writes, “…how my Lord of Pembroke says he hath heard the Quaker at the tennis-court swear to himself when he loses”. ROYAL EXPONENTS OF TENNIS It is hardly surprising that generations of French and English kings were taught the game in their youth. Charles II of France was painted with a racquet in his hand at the age of two. The commoner was only too anxious to try his hand at the Game of Kings, and repressive measures, for the most part ineffective, were enacted in both France and England in order to restrict the game to nobility only.

Henri II was the star of all the French kings, though the much loved Henri IV was the greater zealot. In England, James I’s son, Henry who sadly died at eighteen, was reputed to have been a brilliant performer. The English royalty played in courts at Windsor, Whitehall, Westminster, Wycombe and Woodstock. It is well known that in Shakespeare’s Henry V, the hero, having been insulted by the Dauphin with a gift of tennis-balls, threatens to “Strike his father’s crown into the hazard” warning him that “he hath made a match with such a wrangler that all the courts of France will be disturbed with chases”. Henry VII and Henry VIII were both keen supporters and excellent performers, the latter being responsible for the building of the Royal Court at Hampton Court Palace. Charles I and Charles II were devotees of the game all their lives and both used to rise at five or six in the morning to play.

Pepys, after a visit to the new tennis court at Whitehall, wrote of Charles II, “…but to see how the king’s play was extolled, without any cause was a loathsome sight, though sometimes he did play very well and deserved to be commended, but such open flattery is beastly”. It is known that his brother, James II, was also a fine player – surely one of his few redeeming feature! – and there is also a well-known portrait of him playing as a boy with a short-handled racket before a crowd of ladies and gentlemen in the dedans. His son-in-law William III, played from time to time, fortified, we are told, with stoups of Spanish wine. The untimely death of Frederick Prince of Wales in 1751 was due, according to that inveterate gossip, Horace Walpole, to a “blow upon the stomach from a tennis-ball” – one of a number of royal casualties resulting from tennis.

The MAITRE-PAUMIERS It is an incredible but documented fact that between 1550 and 1700 there were no fewer than two hundred and fifty courts of various shapes and sizes in Paris alone. Small wonder that Shakespeare refers to” all the courts of France”, since many of her provincial towns could boast half a dozen or more of them. It was not until the fashion-ridden reign of Louis XIV that courts began to fall into disuse, because he, and therefore his courtiers, preferred to use the game as a medium for the laying of extravagant bets rather than playing themselves. This did at least encourage exhibition matches between the leading professionals, the maitres-paumiers of the day. As the kings and many nobles employed their own professionals, the status of these men was considerable. In France,they had their own guild with appropriate escutcheon, shared admittedly in early days with the makers of bootand clothes-brushes, and they were protected by royal patent from unauthorised vendors of tennis balls and rackets.

Statutes exist which set out minutely the duties and obligations of the maitre-paumier, as it was considered important to prevent the tennis-courts from harbouring undesirable elements of society. The paumier-apprentice had to learn the difficult art of making racquets and balls, special tools and equipment being required for the job. Before being admitted to his guild, the apprentice was called upon to give proof of his skills, not only as an artisan, but also as a player. It would seem that the paumier had to employ a considerable staff of assistants known as marqueurs. They called the chases, marked up the games and sets, cleaned the court and rubbed the players down after their game. (with grateful thanks to Sir Richard Hamilton) TENNIS COURTS IN USE IN 2016 France The French Revolution in 1789 brought an abrupt end to real tennis throughout France to such an extent that there are now only two active courts remaining – in Paris built in 1919; and Fontainebleau (1702).

United States of America In the USA, the game blossomed at the turn of the 20th century and there are now eleven courts in existence – at Aiken South Carolina (1903); Boston (1886); Lakewood, New Jersey (1902); Greentree, Long Island (1915); Newport, Rhode Island (1880); New York (two courts 1917); Philadelphia (1907); Tuxedo Park (1900); Washington (1997); and Chicago (rebuilt 2012). Australia Hobart, Tasmania (1875); Melbourne Royal Tennis Club (1882); Ballarat, Victoria (1984); and Romsey, Victoria.

