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Tennis: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
The Grand Slams
Tennis has four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Key fact
Winning all four in one year is called a calendar Grand Slam.
Grass, Clay & Hard
Wimbledon is played on grass, the French Open on red clay, and the Australian and US Opens on hard courts. Each surface changes how the ball bounces.
Key fact
Clay slows the ball down and makes rallies longer.
Strange Scoring
Tennis scores go 15, 30, 40, then game. “Love” means zero, and at 40–40, called deuce, a player has to win two points in a row.
Key fact
One theory links “love” to the French “l’œuf”, egg, for its zero shape.
Wimbledon
Wimbledon, first played in 1877, is the oldest tennis tournament. Players must dress almost entirely in white.
Key fact
Fans eat around 190,000 portions of strawberries and cream each year.
Tennis Legends
Rafael Nadal won the French Open a record 14 times. Novak Djokovic holds the men’s record for Grand Slam titles, and Serena Williams won 23 in the Open Era.
Key fact
Margaret Court holds the overall record, with 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Serves & Speed
The serve is tennis’s most powerful shot: top players serve at over 200 km/h. Hawk-Eye cameras track the ball to settle close line calls.
Key fact
The fastest recorded serves top 260 km/h.
Real Tennis
Tennis grew from “real tennis”, played indoors in France and England centuries ago, first with the hand and later with rackets. Lawn tennis took off in 1870s England.
Key fact
Henry VIII played real tennis at Hampton Court.
Fun facts
In 1988, Steffi Graf won all four Grand Slams and Olympic gold: a “Golden Slam”.
The US Open was once played on grass, then briefly on clay, before moving to hard courts in 1978.
One theory says scores came from a clock face moved on by quarters: 15, 30, 45, later shortened to 40.
Wimbledon employs a hawk named Rufus to scare pigeons away from the courts.
Rafael Nadal does most things right-handed, but he plays tennis left-handed.
Hawk-Eye was first developed for TV cricket coverage, before tennis adopted it in 2006.
Real tennis courts have sloping roofs and walls that are part of the play.
Story: The Broken Pony Roller
The Broken Pony Roller
1877, Wimbledon. The All England Croquet Club needs money to fix its pony-drawn roller, used to keep the lawns flat.
So it holds a lawn tennis tournament, charging a shilling to watch. Twenty-two men enter, and about 200 people see the final.
Spencer Gore won. The event paid for the roller, and grew into Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
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Question 1 of 10
Wimbledon is a Grand Slam tournament.
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True. The oldest of the four.
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Question 2 of 10
The French Open is played on clay.
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True. Red clay, at Roland-Garros.
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Question 3 of 10
In tennis, “love” means zero.
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True. As in “15–love”.
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Question 4 of 10
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament.
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True. Since 1877.
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Question 5 of 10
Margaret Court holds the overall record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
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True. Across all eras.
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Question 6 of 10
Top players can serve at over 200 km/h.
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True. Some well over that.
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Question 7 of 10
Tennis grew from an older game called real tennis.
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True. Played indoors, centuries ago.
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Question 8 of 10
Winning all four Slams in one year is called a hat-trick.
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False. It’s a calendar Grand Slam.
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Question 9 of 10
Wimbledon is played on clay.
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False. It’s played on grass.
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Question 10 of 10
Tennis points go 1, 2, 3, 4.
Show the answer
False. They go 15, 30, 40, game.
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KnowSoda learns what you know and brings back what you’re about to forget. Tennis has 6 more ideas at the Advanced and Expert levels.
Sources
- International Tennis Federation — Rules of tennis
- Wimbledon — History and facts
- Roland-Garros — Records
- ATP and WTA — Player records: https://www.atptour.com/ and https://www.wtatennis.com/
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — real tennis, Isner–Mahut match
- International Tennis Hall of Fame — history
- Wimbledon — Facts and figures
- Davis Cup — History
