Tennis

Lucrare de atestat
Candidat
Trocan Ionut
C.N. Spiru Haret 12C

Indrumator
Prof. Enciu Dorina

CONTENT

I. History of tennis
II.Rules of tennis
III.Biography of Andre Agassi
IV.Moments to remember in tennis
V.Bibliography

Chapter I
History of tennis

History of Tennis Ancient

Origins

contemplated forbidding the

game.

If you turn back the pages of the

history of tennis, you will discover
that ball games have been played
since ancient times and the first
depictions can be seen in
Egyptian temple carvings that
date from 1500 BC. It issaid that
ball gameactually formed a part
of the religious ceremonies of the
ancient Egyptians. This tradition
was taken to Europe by the Moors
in the 8th century, by which time
their empire had spread to
southern France. In fact, it was
this meeting of cultures, between
the Moors religious rites and
Christian monks, which in due
course gave birth to tennis.

This early form of the game,

wherein the ball was usually hit
against the walls of a courtyard,
soon began to be played outside
the monasteries, with it
developing further in the 12th and
13th centuries. Players soon
discovered that they could control
the ball better with just their
hands, which soon led to the
creation of a leather glove. It
wasnt much longer before the
glove began to be affixed with a
wooden handle, thus creating the
first tennis racket. The balls too
underwent several refinements,
changing from being of solid wood
to far softer versions with bran
being stuffed into leather. The
game soon grew very popular,
especially in France where it was
taken up by the royalty.

It was these Christian monks,

influenced by the Moors religious
customs, who would be the very

Tennis History - The Growth

of Real Tennis
The game, as it is known by us
today, actually came into being in
France. Named Jeu de paumme,
or the game of the palm, it
became a highly fashionable sport
played by the kings and the
aristocracy, in the 16th, 17th, and
18th centuries. In those days, the
French players would call out
Tenez, or Play, at the start of a
game, and it soon came to be
referred to as Royal, i.e. Real
Tennis.
Real Tennis was in fact quite
different from the game that is
played today. It used to be an
indoor game, played in large
galleries that had jutting roofs.
Players won points according to
how they played the ball off the
walls of the gallery. Another way

time would be marked by a marker,

which was referred to as the chase.
Therefore, apart from playing for
points, the players would compete by
attempting to place their chase as
close to their opponents back wall as
possible. Hence, a player who had
scored fewer points could actually win
the match by using the chase more
skillfully.
After its popularity with the French
aristocracy, tennis began spreading all
across Europe, getting especially
popular in England. Here too, the
game was quickly adopted by the
royalty, thus becoming known as the
sport of kings. Henry VIII, who was a
keen enthusiast of the game, had a
tennis court built at Hampton Court,
his palace, which is still in use today
by the aficionados of Real Tennis. But,
tennis did not remain confined to
England and France, soon spreading to
Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Italy
and Spain. However, with the
Napoleonic wars and the French
Revolution, the game was almost

History of Tennis - The Emergence

of Lawn Tennis
But, by the 19th century, with the
advent of Victorian prosperity which
came about in England, the game was
revived again. Several notable country
houses had courts built in their
premises along with the first
appearance of tennis clubs that
provided facilities for their members
being made. It was in this period that
saw the emergence of Lawn Tennis.
The enthusiasts of the game, in fact,
had been trying to modify the game
into an open-air sport for quite a while,
which was finally facilitated with the
advent of vulcanized rubber. This made
it possible to produce balls which were
soft enough not to cause damage to
the grass, and yet retain the liveliness
and elasticity of rubber.
Another contributing factor for the
revival of the game was the simplicity
and ease of Lawn Tennis. A grassy, flat
surface was all that was required, and
soon it became a commonplace feature

other turf derivatives began

replacing lawn surfaces, eventually
leading to concrete and clay
surfaces. Soon, Lawn Tennis began
replacing croquet as the sport played
in summer. However, it was in 1875
that tennis got its biggest boost. This
came about because the All England
Croquet Club, which had been
formed in 1869, had not succeeded
in attracting enough visitors, and
hence, the club decided to provide
Lawn Tennis as an additional
attraction. This new game was a
success immediately, to such an
extent that the clubs name was
changed, becoming the All England
Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, in
1877. With the increasing rents at
the four-acre site, located in
Wimbledon, a suburb of London,
however, entailed the club having to
raise more funds. Hence, that led to
the first Lawn Tennis tournament
ever being organized, later that year.
A committee was set up to devise a
set of rules, and the first tournament
was held with 22 players
participating, with 200 spectators

