Tennis Psychology

Interest in tennis has grown very rapidly in recent years because the general public finds it relatively inexpensive and convenient to play. The game is tremendously popular with men, women, and children of all ages. It is estimated that about 25 million people play tennis today and that over 50 million people watched the Billie Jean King–Bobby Riggs match.

To play, all you need is a minimum of equipment (at minimal cost), a court, and one other person. In contrast to golf, another sport enjoyed by great numbers of people, tennis has the advantage of requiring less expensive and cumbersome equipment. In addition, tennis courts are often more accessible than golf courses and more of them are likely to exist in any given area.

Tennis is excellent exercise (if you don’t keep the ball in play, you’ll be chasing it over a wide area). It is a good family sport (youngsters can play, and women can compete against men). It is a social sport and a business sport, too—an informal way to meet people or business contacts, particularly in friendly mixed doubles. In addition, tennis provides a way to release tensions and aggression as you take out frustrations on the ball and your opponent. When played at an advanced level, tennis also can be a reflection of creative expression and supreme grace.

Tennis has a long history and was first played in the United States in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Lawn tennis, the predecessor of tennis, was one of various ball games that originated in Egypt and Persia around 500 B.C. Lawn tennis had its modern beginnings in England, and the name, especially in the United States, has been contracted to tennis.

The originator of modern lawn tennis was an Englishman, Walter Wingfield, who in 1874 devised and patented a new, hourglass-shaped portable court for playing the game. At about this time the All England Cricket Club at Wimbledon, a suburb of London, added Lawn Tennis to its name and several grass courts to its facilities. The first of all championships was held on these courts in June 1877. The English Lawn Tennis Association was founded in 1886, the International Tennis Federation in 1912. Meanwhile, the game had spread to other continents.