Tennis Day

What the day is

Tennis Day is observed on January 4. It is an informal day with no documented founder, and its aim is to get people onto a court, either to try the game for the first time or to return to it. In the northern hemisphere it falls in the depth of winter, so for many players it is also a reminder that indoor courts exist.

Tennis is one of the most widely played sports in the world, and it is notable for how long people keep at it. A person can play into their seventies and beyond, because the game scales to the player's pace and often to a partner of a different level.

Origin and background

Tennis as we know it is a Victorian invention. It descends from an older indoor game, real tennis, which was played in monastery cloisters and royal courts in medieval Europe. In 1874 a British army officer, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, patented a version for the lawn that he called sphairistike, which was quickly shortened to lawn tennis. The first Wimbledon championship followed in 1877, and the four major tournaments, Wimbledon, the French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open, remain the sport's highest prizes.

The scoring, with its fifteen, thirty and forty, is a long-standing puzzle. Nobody is sure why the game counts that way, and several explanations, including a clock face, have been suggested without proof.

Beginners today have many gentler entry points. Children and adults new to the game can use lower-bounce balls and smaller courts to rally from the first lesson, and community courts, parks departments and clubs often run low-cost classes.

How to take part

• Book a public court, or a lesson, and hit a bucket of balls even if you have never played.
• Play a friendly game with a friend and keep score the traditional way, then try tiebreaks.
• Watch a match, in person or on TV, and follow one player through a set.
• Try mini tennis or a lower-bounce ball with a child to learn the basics.
• If you have an old racket, restring it, check your grip and give it another season.