United Kingdom There are 27 courts in use:- Hampton Court Palace (built 1529, renovated 1661); Falkland Palace, Fife in Scotland (1539); Oxford University (1800, renovated 1912); Hatfield House (1843); Queen’s Club (2 courts 1888); Cambridge University (2 courts 1862 and 1890); Holyport (1890); MCC Lord’s Cricket Ground (1900); Newmarket (1900); Prested Hall (2 courts 1999) Middlesex University, formerly known as the Burroughs Club (2000); Radley College (2008) Hampton Court Palace Royal Tennis Court - YouTube Hampton Court Palace Royal Tennis Court Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Sep 14, 2011 The Royal Tennis Court at Hampton Court Palace is a real tennis court which was built for Henry VIII, who played there from 1528, and is still home to an active real tennis club Category On The Convict Trail: Royal Tennis Club, Hobart On The Convict Trail Wednesday, 16 April 2014 Royal Tennis Club, Hobart One could be forgiven for being a little bit confused by the existence of a Royal Tennis facility in colonial Hobart. The game can be traced back to the 1470's where it became popular with European royals and was subsequently considered as the Game of Kings. English kings were keen players and Henry VIII had the Hampton Court Palace Royal Tennis court built in 1528 - now the oldest court still in continuous use. The Invention of new racquet sports such as lawn tennis saw the game decline in popularity during the early 1800's. In England & Australia, the game is now known as Real Tennis. The Hobart club is the oldest Real tennis court in Australia.

The game was introduced into Australia by Samuel Smith Travers in 1875 when he built the first court in Hobart. Travers was a Tasmanian based businessman and pastoralist who built himself the court so he and his friends could play at their leisure. The site as originally an old brewery in Hobart's Davey St which allowed him to build his home next door. In November of that year , the Hobart Mercury recorded that " the tennis court that is being erected in Davey Street for Mr S. S. Travers is an immense structure admirably built of brick and stone with a shingled roof. The owner is sparing no expense in making it a substantial building". The following year, local publishers released a book "A Treatise On Tennis" by Samuel Smith Travers who described his court as "excellent". Judging from a print in the book that described the interiors of the building, the court is substantially unaltered from it's original construction, except that the roof is no longer shingled. Other major renovations which have been performed include the addition of a Trophy Room in 1987 and in the 1990's a new tennis viewing area, professional space and an entrance foyer were built.

The club continues to thrive and currently has a vibrant & active membership of around 150. The members are in fact the owners of the heritage listed sandstone building and it is actively maintained by the enthusiasm of the members. It is a fine example of a unique colonial sporting facility. I was very lucky that the day I went to take some photos of the site, there were some matches being played and thus I was able to witness the great game of Real Tennis first hand. A great experience. Hobart Real Tennis Club website - Posted by royal tennis. royal tennis. royalty Look at other dictionaries: royal tennis — noun an ancient form of tennis played in a four walled court • Syn: ↑real tennis, ↑court tennis • Hypernyms: ↑tennis, ↑lawn tennis * * * ˌroyal ˈtennis 7 [royal tennis] … Useful english dictionary royal tennis — /rɔɪəl ˈtɛnəs/ (say royuhl tenuhs) noun an ancient form of tennis played in a walled court, points being scored by hitting the ball so that it lands between certain lines marked on the walls, or in certain openings in the walls.

Also, real… … Australian English dictionary royal tennis — noun real tennis … Wiktionary royal tennis — noun another term for real tennis … English new terms dictionary royal tennis. — See court tennis … Useful english dictionary Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court — The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court is a real tennis court which was built for Henry VIII of England, who played there from 1528, and is still home to an active real tennis club.During the 17th century various improvements were made to the… … Wikipedia Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club — The Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club (also previously called the Falkland Palace Real Tennis Club) organizes play at the real tennis court in the gardens of Falkland Palace, Fife, Scotland.Built for James V of Scotland, court construction began… … Wikipedia Mount Royal Tennis Club — The Mount Royal Tennis Club has been the most used venue for Canada hosting Davis Cup ties. It has been the country s most prominent grass court Davis Cup venue. The MRTC has played host to 28 Davis Cup ties between 1923 and 1964 [1]. All but the … Wikipedia royal — adj. & n. adj.

