Portal:Tennis

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Welcome to the Tennis Portal

Panoramic view of Stadium Court in Tennis Center at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, Florida, United States. Taken during the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open.

Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. If a player is unable to return the ball successfully, the opponent scores a point.

Playable at all levels of society and at all ages, tennis can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The original forms of tennis developed in France during the late Middle Ages. The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis. It had close connections to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis.

The rules of modern tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that until 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye. (Full article...)

More about Tennis history, glossary, equipment, courts, scores, types of matches, officials, shots, tournaments, and statistics

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Image 1

Left elbow-joint. (Lateral epicondyle visible at center.)

Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis is an enthesopathy (attachment point disease) of the origin of the extensor carpi radialis brevis on the lateral epicondyle. It causes pain and tenderness over the bony part of the lateral epicondyle. Symptoms range from mild tenderness to severe, persistent pain. The pain may also extend into the back of the forearm. It usually has a gradual onset, but it can seem sudden and be misinterpreted as an injury.

Tennis elbow is often idiopathic. Its cause and pathogenesis are unknown. It likely involves tendinosis, a degeneration of the local tendon. (Full article...)
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The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility with three courts, three outdoor hard courts, one green clay court, a court tennis facility, and a theatre. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal of preserving, celebrating, and inspiring the sport of tennis around the world. (Full article...)
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The Prince of Tennis (Japanese: テニスの王子様, Hepburn: Tenisu no Ōjisama) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 1999 to March 2008, with its chapters collected in 42 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for English release in North America.

A 178-episode anime television series adaptation animated by Trans Arts, co-produced by Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo, was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2001 to March 2005. A sequel of three original video animation (OVA) series, totaling 26 episodes, were released from March 2006 to January 2009. In North America, the anime series was first licensed by Viz Media and later by Crunchyroll LLC. (Full article...)
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The Russian Tennis Federation (Russian: Федерация тенниса России) is the national governing body for tennis in Russia. It was founded in 1989 as the All-Russian Tennis Association and reorganized under its current name in 2002. The federation serves as the successor to the Tennis Federation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) (1959-1989) and the Tennis Federation of the Soviet Union (1959-93), which was previously known as the All-Union Tennis Section (1929-1959). (Full article...)
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The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual team sporting competition. It is described by the organisers as the "World Cup of Tennis" and the winners are referred to as the world champions. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States. By 2023 155 nations entered teams into the competition.

The most successful country over the history of the competition is the United States (winning 32 titles and finishing as runners-up 29 times). The most recent champions are Italy, who beat Australia to win their second title in 2023. (Full article...)
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The Djokovic–Murray rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. They met 36 times, and Djokovic leads 25–11 overall and 11–8 in finals. Ten of their encounters were played in majors, with Djokovic leading 8–2. Djokovic and Murray are one of two male pairs to have contested the finals of each of the four majors (Djokovic–Nadal is the other pair).

Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–8 and 5–1 on clay, while Murray won their two matches played on grass. The rivalry began highly competitive and remained so for many years. However, after Murray won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships over Djokovic in the final, Djokovic took a commanding lead, winning 14 of their last 17 encounters. (Full article...)
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The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters and as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. It is played on outdoor hard courts at the Hard Rock Stadium, and is held in late March and early April. The tournament is part of the ATP Masters 1000 events on the ATP Tour and part of the WTA 1000 events on the WTA Tour.

The tournament was held at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida from 1987 through 2018, featuring the top 96 men and women tennis players in the world. It moved to Miami Gardens for 2019. Following the Indian Wells Open, it is the second event of the "Sunshine Double" — a series of two elite, consecutive hard court tournaments in the United States in early spring. (Full article...)
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Wimbledon Championships is an annual British tennis tournament created in 1877 and played on outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in the Wimbledon suburb of London, United Kingdom. The Gentlemen's Singles was the first event contested in 1877. (Full article...)
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The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant tennis event in the men's annual calendar after the four majors, as it features the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams based on their results throughout the season. The eighth spot is reserved, if needed, for a player or team who won a major in the current year and is ranked from ninth to twentieth.

The tournament uses a unique format not seen in other ATP Tour events, where the singles players and doubles teams are separated into two groups of four, within which they each play three round-robin matches. After the round-robin stage, the top two performers from each group play in knock-out semifinals and a final to determine the champion(s). (Full article...)
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Steffi Graf

The Graf–Sabatini rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini, who played each other on 40 occasions between 1985 and 1995. Graf was the world No. 1, and Sabatini reached a career high of No. 3. Both are Major champions, Graf winning 22 titles, and Sabatini won her only major title at the 1990 US Open over Graf. They also teamed in doubles, reaching three French Open finals and winning the 1988 Wimbledon crown.

In Grand Slams, they met 12 times, three of them in finals. Graf leads 11–1. In 1988, Graf beat Sabatini in the semifinals of the French Open, the US Open final, and the Olympic final to complete the calendar-year Golden Slam. In the 1991 Wimbledon final. Sabatini was two points away from capturing the singles title, but Graf took the match 8–6 in the deciding set. (Full article...)
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Wimbledon men's wheelchair doubles

Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, and the ball may bounce up to two times, where the second bounce may also occur outside the court.

