Portal:Tennis

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Welcome to the Tennis Portal

Panoramic view of Stadium Court in Tennis Center at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, Florida, United States. Taken during the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open.

Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.

Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The original forms of tennis developed in France during the late Middle Ages. The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis. It had close connections both to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis.

The rules of modern tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that until 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye. (Full article...)

More about Tennis history, glossary, equipment, courts, scores, types of matches, officials, shots, tournaments, and statistics

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The practice of doping in tennis involves the use of prohibited, performance-enhancing substances listed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The practice is considered unsportsmanlike and unethical, with punishments for such offences ranging from official warnings to career bans, depending on the severity of the offence.

Widespread illegal substance abuse in tennis developed during the 1980s and 1990s as performance-enhancing substances became increasingly available in professional sport. The detection and punishment for the use of drugs in this period was aided by the takeover of policing drug cheating by the International Tennis Federation in 1993. (Full article...)
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The Williams sisters rivalry was a tennis rivalry between sisters Venus Williams and Serena Williams (born June 17, 1980, and September 26, 1981, respectively), regarded as two of the best woman tennis players for over two decades. They met 31 times in professional tournaments between 1998 and 2020, with Serena leading their head-to-head 19–12.

Both sisters have been ranked world No. 1 in singles: Venus for a total of 11 weeks, beginning in February 2002; Serena for a total of 316 weeks, beginning in July 2002. Venus has won 49 singles titles over the course of her career, and Serena won 73. (Full article...)
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The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was changed to the Fed Cup in 1995, and changed again in September 2020 in honor of former World No. 1 Billie Jean King. The Billie Jean King Cup is the world's largest annual women's international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete. The current Chairperson is Katrina Adams.

The Czech Republic dominated the BJK Cup in the 2010s, winning six of ten competitions in the decade. The men's equivalent of the Billie Jean King Cup is the Davis Cup, and the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Russia and the United States are the only countries to have held both Cups at the same time. (Full article...)
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John McEnroe (7 Major singles titles, world No.1 for 170 weeks; pictured in 2012)

The Borg–McEnroe rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Björn Borg and John McEnroe, who met 14 times on the regular tour and 22 times in total between November 1978 and April 1981. Their head-to-head was even at 7–7. Their on-court rivalry was highlighted by their contrasting temperaments and playing styles: the Swede Borg was known for his cool and emotionless demeanor on court, while the American McEnroe was famed for his court-side tantrums. Because of this, their rivalry was described as "Fire and Ice".

In 1980, McEnroe reached the singles final at Wimbledon for the first time, where he faced Borg, who was aiming for an Open Era record fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. At the start of the final McEnroe was booed by the crowd as he entered Centre Court following his heated exchanges with officials during his semi-final clash with Jimmy Connors. In a fourth set tie-breaker that lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five match points (seven altogether in that set) and eventually won 18–16. However, he was unable to break Borg's serve in the fifth set and Borg went on to win 8–6. This match is widely considered one of the best tennis matches ever played. McEnroe defeated Borg at the US Open final the same year in five sets. (Full article...)
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Drawing by Jacques-Louis David of the Tennis Court Oath.

The Tennis Court Oath (French: Serment du Jeu de Paume) was taken on 20 June 1789 by the members of the French Third Estate in a tennis court on the initiative of Jean Joseph Mounier. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever necessary until the Constitution of the kingdom is established" became a pivotal event in the French Revolution.

The Estates-General had been called to address the country's fiscal and agricultural crisis, but they had become bogged down in issues of representation immediately after convening in May 1789, particularly whether they would vote by order or by head (which would increase the power of the Third Estate, as it outnumbered the other two estates by a large margin). On 17 June, the Third Estate began to call itself the National Assembly, led by Jean Sylvain Bailly. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, took a prominent role. (Full article...)
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The Davis Cup is an annual international team event in men's tennis. Established in 1900 as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, it is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), who describe it as the "World Cup of tennis." The first event in 1900 was a match between Great Britain and the United States, while 135 nations entered the 2016 Davis Cup.