1 of or suited to or worthy of a king or queen. 2 in the service or under the patronage of a king or queen. 3 belonging to the king or queen (the royal hands; the royal anger). 4 of the family of a king or queen. 5 kingly, majestic … Useful english dictionary tennis — /ten is/, n. a game played on a rectangular court by two players or two pairs of players equipped with rackets, in which a ball is driven back and forth over a low net that divides the court in half. Cf. lawn tennis. See illus. under racket2.… … Universalium 16+ The history of Real Tennis | sydneyrealtennis.com.au Contact us The history of Real Tennis Nobody invented tennis. It evolved, over nine centuries, although the game’s main features – the court itself, the racquets, balls, scoring system and other rules – have been standardised since around 1600. The oldest indoor court in existence today, at Hampton Court Palace in England, was built by Charles I in 1625 (on the site of Henry VIII’s earlier court) and is still widely used for championship play.

An outdoor court at Falkland Palace in Scotland will celebrate its 475th year of play next year. Tennis started as a form of handball (“Jeu de Paume” = “game of the hand”), played by monks in the cloisters of French and Italian monasteries in the 11th century. The design of today’s court, with its sloping penthouse roof, galleries and other openings, clearly derives from the architecture of cloisters and courtyards. The original balls were, as now, made of bound cloth or hair covered with stitched felt. With the development of gloves, and later wood and string rackets, came heavier balls and standardised court dimensions and scoring. By the 13th century, tennis was the preferred sport of leisured French clerics – so much so that it was, at times, prohibited by the church authorities. In the 14th century the game began to be played more by kings and nobles than by the clergy. From France, which gave tennis much of its vocabulary (including the name, derived from “tenez”, the server’s warning that the ball was on its way), the game spread to England and Scotland and had its many royal devotees.

Henry VIII was perhaps the best known, but others were just as keen. By the 16th and 17th centuries, tennis was clearly the most popular ball game in Europe – and not just with aristocrats. Paris alone is thought to have had around 250 tennis courts in the mid-1500s. No wonder various monarchs tried to prohibit commoners from playing tennis rather than attending to their military and religious duties. By contrast, the 18th century was a period of sharp decline in the game’s fortunes. European royalty lost interest; wide-spread dishonest betting gave tennis an unsavoury reputation; and many courts were demolished or converted to other uses (particularly theatres). Finally, the French Revolution dealt a savage blow to the game in France, from which it has hardly recovered, although three courts are still in active use in the country. The second half of the 19th century marked a major revival of the game in Britain. Tennis courts were built not just at the country houses of wealthy families, but at new urban clubs established to cater for the burgeoning growth of competitive sports in Victorian Britain. Interest in the game spread to Australia and North America in the 19th Century.

A court was built in Davey Street, Hobart, in 1875 and in Boston in the USA just one year later. The Melbourne Tennis Club was established in Exhibition Street, Melbourne, in 1882 and received royal patronage from the day it was officially opened by the Governor of Victoria Lord Normanby. The Club received a royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1896 and remains to this day the only tennis club in the Southern Hemisphere to have this honour. There are many references to tennis in Sydney dating to the 1820s. Variously described as “tennis courts”, “ball alleys” and the like, these courts were generally attached to public houses or military establishments, and were most likely of simple construction comprising three main walls of brick or timber. A game was played with a gloved hand as in fives, or early versions of rackets popularised in the Fleet Prisons of London. The first effort to construct a public real tennis court was at the behest of the Governor of New South Wales Lord Carrington who held office from 1885 to 1890.