History of Tennis - The Wimbledon Championship

One of the most important developments in tennis history was the birth of the Wimbledon
Championship. The tournament caught the publics imagination and before long the first champions
began emerging, the first of them being William Renshaw. He won the title eight times from 1881 to
1889, being the runner-up in 1887, which is a record that has remained unbeaten to date.
In the following years, the sport became tremendously popular, not only in England bu all across the
world. May Sutton of the US became the first international player of the tournament in 1905, which was
the year that Wimbledon drew in 71 players.
The tournament continued to grow with the game becoming highly fashionable in the 1930s, led by
British players like Don Budge and Fred Perry and international stars like Henri Lacoste. The
photographs of the tournaments held in those days reveal tennis fashions that seem quaint to us these
days, with men wearing long trousers and women playing with long dresses worn over stockings.
The Championship not only became a center of the sport of tennis but also of tennis fashion, with Bunny
Austin of the US shocking the spectators in 1933 by stepping out on to center court with shorts on. The
1930s were boom time for Wimbledon, with the championship being broadcast for the first time on
radio in 1937. This marked an important event in the history of tennis, with the game being truly
introduced to a worldwide audience.
However, there was a sudden end to all this with the outbreak of World War II in 1939, which saw the
closing of the championships until 1946. The sport went on to be transformed by the post war
generation, with technical improvements added to it, turning it into a sophisticated recreation for the
increasingly prosperous middle classes. Australian players like Roy Emerson and Rod Laver dominated
the sport in the 1960s. And with the increasing spread of television, the game was introduced to an
even wider audience, making tennis a money-spinning international sport. Wimbledon was first
televised in color in 1967.
Throughout the 70s and 80s the sport came to be dominated by a new legion of players of international
fame, and the crowds were captivated by tennis greats like the graceful Bjorn Borg, the brattish antics
of Jimmy Connors, and the tempestuous tantrums of John McEnroe. The womens tournaments produced

The Championship not only became a center of the sport of tennis but also of tennis fashion,
with Bunny Austin of the US shocking the spectators in 1933 by stepping out on to center court
with shorts on. The 1930s were boom time for Wimbledon, with the championship being

broadcast for the first time on radio in 1937. This marked an important event in the
history of tennis, with the game being truly introduced to a worldwide audience.

However, there was a sudden end to all this with the outbreak of World War II in 1939,
which saw the closing of the championships until 1946. The sport went on to be
transformed by the post war generation, with technical improvements added to it, turning
it into a sophisticated recreation for the increasingly prosperous middle classes.
Australian players like Roy Emerson and Rod Laver dominated the sport in the 1960s. And
with the increasing spread of television, the game was introduced to an even wider
audience, making tennis a money-spinning international sport. Wimbledon was first
televised in color in 1967.
Throughout the 70s and 80s the sport came to be dominated by a new legion of players
of international fame, and the crowds were captivated by tennis greats like the graceful
Bjorn Borg, the brattish antics of Jimmy Connors, and the tempestuous tantrums of John
McEnroe. The womens tournaments produced stars like Sue Barker, Billie Jean King, Chris
Evert, and Martina Navratilova. Virginia Wade was Britains foremost womens player,
who was the last British who won the championships in 1977. The prize money of the
tournament kept going up along with the hemlines of the players costumes. In 1986,
yellow tennis balls were adopted for the first time, so that the speeding ball could be
more easily
visible for TV cameras.

