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Tennis is a racket sport where players compete one-on-one (singles) or in teams of two, facing off against an opposing duo (doubles).

The game is believed to have originated as jeu de paume, meaning "game of the palm," as the French monks who first played the game hit the ball with their hands, often against a wall or within a courtyard. There was no net, so the objective was to keep the ball in play while making it difficult for the opponent to return. The net wasn't added until much later during the formalization of lawn tennis. As tennis gained popularity, wooden rackets were introduced sometime in the 16th century, enabling greater control over the ball.

By the 19th century, lawn tennis emerged as the dominant variant, with formalized rules established in 1874 by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield. This period also saw the start of major tournaments, including the Wimbledon Championship in 1877.

Except for a couple of exceptions, the rules of the game haven't changed much since the 1890s. Until 1961, the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the tiebreak was introduced in the 1970s. A third might be the point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point using electronic view technology.

Like many other sports, tennis has its own terminology. In tennis, the baseline, service line, and service box are important boundaries that help define the court. The baseline is the farthest boundary at the back of the court on each side, running parallel to the net. This is where players typically start their rallies, and this is where they stand when serving. The service line is halfway between the net and the baseline, also running parallel to the net. This line marks the outer edge where a serve can go, as a serve cannot land beyond this line. The service box is the smaller area formed by the service line, the center service line, the net, and the singles sidelines. Each side of the court has two service boxes, one on the right (deuce side) and another on the left (ad side). While serving, players aim to land their serve diagonally into their opponent's service box. The ball is considered "in" if any part of it touches any of the boundary lines on the court.

An ace is a serve that lands in the service box and is untouched by the opponent, instantly earning the server a point. A deuce occurs when both players reach a score of 40 in a game. This signifies a tie, and to win from deuce, a player must secure two consecutive points. Scoring involves unique terms like love, which refers to a score of zero, and advantage, which indicates that a player needs one more point to win the game after deuce. Tiebreaks come into play when a set reaches a 6-6 score, providing a straightforward way to determine the winner of the set. In a tiebreak, players strive to win at least seven points with a two-point lead. Some tennis matches have introduced a last-set tiebreak to prevent matches from lasting too long. Rather than having to win a set by two games after a 6-6 tie, tournaments now often use a tiebreaker in the final set. In this tiebreak, the first player to reach 10 points, with at least a two-point lead, wins the set and match.

In terms of strategy and technique, rally and spin are essential concepts. A rally refers to a sequence of back-and-forth shots between players during one point, while spin involves hitting the ball in a way that affects its trajectory and bounce. Topspin can cause the ball to dip quickly, while backspin slows it down; both are effective ways of maneuvering the ball's path.

Previously known as lawn tennis, to differentiate it from the original form of the game, after lawn tennis became the dominant form of the game, and it became "tennis," while the origina racket sport from which the modern game was derived became known as real tennis.

Also known as court tennis in the United States, royal tennis in England and Australia, and courte-paume in France, there are fewer than fifty active real tennis courts in the world. They are in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and France. There are also a few disused courts, including two in Ireland. Real tennis is supported and governed by various organizations around the world.

Real tennis uses a cork-cored ball rather than the latex-based balls used in modern (lawn) tennis. Balls used in real tennis are less bouncy than those used in lawn tennis. They are also hand-made by club professionals, in most cases, and are generally not available for purchase by the general public. Rackets used in real tennis are made of wood and feature very tight nylon strings to accommodate the heavier balls. Most real tennis rackets are produced by Grays of Cambridge, and these are almost exclusively sold by club professionals.

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