He appealed to the State Government for funds to construct a court in the stables of Government House, but this was rejected on the basis of cost. The next effort was in 1922 when Sir Adrian Knox and a group of enthusiasts planned to establish a court at Rushcutters Bay for an outlay of three to five thousand pounds: ‘Envy of Melbourne’s court has led to these men now to the point of seriously considering building one in Sydney. The site has been chosen at Rushcutters Bay, and it is quite likely that by next Cup, Sydney will be challenging Melbourne and Tasmania …’ In an item from ‘The Sun News – Pictorial’ of 4 November 1922 under the heading ‘Old Game for Sydney’, we see the comment: ‘Each year when Sydney men come over to Melbourne for the Cup, a number go along to the Melbourne Royal Tennis Club, and grow enthusiastic over the game that Henry VIII used to play. Sir Adrian Knox follows every stroke, although he has not yet taken part in the game …’. In Britain, America and Australia the game thrives.

There are competitions between these countries every two years for the Bathurst Cup, as well as for amateur teams under 25, 50+, 60+ and 70+, and national and worldwide Ladies Championships. Open events for the top professional and amateur players may earn the right to challenge for the world title. Players of any ability can participate in handicap tournaments or interclub matches, and in a popular team event held at Melbourne every other year – known as the Boomerang Cup. France has clubs in Paris, Fontainebleau and Pau, and there are plans for a new court in Bordeaux, which has had a long line of tennis courts since the first was constructed by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury in 1460. Through the remarkable efforts of Wayne Davies and Rob Fahey, Australia has retained the men’s world championship for nearly 30 years. The most recent challenge was played in Melbourne in May 2014 at which Fahey defended his crown at the tender age of 46 against US challenger Camden Riviere, 20 years his junior.

Each country has an over-reaching organization to manage its tournaments, rules and by-laws, such as the prestigious Tennis and Rackets Association based at Queen’s Club, London and representatives frequently hold discussions to ensure the smooth running of this historic sport. Real tennis : definition of Real tennis and synonyms of Real tennis (English) 10 External links Game description The rules and scoring are similar to those of lawn tennis , which derives from real tennis. Although in both sports game scoring is by fifteens (with the exception of 40, which was shortened from forty-five), in real tennis, six games wins a set, without the need for a 2 game buffer as in lawn tennis [3] although some tournaments play to 9 games per set. A match is typically best of three sets, except for the major open tournaments, in which matches are best of five sets. Equipment Unlike the latex-based technology underlying the modern lawn-tennis ball, the game still utilizes a cork-based ball very close in design to the original balls used in the game.

The 2 + 1⁄2 inches (64 mm) diameter balls are hand-made and consist of a core made of cork with fabric tape tightly wound around it and covered with a hand-sewn layer of heavy, woven, woollen cloth, traditionally "Melton" cloth (not felt , which is unwoven and not strong enough to last as a ball covering). The balls are traditionally white, but around the end of the 20th century "optic yellow" was introduced for improved visibility, as was done years earlier in lawn tennis. The balls are much less bouncy than lawn tennis balls, and weigh about 2½ ounces (71 grams) (lawn tennis balls typically weigh 2 ounces). The 27 inches (690 mm) long racquets are made of wood and use very tight strings to cope with the heavy balls. The racquet head is bent slightly to make it easier to strike balls close to the floor or in corners, and to facilitate a fast shot with a low trajectory that is difficult for an opponent to return. Currently[ when?

] there are only two companies in the world hand-crafting these racquets: Grays of Cambridge (UK) and Harrow Sports (US) based in Denver, Colorado. Courts Jesmond Dene jeu à dedans court, view toward service end Newmarket-Suffolk jeu à dedans court, view toward hazard end Falkland Palace jeu quarré court, view toward service end A real tennis court (jeu à dedans) is a very substantial building (encompassing an area wider and longer than a lawn tennis court, with high walls and a ceiling lofty enough to contain all but the highest lob shots). It is enclosed by walls on all four sides, three of which have sloping roofs, known as "penthouses", beneath which are various openings ("galleries", from which spectators may view the game), and a buttress that intrudes into the playing area ( tambour ) off which shots may be played. Courts (except for the one at Falkland Palace , a jeu quarré design) share the same basic layout but have slightly different dimensions.