Tennis History - The US Open Tennis Championship

The US Open tennis tournament is considered the richest in the world, with the biggest
in prize money. The idea about creating the US Open tennis championship came about
when the US Lawn Tennis Association, which was established in May 1881, offered to
conduct a national championship.
The introductory contest, which took place in Newport Island, Rhode Island, had 26 players, and
it was known as the US National Singles Championship. In order to be eligible to play in the
competition, the player had to be a member of the US National Lawn Tennis Association.
Richard Sears was the first winner of the championship, and he continued be the reigning
winner for the following six years.
Since the championship began moving all over the country, with 9 places holding the event, it
gave rise to the mens doubles event, which was split into a West and East competition. W.F.
Taylor and Clarence Clark won the first doubles title in 1900.
The establishment of the open era in 1968, which meant that the players could participate in
all the tournaments, resulted in the creation of the modern championship that we are familiar
with at present. Five different tournaments were combined into a single US Open
Championship, which was held in New York, at the Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens. The prize
money amount was $100,000, which was shared by 63 women and 96 men who took part in
the event. The tie-breaker system was first introduced by the US Open, in 1970. The
tournament was moved to its present home, the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing
Meadows, New York, in 1978.
Tennis History - The Sport Today
Tennis today has become a highly competitive, world-class sport which captivates thousands of
players as well as fans all over the world. There is a continuous program of events and
tournaments that takes place all through the year and top tennis stars have become the

Chapter II
Rules of tennis

it is called court tennis and in Great Britain the game is referred to as

royal tennis, real tennis, or lawn tennis. In Australia it is called Royal
Tennis. The rules of tennis are fairly simple. One player hits, or serves,
the ball from a corner of a marked out area called a court that is
divided down the middle with a three foot (0.9 meters) net. The
opposite players goal is to return the ball bouncing it no more than
once aiming for the other player to not be able to hit it. A score is
made when a player is not able to return the ball at all or with more
than one bounce.
Official tennis rules
The overall goal of tennis is to gain point to win, games, sets and
matches. Sets include the highest score out of three games for women
and for men, the highest score out of five for men. A set is won only if
a player leads by two clear games or more.
Equipment
The tennis court - The basic rules of tennis call for a regulation size
tennis court. This means that it is 78 feet long (or 23.8 meters) and
has a three foot (0.9 meter) net dividing it down the center. For
doubles play the tennis court is 36 feet wide (11 m) (this is gotten by
including the 4.5 ft alleys that run the length of the court) and for
singles it is 27 feet (8.2 meters). The court floor varies; it is sometimes
asphalt, clay, concrete, grass, artificial grass or even wood or other
synthetic materials. There is a server line that is marked 21 feet from
and parallel from the net.
Tennis Rackets - the usual tournament size racket is 32 inches long and
11 1/2 inches in width.

 Singles
Server/receiver-The server is chosen by a coin toss or by spinning the racket. The one
who wins the toss can give the choice to other person, choose which end to play and let
the other person serve or choose to serve and let the other person choose the end they
wish to play. The server (person playing first) is changed every game and the ends are
changed every other game.
Doubles
Serving is alternated from team to team and from player to player so that each player
serves every fourth game. Bother partners (of receivers and servers) can stand
anywhere they want, however it is traditional for partners to stand side by side.
Scoring
In tennis scoring is unusual- the scores do not increase by single digits, they begin at 15
and go up 30 (2) then 40. When a person has no score it is called "love". So if player A
gets 15 first the score is 15-"love". When the score gets to 40-40 it is known as deuce
and the next player to get two points wins. If they get only one point it is known as
"Advantage server" (or receiver) and then loose the next point it goes back to deuce.
There are times when players both agree to skip the advantage acknowledgment and
only play to one point after deuce for the winning point.
Officials
Only during professional tournaments are there officials. One watches the lines to call
whether the ball is in or not. The senior umpire is in a very high chair on one end of the
court and calls the scores. The senior umpire has the power to overrule all other judges.
There is also a match referee who sits in the stands and watches there and he can be
consulted should there be any major conflicts. Disputing with the judges cost points and
even disqualification from the game.
Penalties
There are certain penalties while playing tennis, these usually result in several points
lost for various things. These are:
1. Touching opponents ground, the net or posts or any other person or official in the
game.
2. Carrying the ball or catching it in the racket.
3. Hitting the ball two times or before it has crossed the net.
4. If the ball hits or touches anything on (clothes) or carried by the player (with the
exception of the racket).

