The history of tennis dates back to the ancient Greek game of sphairistike, the skill of playing ball. Real tennis (or pallacorda in Italian) is the medieval form of modern tennis. Originating in the 12th century as jeu de paume and initially played with the hand, it evolved with the introduction of gloves and, around 1520, the first racquets. Popular among nobles, especially in French courts where it reached its peak in the 16th century, a variation of it is still practiced today. Real tennis spread widely in France thanks to passionate kings such as Francis I and Henry II, who promoted its practice at court and among the people. The game was described in 1555 by the Italian Antonio Scaino da Salò in the Trattato del Giuoco della Palla. Despite its popularity, the game was also the cause of tragic accidents: French kings Louis X and Charles VIII both died due to injuries related to the sport. The French king Charles IX established the first guild of real tennis professionals and the first official tournament in 1571; the first written regulations were published in 1599. Meanwhile, real tennis also became popular in England, especially under Henry VIII, who built courts at Hampton Court Palace. The game was also mentioned by Shakespeare in Henry V. In the 17th century, real tennis was popular throughout Europe among the noble classes, but it underwent a rapid decline due to Puritanism and the Napoleonic era. The game had a fundamental historical role in the French Revolution with the Tennis Court Oath (Giuramento della Sala della Pallacorda). In the 18th and 19th centuries, real tennis definitively lost its following, being replaced by modern sports such as squash and lawn tennis.
MODERN TENNIS
“Lawn tennis” was first devised by Harry Gem (an English military officer) and Augurio Perera (a Spanish merchant) in 1859, who experimented with the first game on the croquet lawn of Perera’s home in Edgbaston, Birmingham. A plaque on the house commemorates the event, although it bears the date of 1865, later corrected to 1859 by experts. Subsequently, in 1872, Gem and Perera founded the first tennis club in Leamington. That club was frequented by the twins William and Ernest Renshaw, future multi-champions of the Wimbledon tournament.
The English Major Walter Clopton Wingfield officially patented “lawn tennis” on February 23, 1874, at the “Chamber of Trades” in London, consolidating the invention of the game with a pre-packaged kit that included equipment and instructions. The game, which was based on the rules of real tennis, featured an hourglass-shaped court with a net suspended in the center. Modern tennis, patented by Wingfield, retains the influence of the French jeu de paume in its nomenclature and scoring system. Terms like deuce (from à deux le jeu) and love (from l’oeuf, the egg symbolizing zero) are linguistic distortions. The unusual 15, 30, 40 progression is the subject of several theories, including the use of clock faces, the musicality of French words, or, more likely, the value of the coins (sous and deniers) used for betting in medieval matches.
Jannik Sinner
When we think about tennis, the first person we think of is Jannik Sinner, a young Italian professional player born on August 16, 2001, and raised in Sesto Pusteria. When he was three and a half years old, he started practicing skiing and tennis in San Candido, the place where he spent his childhood and where he still goes today to relax with his family.
Jannik Sinner’s parents’ house in Sesto (BZ).
At the age of 12, he became Italian champion in skiing in his category. The following year, when he was 13 and a half, he decided to choose tennis only, because he thought ski training was too long compared to the short races. So, at the age of 14, he focused only on tennis and joined Tennis Club Italia in Forte dei Marmi, which won the championship that same year. He attended the fourth year of high school in Bolzano and later got his high school diploma in accounting as a private student. In 2020, he decided to move to the Principality of Monaco, where he still lives today.
In June 2024, he became the first Italian player to reach number one in the ATP world ranking and he won four Grand Slam titles, becoming the most successful Italian tennis player ever. The tennis season is now over, and unfortunately Sinner will not take part in the 2025 Davis Cup Finals, in agreement with his team, so he can better prepare for the next season, especially the Australian Open 2026 in Melbourne, scheduled for January 2026. At the moment, Sinner is the richest Italian tennis player in the world, and his wealth in 2024/2025 reached 85 million euros thanks to his great success.
This is an ice sculpture they made in the square in San Candido last year in his honor.
Nina Cazzola e Asia Chiarelli.