Most are about 110 by 39 feet (34 × 12 m) above the penthouses, and about 96 by 32 feet (29 × 9.8 m) on the playing floor, varying by a foot or two per court. They are doubly asymmetric : each end of the court differs in shape from the other, and the left and right sides of the court are also different. Manner of play The service is always made from the same end of the court (the "service" end); a good service must touch the side penthouse (above and to the left of the server) on the receiver's ("hazard") side of the court before first touching the floor in a marked area on that side. There are numerous and widely varying styles of service. These are given descriptive names to distinguish them – examples are "railroad", "bobble", "poop", "piqué", "boomerang", and "giraffe". The game has many other complexities. For instance, when the ball bounces twice on the floor at the service end, the serving player does not generally lose the point.

Instead a "chase" is called where the ball made its second bounce and the server gets the chance, later in the game, to " play off " the chase from the receiving end; but to win the point being played off, his shot's second bounce must be further from the net (closer to the back wall) than the shot he originally failed to reach. A chase can also be called at the receiving ("hazard") end, but only on the half of that end nearest the net; this is called a " hazard " chase. Those areas of the court in which chases can be called are marked with lines running across the floor, parallel to the net, generally about 1-yard (0.91 m) apart – it is these lines by which the chases are measured. Additionally, a player can gain the advantage of serving only through skillful play (viz. "laying" a "chase", which ensures a change of end). This is in stark contrast to lawn tennis, where players alternately serve and receive entire games. In real tennis the service can only change during a game, and it is not uncommon to see a player serve for several consecutive games till a chase be made.

Indeed, in theory, an entire match could be played with no change of service, the same player serving every point. The heavy, solid balls take a great deal of spin, which often causes them to rebound from the walls at unexpected angles. For the sake of a good chase (close to the back wall), it is desirable to use a cutting stroke, which imparts backspin to the ball, causing it to come sharply down after hitting the back wall. Another twist to the game comes from the various window-like openings below the penthouse roofs that, in some cases, offer the player a chance to win the point instantly by hitting the ball into the opening (in other cases, these windows create a " chase [ disambiguation needed ]"). Effectively, these are "goals" to be aimed for. The largest such opening, located behind the server, is called the " dedans " and must often be defended on the volley from hard hit shots, called "forces", coming from the receiving ("hazard") side of the court. The resulting back-court volleys and the possibility of hitting shots off the side walls and the sloping penthouses give many interesting shot choices not available in lawn tennis.

Moreover, because of the weight of the balls, the small racquets, and the need to defend the rear of the court, many lawn tennis strategies, such as playing with topspin, and serve and volley, are ineffective. History The term "tennis" is thought to derive from the French word tenez, which means "take heed" – a warning from the server to the receiver. Real tennis evolved, over three centuries, from an earlier ball game played around the 12th century in France. This had some similarities to palla , fives , pelota , or handball , in that it involved hitting a ball with a bare hand and later with a glove. One theory is that this game was played by monks in monastery cloisters , based on the construction and appearance of early courts. By the 16th century, the glove had become a racquet, the game had moved to an enclosed playing area, and the rules had stabilized. Real tennis spread across Europe , with the Papal Legate reporting in 1596 that there were 250 courts in Paris alone, near the peak of its popularity in France.

[4] Royal interest in England began with Henry V (reigned 1413–22) but it was Henry VIII (reigned 1509–47) who made the biggest impact as a young monarch, playing the game with gusto at Hampton Court on a court he had built in 1530, when he was in his late thirties (Born 28 June 1491) and on several other courts in his palaces. It is believed that his second wife Anne Boleyn was watching a game of real tennis when she was arrested and that Henry was playing tennis when news was brought to him of her execution . During the reign of James I (1603–25), there were 14 courts in London. [5] In France, François I (1515–47) was an enthusiastic player and promoter of real tennis, building courts and encouraging play among both courtiers and commoners. His successor, Henry II (1547–59), was also an excellent player and continued the royal French tradition.