PLAN OF THE
COURT

Chapter III
Biography of Andre
Agassi

Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29 1970, in LasVegas, Nevada is a former WorldNo. 1
professional tennis player from the UnitedStates. During his career, he has won
eight GrandSlam (tennis)Grand Slam singles titles. He is oneof only five players in
tennis history to have wonthe men's singles titles at all four of the GrandSlam
events over the course of his career.

Background

Agassi, whose father is half Armenian and half Assyrian, was born andraised in Las
Vegas,
Nevada, and lives there whennot on tour. His father, Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi,was
a
boxing boxer for Iran at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, before emigrating to
the UnitedStates.

Mike Agassi was a tennis fanatic and wasdetermined to turn at least one of his four
children into a world-class player. He hung tennisballs over Andre's crib and gave
him a full-sizedracket at age two. Growing up, Andre and hissiblings would hit 3,000
balls a day, seven days aweek. Mike had Andre practice with Ilie Nastaseand Jimmy
Connors. Andre's sister, Rita, finallyrebelled and moved in with, and later
married,tennis great Pancho Gonzales (their son, Skylar,played on Bishop-Gorman
High School's tennisteam). When he was 14, Andre was enrolled in theNick
Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. NickBollettieri would be Agassi's coach through
July1993.

Tennis career

Agassi quickly developed a reputation on the

tourfor exceptional fitness and conditioning,
allowing him to outlast most players over the
course of along match, even the best
counterpunchers. He typically employs a baseline
style of play,however he often makes contact with
the ballinside the baseline (unlike most baseliners,
who make 4-8 feet behind the baseline their
home). Hisserve is not the fastest on the tour, but
has very
good placement. His return-of-serve is his
strongest weapon. Many observers agree that
Agassiis the best service returner in the history
ofprofessional tennis. He was the target of one
ofthe fastest serves on record a 149-mph
(240 km/h) blast from Andy Roddick
andreturned it into play.

Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988-90,

and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there
becauseof the event's traditionalism, particularly
its"predominantly-white" dress code which players at the
event are required to conform to. Manyobservers at the
time speculated that Agassi'sreal motivation was that his
strong baseline gamewould not be suited to Wimbledon's
grass courtsurface. He decided to play there in 1991,
leadingto weeks of speculation in the media about what
hewould wear he eventually emerged for thefirst round
in a completely white outfit. Hereached the quarter-finals
on that occasion. To
the surprise of many, Agassi's Grand Slam
breakthrough came at Wimbledon in 1992 when he beat
Goran Ivanisevic in atight five-set final.

As a young up-and-coming player, Agassi

embraced arebel image. He grew his hair to rockstar length,sported an earring, and wore colorful
shirts thatpushed tennis' still-strict sartorial
boundaries.He boasted of a cheeseburger-heavy
diet andendorsed the Canon Rebel camera. "Image
iseverything" was the ads's tag line, and it
becameAgassi's as well.

Strong performances on the tour meant that

Agassiwas quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam
champion. But he began the 1990s with a series
ofnear-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam
finalin 1990 at the French Open, where he lost in
four sets to the seasoned veteran player
AndrsGmez. Later that year he lost in the final
ofthe U.S. Open to anotherup-and-coming teenaged
star, Pete Sampras. Therivalry between the two

Following wrist surgery in 1993, Agassi came

backstrongly in 1994 and captured the US Open,
beatingMichael Stich in the final. He then captured hisfirst
Australian Open title in 1995, beatingSampras in a fourset final. He won a career-highseven titles that year and
he reached the WorldNo. 1 ranking for the first time that
April. He held it for 30 weeks on that occasion through
toNovember. He compiled a career-best 26-matchwinning
streak during the summer hardcourtcircuit, which ended
when he lost in the US Openfinal to Sampras. In 1996,
Agassi won the men's singles Gold Medal at the Olympic
Games inAtlanta, beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in
straight sets in the final.