The tournament sees players competing for their country in four singles and one doubles matches, known as rubbers, over the course of three days, with the team that wins three rubbers progressing. The countries are divided into groups based upon their location or performance in previous years. The Davis Cup World Group is the top level of the competition and features matches between players from the top 16 countries at the start of the year. Countries that lose their first round match face a relegation play-off against winning countries from the continental zones. World Group winning countries progress to the quarter-finals. Nations have to win a further three ties in order to claim the position of Davis Cup champions.The United States are the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with 32 victories. Australia are second with 28 (individually or in a combined Australasia team) and Great Britain and France are tied for third with 10. Teams from Europe have won the competition the most with 48 victories, followed by North America with 33 and Oceania with 28. (Full article...)
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World number 1 ranked male tennis players is a year-by-year listing of the male tennis players who were ranked as world No. 1 by various contemporary and modern sources. The annual source rankings from which the No. 1 players are drawn are cited for each player's name, with a summary of the most important tennis events of each year also included. If world rankings are not available, recent rankings by tennis writers for historical years are accessed, with the dates of the recent rankings identified. In the period 1948–1953, when contemporary professional world rankings were not created, the U.S. professional rankings are cited. (Full article...)
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The Becker–Edberg rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, who met 35 times between 1984 and 1996. Although Becker led their overall head-to-head 25–10 and won all three of their Davis Cup matches, Edberg won three of their four meetings in Grand Slams. Edberg and Becker also reached the championship match of the 1989 World Tour Finals, which Edberg won in four sets.

The most defining aspect of their rivalry was the three successive Wimbledon finals that they played. In the 1988 meeting, Becker was the huge favorite, and stormed to the first set 6–4. The second set was to be the most memorable, when in a fit of courage and tennis acumen Edberg won a tight set in a tiebreaker 7–2. Edberg went on to win the next two sets 6–4, 6–2 to win his first Wimbledon title and deny Becker a third title in four years. In the 1989 meeting, Becker, having lost to Edberg a month earlier in the French Open semifinals, raced to win the first set 6–0. The second set was closer, but won in a tiebreak by Becker 7–1 after saving 3 set points (Edberg led 6-5 40-0 and service). Becker went on to win the third set 6–4. This was Becker's third Wimbledon title, which would be his last Wimbledon crown. In the 1990 meeting, Edberg won the first two sets 6–2, 6–2. However, Becker rallied to win the next two sets 6–3, 6–3. Becker broke Edberg early in the fifth set, setting up the possibility of being the first Wimbledon champion since Henri Cochet in 1927 to win the final after losing the first two sets. Yet, this was not to be as Edberg regained the break and then broke Becker in the ninth game of the set with a topspin lob winner, eventually serving it out for a second Wimbledon championship. (Full article...)
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The US Open Tennis Championships, commonly called the US Open, is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year (except in 2020, when the French Open was delayed to occur after the US Open due to the COVID-19 lockdowns). The other three, in chronological order, are the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The US Open starts on the last Monday of August and continues for two weeks, with the middle weekend coinciding with the US Labor Day holiday. The tournament is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, originally known as the U.S. National Championship, for which men's singles and men's doubles were first played in August 1881. It is the only Grand Slam that was not affected by cancellation due to World War I and World War II, nor interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. All the players participating should be at least fourteen (14) years old.

The tournament consists of five primary championships: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. The tournament also includes events for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has been played on acrylic hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. The US Open is owned and organized by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), a non-profit organization, and the chairperson of the US Open is Patrick Galbraith. Revenue from ticket sales, sponsorships, and television contracts is used to develop tennis in the United States. (Full article...)
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The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from over 150 competiting countries, making it the world's largest annual team sporting competition. It is described by the organisers as the "World Cup of Tennis", and the winners are referred to as the World Champions. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States. By 2023, 155 nations entered teams into the competition.