The first known book about tennis, Trattato del Giuoco della Palla was written during his reign, in 1555, by an Italian priest, Antonio Scaino da Salo. Two French kings died from tennis-related episodes – Louis X of a severe chill after playing and Charles VIII after striking his head on the lintel of a door leading to the court in Amboise. King Charles IX granted a constitution to the Corporation of Tennis Professionals in 1571, creating the first pro tennis 'tour', establishing three levels of professionals – apprentice, associate, and master. The first codification of the rules of real tennis was written by a professional named Forbet and published in 1599. [6] The game thrived among the 17th-century nobility in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and in the Habsburg Empire, but suffered under English Puritanism. By the Age of Napoleon, the royal families of Europe were besieged and real tennis was largely abandoned.

[7] Real tennis played a role in the history of the French Revolution , through the Tennis Court Oath , a pledge signed by French deputies in a real tennis court, which formed a decisive early step in starting the revolution . During the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racquets sports emerged in England: racquets and squash racquets . In Victorian England real tennis had a revival, but broad public interest later shifted to the new, outdoor, game of lawn tennis , which soon became the more popular sport, played by both sexes (real tennis players were almost exclusively male). Real tennis courts were built in Hobart, Australia (1875) and in the United States, starting in 1876 in Boston, and in New York in 1890, and later at athletic clubs in several other cities. Real tennis greatly influenced the game of stické , which was invented in the 19th century and combined aspects of real tennis, lawn tennis and racquets . Real Tennis has the longest line of consecutive world champions of any sport in the world. Racquets and balls.

There are only a total of 47 real tennis courts remaining, and over half of those are in Britain. The newest real tennis court was opened in July 2008 at Radley College , Oxfordshire. Some particularly noteworthy courts in the UK are: The Queen's Club , London: Opened in 1886, is the National headquarters of real tennis and hosts the British Open every year. Falkland Palace , Fife , Scotland: The oldest court in the world for real tennis, opened in 1539. Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace: The oldest surviving real tennis court in England, built on the site of an even older (1528) court in the 1620s, where the game can be watched by the general public during British Summer Time . Jesmond , Newcastle : The court is situated on Matthew Bank near Jesmond Dene park and was built in 1894 for Sir Andrew Noble the then owner of Jesmond Dene House as a private court and is now a listed building.

Canford , Dorset : Lord Wimborne, Sir Ivor Guest, opened the court at Canford in 1879 although there had been an earlier court built in the grounds of the manor house dating back to 1541. It is still in use in a building that belongs to Canford School and also now houses four squash courts. Noteworthy courts in the United States include: The Racquet Club of Philadelphia : Founded in 1889, current location constructed in 1907 by noted architech Horace Trumbauer . The Tennis and Racquet Club , Boston, MA: One of the oldest courts in the USA, opened in 1902. The Racquet and Tennis Club , NY: New York City's famously exclusive tennis club contains two real tennis courts built in 1918. Prince's Court , McLean, VA: The newest court in the United States, opened in 1997. National Tennis Club in Newport, RI : Home of Jen Winthrop. Contains one court exclusively referred to as Court Tennis. The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, NY : Private member-owned country club. Its many sports facilities include court tennis.

The court building was constructed between 1890 and 1900. The Aiken Tennis Club : in Aiken, South Carolina founded in 1898 by William C. Whitney political leader, financier and a key figure in the prominent Whitney family . The court building was constructed in 1902. Other noteworthy courts elsewhere in the World: Lambay Island , Ireland: On the privately owned Lambay Island (approx 5 km off the coast near Dublin, Ireland). See #lat=53.4925521&lon=-6.0303247&z=19&l=0&m=b In literature Tennis is mentioned in literature from the 16th century on. It is frequently shown in emblem books , such as those of Guillaume de La Perrière from 1539. Erasmus lets two students practice Latin during a game of tennis with a racket in 1522, although the playing ground is not mentioned.

