International book international book of favorite sports_FV | Page 129

VII.3 Tennis – origins of the modern game
Between 1859 and 1865 Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed
a game that combined elements of racquets and the Basque ball game pelota,
which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, England, United
Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first
tennis club on Avenue Road, Leamington Spa.
In December 1873, British army officer Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed
and patented a similar game ;– which he called sphairistikè(Greek: σφαιριστική,
meaning "ball-playing"), and was soon known simply as "sticky" – for the
amusement of guests at a garden party on his friend's estate of Nantclwyd Hall,
in Llanelidan, Wales. According to R. D. C. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, "Sports
historians all agree that [Wingfield] deserves much of the credit for the
development of modern tennis." [ According to Honor Godfrey, museum curator
at Wimbledon, Wingfield "popularized this game enormously. He produced a
boxed set which included a net, poles, rackets, balls for playing the game – and
most importantly you had his rules. He was absolutely terrific at marketing and
he sent his game all over the world. He had very good connections with the
clergy, the law profession, and the aristocracy and he sent thousands of sets out
in the first year or so, in 1874." ] The world's oldest tennis tournament,
the Wimbledon Championships, were first played in London in 1877. The first
Championships culminated a significant debate on how to standardize the rules.
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