The most successful countries over the history of the competition are the United States (winning 32 titles and finishing as runners-up 29 times) and Australia (winning 28 titles, including six with New Zealand as Australasia, and finishing as runners-up 21 times). The current champions are Italy, who beat Australia to win their second title in 2023. (Full article...)
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The Hungarian Tennis Championships (in Hungarian:Nemzeti Teniszbajnokság, Magyar Országos Teniszbajnokság or abbreviated to tenisz ob) also known as the Hungarian National Championships or the Hungarian Closed Championships is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It is currently part of the official Tennis Calendar of Hungary of the Hungarian Tennis Association and is a gentlemen's and ladies' event. (Full article...)
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The US Open men's singles championship is an annual tennis tournament that is part of the US Open and was established in 1881. It is played on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows – Corona Park, New York City, United States. The US Open is played during a two-week period in late August and early September, and has been chronologically the last of the four Grand Slam tournaments of the tennis season since 1987. Newport (1881–1914), Forest Hills (1915–1920, 1924–1977), and Philadelphia (1921–1923) held the event before it settled in 1978 at the USTA National Tennis Center, now the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, in New York City. The inaugural tournament, in 1881, was reserved for United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) club members, before the championships opened to international competitors in 1882. The USTA is the national body that organizes this event. (Full article...)
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In tennis, "Battle of the Sexes" describes various exhibition matches played between a man and a woman, or a doubles match between two men and two women in one case. The term is most famously used for an internationally televised match in 1973 held at the Houston Astrodome between 55-year-old Bobby Riggs and 29-year-old Billie Jean King, which King won in three sets. The match was viewed by an estimated fifty million people in the United States and ninety million worldwide. King's win is considered a milestone in public acceptance of women's tennis.

Two other matches commonly referred to as a "battle of the sexes" include one held four months earlier in 1973 between Riggs and Margaret Court over the best of three sets, and one in 1992 between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova over the best of three sets, with hybrid rules favoring the female player dubbed "The Battle of Champions". These matches were won by Riggs and Connors, respectively. (Full article...)
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Tennis string in closeup view