[8] A 1581 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses by Giovanni Andrea dell'Anguillara, printed in Venice in quarto form transforms the fatal discus game between Apollo and Hyacinth into a fatal game of real tennis, or "racchetta." William Shakespeare mentions the game in Act I — Scene II of Henry V ; the Dauphin, a French Prince , sends King Henry a gift of tennis-balls, out of jest, in response to Henry's claim to the French throne. King Henry replies to the French Ambassadors: "His present and your pains we thank you for: When we have matched our rackets to these balls, we will, in France, by God's grace, play a set [that] shall strike his father's crown into the hazard ... And tell the pleasant Prince this mock of his hath turn'd his balls to gun stones". Michael Drayton makes a similar reference to the event in his The battaile of Agincourt, published in 1627.

The Penguin book of Sick Verse includes a poem by William Lathum comparing life to a tennis-court: If in my weak conceit, (for selfe disport), The world I sample to a Tennis-court, Where fate and fortune daily meet to play, I doe conceive, I doe not much misse-say. All manner chance are Rackets, wherewithall They bandie men, from wall to wall; Some over Lyne, to honour and great place, Some under Lyne, to infame and disgrace; Some with a cutting stroke they nimbly sent Into the hazard placed at the end; ... The Scottish gothic novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg (1824) describes a tennis match that degenerates into violence. The detective story Dead Nick takes place in a tennis milieu. The title alludes to a shot that hits "the nick" (where the wall meets the floor), called "dead" because it then bounces very little and is frequently unreturnable. Hazard Chase (1964) by Jeremy Potter is a thriller-detective story featuring real tennis on the court at Hampton Court Palace.

During the story the game is explained, and the book contains a diagram of a real tennis court. Jeremy Potter wrote historical works (including Tennis and Oxford (1994)), and was himself an accomplished player of the game, winning the World Amateur Over-60s Championship in 1986. The First Beautiful Game: Stories of Obsession in Real Tennis (2006) by top amateur player Roman Krznaric contains a mixture of real tennis history, memoir and fiction, which focuses on what can be learned from real tennis about the art of living. In film Real tennis is featured in the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution , a fictional meeting between Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud . One of the film's plot points turns on Freud playing a grudge match with a Prussian nobleman (in lieu of a duel ). The film The French Lieutenant's Woman includes a sequence featuring a few points being played. Also The Three Musketeers (1973) and Ever After briefly feature the game. Although presented with varying degrees of accuracy, these films provide a chance to see the game played, which otherwise may be difficult to observe personally.

The Showtime series The Tudors (2007) portrays Henry the VIII playing the game. In the film version of Tom Stoppard 's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead the two lead characters play the game Questions in a Real Tennis court, scoring points as if playing the game. Televised matches Real Tennis has struggled to be televised since the court does not lend itself well to the placement of television cameras and all previous attempts to televise have been unsuccessful owing to the speed at which the ball travels. Recently however realtennis.tv was started and broadcast its first tournament, the European Open, from 8th-9 March 2011. There were three 'main events' shown; the two men's semi finals and the men's final. The final was between Bryn Sayers and Robert Fahey , with Fahey taking the match in four sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-5. Notable players Richard D. Sears : First American amateur champion of court tennis in 1892, and apparent inventor of the overhead "railroad service," currently the most popular serve in the game.

[12] D.E.A.Lawrence Esq: world renowned stroke maker and on court jester - the John McEnroe of real tennis P.S. Sears James Charles Taylor Fred Tompkins: Head professional of the Philadelphia court. When the New York Racquet and Tennis club opened, Fred Tompkins was invited to be head professional.However, when Fred went to his brother Alfred to borrow money for his passage, Alfred decided to go over in Fred's place. Fred Tompkins later took over the Philadelphia court instead. [13] Prof. Nic James, Head of Performance Analysis at Middlesex University. Formerly of UWIC Mr. William S. Barker, Esq. Portfolio Manager, Motley Fool Asset Management. Jeremy Howard (entrepreneur) , President and Chief Scientist of Kaggle, Co-Founder of Optimal Decision Group and Fastmail.fm See also

Question: Where is "The Royal Tennis Court", a "real tennis" court built for Henry VIII of England who played there from 1528, that is still home to an active "real tennis" club?
Answer: Hampton Court