Tennis

a game of considerable antiquity. A similar game is known to have been played by the Greeks and by the Romans. The name is French, indicating that the game came into England by way of France. Tennis is played in a walled court ninety-six feet by thirty-two. A roof sloping inward surrounds the court on three sides to prevent the escape of the ball. The game was played at first with the open hand, in which it resembled the game of fives. Later the racket was introduced. A net five feet high is stretched across the court at its middle point. The player serves his ball against the wall or against the pent house, as the roof is called, in such a way that in the rebound it falls on the space beyond the net, where an opposing player stations himself to return it. The rules and method of counting credits are somewhat like those prevailing in lawn tennis. See Fives; Lawn Tennis