In tennis, the strings are the part of a tennis racquet which make contact with the ball. The strings form a woven network inside the head (or "hoop") of the racquet. Strings have been made with a variety of materials and possess varying properties that have been measured, such as dynamic stiffness, tension retention, thickness (gauge), string texture (shape of the string), and rebound efficiency. (Full article...)
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The French Open (French: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (French: [ʁɔlɑ̃ ɡaʁos]), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and venue are named after the French aviator Roland Garros. The French Open is the premier clay court championship in the world and the only Grand Slam tournament currently held on this surface. It is chronologically the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments, occurring after the Australian Open and before Wimbledon and the US Open. Until 1975, the French Open was the only major tournament not played on grass. Between the seven rounds needed for a championship, the clay surface characteristics (slower pace, higher bounce), and the best-of-five-set men's singles matches, the French Open is widely regarded as the most physically demanding tournament in tennis. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various tennis-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup (from Australian Open)
Image 2New Show Court Arena that opened in 2022. (from Australian Open)
Image 3Composition of the courts. (from French Open)
Image 4The order of play for all courts is displayed on boards around the grounds. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 5Aerial view of the grounds (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 6Rafael Nadal, the all-time record holder in men's singles. (from French Open)
Image 7Rafael Nadal holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2006. (from French Open)
Image 8View from seats of Wimbledon Court No. 1 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 9Jannik Sinner, 2024 men's singles champion. It was his first major title. (from Australian Open)
Image 10Novak Djokovic, the all-time record holder in men's singles. (from Australian Open)
Image 11People watching the Championships' broadcast in Canary Wharf (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 12Margaret Court, the all-time record holder in women's singles. (from Australian Open)
Image 13Tim Pütz was part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2023. It was his first major title. (from French Open)
Image 14The Royal Gallery at Centre Court, Wimbledon (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 15The Ladies' (top) and Gentlemen's singles trophies (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 16Novak Djokovic, the 2023 men's singles champion. It was his record-breaking twenty-third major title and his third at the French Open. (from French Open)
Image 17A Royal Marines Commando as a services steward in 2005 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 18Neal Skupski was part of the 2023 winning men's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 19Miyu Kato was part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2023. It was her first major title. (from French Open)
Image 20Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open in 2005 prior to its redevelopment. Rod Laver Arena is in the background. (from Australian Open)
Image 21Arthur Ashe stadium in 2010, before the retractable roof was added. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 22Court Philippe Chatrier during the 2013 French Open. (from French Open)
Image 23Hsieh Su-wei was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles and mixed doubles team. It was her seventh major title in women's doubles and first major title in mixed doubles. (from Australian Open)
Image 24Todd Woodbridge holding the Gentlemen's doubles silver challenge cup in 2004 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 25Arthur Ashe Stadium with the roof closed in 2018. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 26The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment precinct on the banks of the Yarra River in 2010. (from Australian Open)
Image 27Rod Laver Arena, the main court of the Australian Open, in 2023. (from Australian Open)
Image 28Bill Larned, a joint all-time record holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 29Wang Xinyu was part of the winning women's doubles team in 2023. (from French Open)
Image 30Chris Evert, the all-time record holder in women's singles. (from French Open)
Image 31Ivan Dodig was part of the winning men's doubles team in 2023. It was his third major title and second at the French Open. (from French Open)
Image 32Centre Court at Wimbledon in May 2019 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 33Rod Laver Arena night session in 2007, the last year the tournament used the Rebound Ace surface. (from Australian Open)
Image 34Commemorative plaque at Court 18 marking the longest tennis match in history (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 35Richard Sears, a joint all-time record-holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 36New Rod Laver Arena entrance added in 2018 as part of the Melbourne Park redevelopment. (from Australian Open)
Image 37Martina Navratilova, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 38Spencer Gore, the winner of the inaugural Wimbledon Championship (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 39Hsieh Su-wei was part of the winning women's doubles team in 2023. (from French Open)
Image 40Wimbledon operates a ticket resale system where returned Show Court tickets can be purchased. All proceeds go to charity. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 41Aryna Sabalenka, 2024 women's singles champion. It was her second major title and her second at the Australian Open. (from Australian Open)
Image 42Bill Tilden, a joint all-time record holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 43Lyudmyla Kichenok was part of the 2023 winning mixed doubles title. It was her first major title overall. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 44Markéta Vondroušová, the 2023 ladies' singles champion. It was her first major title. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 45Mate Pavić was part of the 2023 winning mixed doubles team. It was his first mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, third mixed doubles major title, and sixth overall major title. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 46Sébastien Grosjean takes a shot on Court 18 during the 2004 Championships. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 47Rohan Bopanna was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his first major title. (from Australian Open)
Image 48Court 10. On the outside courts there is no reserved seating. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 49Barbora Strýcová was part of the 2023 winning women's doubles title. It was her second major title and her second Wimbledon title. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 50Elise Mertens was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. It was her fourth major title and second at the Australian Open. (from Australian Open)
Image 51Molla Mallory, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 52Matthew Ebden was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his second major title and first at the Australian Open. (from Australian Open)
Image 53Wesley Koolhof was part of the 2023 winning men's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 54Wimbledon ball girl at the net, 2007 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 55Jan Zieliński was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. It was his first major title. (from Australian Open)
Image 56Iga Świątek, the 2023 women's singles champion. It was her fourth major title and her third at the French Open. (from French Open)
Image 57Debenture of the All England Lawn Tennis Ground Ltd., issued 20th August 1930 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 58Carlos Alcaraz, the 2023 gentlemen's singles champion (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 59Su-Wei Hsieh was part of the 2023 winning women's doubles title. It was her sixth major title and her fourth Wimbledon title. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 60Roger Federer, the all-time record holder in men's singles (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 61Austin Krajicek was part of the winning men's doubles team in 2023. It was his first major title. (from French Open)

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Borg in 2014

Björn Rune Borg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈbjœːɳ ˈbɔrj] ^ⓘ; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at Wimbledon.

Borg won four consecutive French Open titles (1978–81) and is 6–0 in French Open finals. He was the first man since 1886 to contest six consecutive Wimbledon finals, a record surpassed by Roger Federer's seven consecutive finals (2003–09). He is the only man to achieve the Channel Slam three times. Borg contested the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open finals in the same year three times (1978, 1980–81). He won three major titles without dropping a set during those tournaments. However, he never won the US Open despite four runner-up finishes. (Full article...)

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