Wheelchair tennis has been played at all four Grand Slams since 2007 and is one of the sports played at the Summer Paralympics. There are three categories, Men, Women, and Quads; each category has singles and doubles tournaments. The Quad, the newest division, is for players that have substantial loss of function in at least one upper limb, but may include various disabilities besides quadriplegia. The division is sometimes called Mixed, especially at the Paralympic Games. Quad players often tape the rackets to their hand, to compensate for loss of function, and some players are allowed to use electric-powered wheelchairs. (Full article...)
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The tennis rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest in the history of the sport. Federer and Nadal played each other 40 times, with Nadal leading 24–16 overall, including 14–10 in finals.

Of their 40 matches, 20 were on hard court, 16 on clay, and 4 on grass. Nadal leads on clay (14–2), while Federer leads on grass (3–1) and hard court (11–9). A total of 14 matches were in majors with Nadal leading 10–4. Nadal leads 6–0 at the French Open and 3–1 at the Australian Open, while Federer leads 3–1 at Wimbledon. On several occasions, they were a match away from meeting at the US Open, but were denied each time (Nadal lost to Andy Murray in the 2008 semifinals and Juan Martín del Potro in the 2009 semifinals; Federer lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2010 and 2011 semifinals, to Tommy Robredo in the 2013 fourth round and to del Potro in the 2017 quarterfinals). They are tied in their five-set matches at 3–3. (Full article...)
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Novak Djokovic has won a record 40 Masters titles in singles. He is also the only singles player to complete the career Golden Masters, and has accomplished the feat twice.

The ATP Masters events, known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments since 2009, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The Masters tournaments, sitting below the Grand Slam tournaments and the year-end championships, make up the most coveted trophies on the annual ATP Tour calendar. In addition to the quadrennial Summer Olympics, they are collectively known as the 'Big Titles'.

Novak Djokovic holds the record for the most Masters singles titles with 40. By completing the career set of all nine current Masters series singles titles in 2018, Djokovic became the first and only player to achieve the career Golden Masters. In 2020, Djokovic completed a second career Golden Masters. (Full article...)
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The Agassi–Sampras rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, who were both ranked world No. 1 during the 1990s. Sampras held the world's top ranking for (a then-record) 286 weeks while Agassi held it for 101 weeks. With contrasting styles and temperaments, they played each other 34 times from 1989 through 2002, with the head-to-head finishing 20–14 favoring Sampras. They are tied in their five-set matches at 1–1. It has been named as one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all time.

In Grand Slam tournaments, they played in five finals, with Sampras winning four. They met for the first time in a Grand Slam final at the 1990 US Open, with Agassi the favorite because of his superior ranking even though Sampras had defeated former world No. 1 players Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe en route to the final. Sampras defeated Agassi in straight sets. (Full article...)
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"Tennis the Menace" is the twelfth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2001. In the episode, the Simpsons build a tennis court in their backyard and are ridiculed by the entire town because of Homer's inferior tennis ability. Homer therefore tries to please Marge by entering the two into a tournament, but they quickly turn into rivals when Marge replaces Homer with Bart as her partner.