1997 was a poor year for Agassi. He won no top-level titles and his ranking sank to World
No.141 in November. His form was perhaps affected bythe intense publicity surrounding his
high-profileand turbulent relationship and marriage to actress Brooke Shields. Following this, he
made a decision to rededicate himself to tennis. He shaved his balding head, began a rigorous
conditioning program, and worked his way back up the rankings
by playing in Challenger Series tournaments (a circuit for professional players ranked
out side the world's top 50). Perhaps most remarkably, the one-time rebel emerged
as a gracious and thoughtful athlete, and looked up to by younger players. After
winning matches, he took to bowing and blowing a two-handed kisses to spectators
on each side of the court, a gesture seen as a ratherhumble acknowledgment of their
support for him and for tennis.

In 1998, Agassi won five titles and lept from No.122 on the rankings at the start of the year, to
No. 6 at the end of it, making it the highest jump into the Top 10 made by any player in tennis.
Hewon five titles in ten finals, and finishedrunner-up at the Miami Masters. Agassi entered the
history books in 1999 when he beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Openfinal to become
only the fifth male player to havewon all four Grand Slam singles titles (a featlast achieved in
the 1960s by Roy Emerson). He followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon final,where he lost
to Sampras. He then won the US Open,beating Todd Martin in five sets in the final, and finished
the year ranked the World No. 1.

Agassi began 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Yevgeny
Kafelnikovin a four-set final. He was the first male playerto have reached four consecutive
Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969.2000 also saw Agassi
reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Patrick Rafter in a very high
quality battle considered by many to be one of the best matches ever played atWimbledon.
Agassi entered the year-endTennis Masters Cup locked in a tight fight for theWorld No. 1 spot
with Gustavo Kuerten and Marat Safin. Safin needed only three match wins in the tournament
to become the year end number one. However, Safin lost to Agassi in the semi-finals;Safin only
won two matches. He was out of the running. Agassi then met Kuerten in the final,which would

Agassi opened 2001 by sucessfully defending hisAustralian Open title with a

straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clement. At Wimbledon, he battled Rafter again
in the semi-finals and lost 8-6 in the fifth set. At the US Open he lost in the quarterfinals to Sampras in what is conisdered to be one of tournament's all-time greatest
matches.Sampras won 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a match with no breaks of serve.

Agassi and Sampras' last duel came in the final ofthe US Open in 2002. The battle
between the twoveterans saw Sampras emerge victorious in foursets, and left
Sampras with a 20-14 edge in their34 career meetings. (The match in fact proved
tobe the last of Sampras' career. He did not play in an event on the professional tour
again, andofficially announced his retirement in 2003.)Agassi's US Open finish,
along with his victoriesat the Miami Masters, Rome Masters, and Madrid Masters,
helped him become the oldest year-end No.2 at 32 years and 8 months.

In 2003, Agassi won the eighth Grand Slam title ofhis career at the Australian
Open, where he beat Rainer Schttler in straight sets in the final.On May 11, Agassi
won the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, making him the oldest
No. 1 ranked male tennis player in history at 33years and 13 days. He would hold
the position for 13 weeks. At the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston,Agassi made it to
the final, losing to Roger
Federer, making him the oldest player to everfinish the year in the Top 5 (fourth)
since Jimmy Connors finished fourth in 1987 when he was 35.
In 2004, the 34-year-old Agassi won the Tennis Masters Series event at Cincinnati
to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles. Withstrong finishes at the
Australian Open (SF),