The episode features guest appearances from tennis professionals Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and the Williams sisters as themselves. "Tennis the Menace" was directed by Jen Kamerman and written by Ian Maxtone-Graham, who also directed the Williams sisters' performance. The episodes title is a parody of Dennis the Menace. The animators of The Simpsons experimented with digital ink and paint on "Tennis the Menace", making it the first episode of the series to be animated using the process since season 7's "Radioactive Man". (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various tennis-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Coco Gauff was part of the winning women's doubles team in 2024. It was her second major title. (from French Open)
Image 2Margaret Court, the all-time record holder in women's singles. (from Australian Open)
Image 3Wimbledon ball girl at the net, 2007 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 4Jeļena Ostapenko was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 5Chris Evert, the all-time record holder in women's singles. (from French Open)
Image 6Jordan Thompson was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 7Laura Siegemund was part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2024. It was her second major title. (from French Open)
Image 8Martina Navratilova, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 9Carlos Alcaraz, the 2024 men's singles champion. At 21, he became the youngest male player to win a major title on three different surfaces. (from French Open)
Image 10The Royal Gallery at Centre Court, Wimbledon (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 11Todd Woodbridge holding the Gentlemen's doubles silver challenge cup in 2004 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 12Lyudmyla Kichenok was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 13Centre Court at Wimbledon in May 2019 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 14Harri Heliövaara was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 15Jannik Sinner, 2024 men's singles champion. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 16Henry Patten was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 17Novak Djokovic, the all-time record holder in men's singles. (from Australian Open)
Image 18Arthur Ashe stadium in 2010, before the retractable roof was added. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 19New Rod Laver Arena entrance added in 2018 as part of the Melbourne Park redevelopment. (from Australian Open)
Image 20Court Philippe Chatrier during the 2013 French Open. (from French Open)
Image 21Aryna Sabalenka, 2024 women's singles champion. It was her third major title. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 22Marcelo Arévalo was part of the winning men's doubles team in 2024. It was his second major title. (from French Open)
Image 23Rohan Bopanna was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his first major title. (from Australian Open)
Image 24A Royal Marines Commando as a services steward in 2005 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 25Wimbledon operates a ticket resale system where returned Show Court tickets can be purchased. All proceeds go to charity. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 26Carlos Alcaraz, the 2024 gentlemen's singles champion. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 27Iga Świątek, the 2024 women's singles champion. It was her fifth major title and her fourth at the French Open. (from French Open)
Image 28New Show Court Arena that opened in 2022. (from Australian Open)
Image 29The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment precinct on the banks of the Yarra River in 2010. (from Australian Open)
Image 30Aryna Sabalenka, 2024 women's singles champion. It was her second major title and her second at the Australian Open. (from Australian Open)
Image 31The Ladies' (top) and Gentlemen's singles trophies (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 32Hsieh Su-wei was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles and mixed doubles team. It was her seventh major title in women's doubles and first major title in mixed doubles. (from Australian Open)
Image 33Court 10. On the outside courts there is no reserved seating. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 34Rod Laver Arena, the main court of the Australian Open, in 2023. (from Australian Open)
Image 35Arthur Ashe Stadium with the roof closed in 2018. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 36Édouard Roger-Vasselin was part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2024. It was his first major title. (from French Open)
Image 37Andrea Vavassori was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 38Sébastien Grosjean takes a shot on Court 18 during the 2004 Championships. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 39Jan Zieliński was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 40Richard Sears, a joint all-time record-holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 41Mate Pavić was part of the winning men's doubles team in 2024. It was his fourth major title. (from French Open)
Image 42The order of play for all courts is displayed on boards around the grounds. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 43Hsieh Su-wei was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 44Roger Federer, the all-time record holder in men's singles (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 45Rafael Nadal, the all-time record holder in men's singles. (from French Open)
Image 46People watching the Championships' broadcast in Canary Wharf (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 47Matthew Ebden was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. It was his second major title and first at the Australian Open. (from Australian Open)
Image 48Rod Laver Arena night session in 2007, the last year the tournament used the Rebound Ace surface. (from Australian Open)
Image 49View from seats of Wimbledon Court No. 1 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 50The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup (from Australian Open)
Image 51Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open in 2005 prior to its redevelopment. Rod Laver Arena is in the background. (from Australian Open)
Image 52Kateřina Siniaková was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 53Elise Mertens was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. It was her fourth major title and second at the Australian Open. (from Australian Open)
Image 54Sara Errani was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 55Max Purcell was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 56Barbora Krejčíková, the 2024 ladies' singles champion. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 57Aerial view of the grounds (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 58Taylor Townsend was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 59Rafael Nadal holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2006. (from French Open)
Image 60Debenture of the All England Lawn Tennis Ground Ltd., issued 20th August 1930 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 61Composition of the courts. (from French Open)
Image 62Jan Zieliński was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. It was his first major title. (from Australian Open)
Image 63Jannik Sinner, 2024 men's singles champion. It was his first major title. (from Australian Open)
Image 64Spencer Gore, the winner of the inaugural Wimbledon Championship (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 65Molla Mallory, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 66Bill Tilden, a joint all-time record holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 67Kateřina Siniaková was part of the winning women's doubles team in 2024. It was her eighth major title and her third at the French Open. (from French Open)
Image 68Bill Larned, a joint all-time record holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 69Commemorative plaque at Court 18 marking the longest tennis match in history (from Wimbledon Championships)

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Osaka at the 2020 US Open

Naomi Osaka (Japanese: 大坂なおみ, Hepburn: Ōsaka Naomi, Japanese pronunciation: [oːsaka naomi], born October 16, 1997) is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, with two Australian Open and two US Open titles. Her seven titles on the WTA Tour include two at the Premier Mandatory level. At the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, Osaka won her first two major titles in back-to-back tournaments, becoming the first Japanese player to win a major singles title and the first woman to win successive major singles titles since Serena Williams in 2015.

Born in Japan to a Haitian-American father and a Japanese mother, Osaka has lived and trained in the United States since age three. She came to prominence at age 16 when she defeated former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Stanford Classic. Two years later, she reached her first WTA final at the 2016 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and entered the top 50 of the WTA rankings. Osaka broke into the upper echelon of women's tennis in 2018, winning her first WTA title at the Indian Wells Open, then defeating Williams in the final of the US Open. In 2021, suffering from depression and other issues, Osaka retired from the French Open, dropped out of Wimbledon, lost early at the US Open, and ended her season early. She took maternity leave in 2023 and returned to competition in 2024. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that in high school, tennis player Sara Daavettila went an entire season without losing a game?
... that American Colossus is a biography of a man who was "the most famous sportsman in the world" and "the most forgotten great athlete in American history"?

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