Agassi has also won one doubles title (at Cincinnati in 1993, partnering Petr Korda). He is
one of only five male players to have won all theGrand Slams along with legends Don
Budge,Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Fred Perry. He is infact the first male tennis player to win
the fourGrand Slams on four different surfaces. Theprevious players won the Australian
Open,Wimbledon, and the US Open on grass courts and theFrench Open on clay courts;
whereas Agassi won theAustralian Open on Rebound Ace, the French Open onclay, Wimbledon
on grass, and the US Open onhardcourts. By winning the Olympic Gold Medal at
the 1996 Olympics, Agassi became the first maletennis player to win the Career Golden Slam.
Agassi also helped the United States win the DavisCup in 1990 and 1992. He was named the
BBC SportsPersonality of the Year in 1992.Agassi has earned over US$25 million inprize-money
throughout his career, second only toSampras. In addition to this, he also earns overUS$25
million a year through endorsements, themost by any tennis player and fourth in all sports(first
place is Tiger Woods at US$70 million ayear). In 2005, Agassi left Nike after 17 years

Personal and family life

After a four-year courtship, Agassi married actress Brooke Shields in a lavish ceremony on
April 19 1997. That February, they had filed suit against The National Enquirer claiming it
printed "false and fabricated" statements: Brooke was undergoing counseling, binge-eating
and
taking pills; Agassi "lashed into" Brooke and he and Brooke's mother "tangled like wildcats
when she demanded a prenuptial agreement. The casewas dismissed, but the headlines were
indicative of the union. Agassi filed for divorce, which wasgranted on April 9, 1999.

By the time the divorce was final, Agassi wasdating the German tennis legend Steffi Graf. With
only their mothers as witnesses, they were married at his home on October 22 2001. Their son,
Jaden Gil, was born 6 weeks prematurely on October 26that year. Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was
born onOctober 3 2003.

Chapter IV
Moments to
remember in tennis

The best matches in sports arent always about the best versus second-best; the greatest
competitions are about both opponents being equally paired.
In tennis, certain foes seem to bring the best out of each other. From John McEnroe and Bjorn
Borg to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, there have been plenty of classic pairings where the
two adversaries push each other to their limits.
The results have provided fans with some great spectatorship and some memorable tennis
matches.

In the Wimbledon Championships, McEnroe reached the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final
his first final at the Championships where he faced Bjrn Borg, who was gunning for his fifth
consecutive Wimbledon title. At the start of the final, McEnroe was booed by the crowd as he
entered Centre Court following heated exchanges with officials during his semifinal victory over
Jimmy Connors. In a fourth-set tiebreaker that lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five match
points and eventually won 18-16. McEnroe, however, could not break Borg's serve in the fifth
set, which the Swede won 86. This match was called the best Wimbledon final by ESPN's
countdown show "Who's Number One?"

Sampras reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in early 2000 (falling to the eventual
champion Agassi in a five-set match) and won the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida for
the third time in March. He then won a record-breaking 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon,
battling through tendonitis in his right shin and a painful back injury in the process. This victory
was his eighth consecutive win in a Grand Slam final (starting at 1995 Wimbledon), which
remains a record. After this victory, Sampras did not win another title for more than two years.
He lost in the finals of the 2000 and 2001 US Open to Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt,
respectively, leading many to speculate that Sampras would never capture another major title.
At the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, Sampras lost to Roger Federer, who was 19 at the
time, 67(7), 75, 46, 76(2), 57 in the fourth round, ending Sampras's 31-match winning
streak at Wimbledon. The match also marked the first and only time that the two men ever
played each other on the ATP tour.

Nadal are professional tennis

many consider the g
in the game's history.

Roger Federer and Rafael

p
players engaged in a storied rivalry, which
greatest

At the 2010 Wimbledon

ChampionshipsJohn Isner (left) defeated
defeated Nicolas Mahut (right) 64, 36, 67(7), 76(3), 70 68
68 in the world's longest tennis match. The match lasted 11 h
hours, 5 minutes.

Peter Sampras

Roger Federer

Chapter V
Bibliography

buzzle.com (article from Rita Putatunda and

Jayashree Pakhare)
itftennis.com
askmen.com
short-biographies.com
wikipedia

This do not include photoes which were taken from a

variety of sources.
NOTE: video source - youtube