TL;DR: Tennis traces to a 12th-century French handball game played by monks, and the modern outdoor version was only invented in 1873. Two patents define the equipment used today: Bertie de Meza's 1925 cork-handle racquet design and Albert Ernest Penfold's 1932 pressurized ball construction. Original prints of both patents are available framed or unframed.
In 1874, a British Army officer named Walter Clopton Wingfield applied for a patent on a game he called Sphairistikè, an ancient Greek term meaning "skill at ball games." The patent covered a set of rules, a net, and a particular hourglass-shaped court. Wingfield had been watching Real Tennis, the enclosed-court version of the sport played by royalty since the 16th century, and decided it could be adapted for outdoor play on the grass lawns of English country houses. He was right. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club was founded three years later, and the first Wimbledon Championship followed in 1877.
That patent is not the start of tennis. It is more accurately the start of a sport that had been evolving for seven hundred years finding the version of itself that would eventually be played by 87 million people worldwide.
Jeu de Paume: The Medieval Beginning
The earliest ancestor of tennis is Jeu de Paume, a French phrase meaning "game of the palm." The game was played in monasteries and courtyards throughout France as early as the 12th century, striking a cloth ball against a wall or over a rope with the open hand. It was popular among monks as a form of structured physical exercise, and records suggest it spread from religious communities to the French nobility within a century of its first appearance.
The transition from palm to implement happened gradually over the 13th and 14th centuries. Players first wrapped their hands in leather gloves, then began using wooden paddles, and eventually primitive gut-strung rackets. By the 15th century, Jeu de Paume had evolved sufficiently that it bore a recognizable resemblance to the sport it would become. The word "tennis" itself is believed to derive from the French "tenez," meaning "take this" or "hold," possibly the call a server made before striking the ball.
By the 16th century, the game was enormously popular throughout France and had spread to England, Italy, and Spain. There were said to be more than 1,800 Jeu de Paume courts in Paris alone during the reign of Henry IV. Francis I of France was a devoted player. Henry VIII of England was famous for his enthusiasm for the game, and Hampton Court Palace still contains a Royal Tennis Court built in 1625 that remains in use today.
Real Tennis and the Enclosed Court
As Jeu de Paume formalized over the 15th and 16th centuries, it developed into what is now called Real Tennis, Court Tennis, or Royal Tennis, names that vary by country. Played in purpose-built enclosed courts with sloping interior roofs, galleries, and irregular walls, Real Tennis was a sophisticated game that rewarded strategic use of the court's geometry. The ball could be played off walls and roofs as legitimate shots. The service end and receiving end of the court had different characteristics, creating asymmetric gameplay unlike any modern racket sport.
Real Tennis courts were expensive to build and maintain, which limited the game to royalty and the highest levels of the aristocracy. The scoring system, which still uses the terms "love," "15," "30," and "40," originated in Real Tennis and was adopted unchanged by lawn tennis. Several theories exist for the origin of "love" as a zero score, but the most plausible is that it derives from the French word "l'oeuf," meaning "the egg," a metaphor for a zero score also used in cricket and other sports.
Real Tennis reached its peak of popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries and gradually declined through the 18th as its exclusive, expensive courts became less accessible. The game never disappeared, and Real Tennis clubs still exist in Britain, France, the United States, and Australia, but the sport's future belonged to a version that could be played on grass in a garden.
Walter Wingfield and the Birth of Lawn Tennis
The invention of lawn tennis in 1873 was driven by practical accessibility. Walter Clopton Wingfield, a Welsh officer in the British Army who had served in India and China, designed a game that could be played on the croquet lawns that were common features of English country houses. His innovation was not the concept of hitting a ball with a racket over a net, which was already centuries old, but the adaptation of Real Tennis for flat outdoor surfaces with portable equipment.
Wingfield's initial court was hourglass-shaped and the net was quite high by modern standards. The rules were adjusted significantly during the 1870s as the sport was adopted by clubs that standardized the equipment and playing surface. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, founded in Wimbledon in 1877, established the first standardized rules and hosted the inaugural Wimbledon Championship that year. Twenty-two men entered. Spencer Gore won, defeating William Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the final.
The women's event began in 1884. Lawn tennis spread rapidly through Britain and its colonies, reaching the United States, Australia, France, and Germany within a decade of Wimbledon's founding. The United States National Championships began in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island, and later relocated to New York, where it eventually became the US Open. The French Championships, begun in 1891, and the Australian Championships, begun in 1905, completed the four tournaments that would eventually comprise the modern Grand Slam.
Early Equipment: Wooden Rackets and Rubber Balls
The rackets of early lawn tennis were made from ash or other hardwoods, with a long handle and an oval head strung with sheep gut. They were heavy by modern standards, typically weighing 13 to 14 ounces, with small heads that required precise contact to generate power. The head shape was not the round oval of modern rackets but often a teardrop or elongated oval, and the balance point was significantly different from contemporary equipment.
The tennis ball had its own evolution. Early Wimbledon balls were made from rubber with a flannel covering, but the specific properties of the ball, its pressure, diameter, weight, and felt composition, were inconsistent across manufacturers. A ball that behaved reliably under competition conditions, in rain, heat, and cold, was a harder engineering problem than it appeared.
In 1925, Bertie de Meza filed patent US1532991A for an improvement to tennis and badminton racket construction. His innovation was the substitution of compressed cork for wood in the racket's handle. The cork composition improved the handle's resilience and reduced the shock transmitted to a player's hand during impact. It also addressed a persistent problem with wooden handle construction: the glued joints between wooden components would loosen in humid conditions, degrading the racket's feel and performance. De Meza's cork handle held together more reliably across changes in climate and absorbed more impact energy than wood alone. The design contributed directly to the durability standards that professional rackets would come to require.
In 1932, Albert Ernest Penfold filed patent US1865481A for an improved method of manufacturing tennis balls. Penfold's innovation was a semi-rigid, gas-tight container made from materials including gutta percha and balata, with a felt covering applied to the exterior. The construction ensured greater resilience, reduced manufacturing defects in the pressurized core, and produced balls that retained their gas pressure more consistently over time. Before Penfold's method, tennis balls degraded at varying rates depending on manufacturing quality. His approach established standards for ball consistency that shaped how the sport expected its equipment to perform.
The Spread of Tennis and the Early Grand Slams
By the 1900s, lawn tennis had become one of the most popular sports in the English-speaking world. Tennis was included in the Olympic program from 1896 and remained an Olympic sport through 1924, then was removed until its return in 1988. The four major championships drew the sport's best players annually and defined competitive careers.
The early champions were predominantly British and American, reflecting where the sport had taken deepest root. Suzanne Lenglen, the French player who dominated the women's game from 1919 through 1926, was the sport's first international celebrity. She was flamboyant, fashion-conscious, and athletically superior to her contemporaries in a way that drew press coverage far beyond what tennis had previously attracted. Her influence on the professionalization and popular visibility of the sport was as significant as any male player of the era.
Bill Tilden, who won seven US National Championships and three Wimbledon titles in the 1920s, was the dominant male player of the same period. Tilden's game was technically sophisticated and unusually varied for the era, with a repertoire of spins and placements that anticipated the style of play that would become standard decades later.
The Open Era Begins
For most of tennis history, a sharp line existed between amateur and professional players. The Grand Slam events and the Davis Cup were restricted to amateurs. Professional players who had accepted money to tour or give exhibitions were barred from the sport's most prestigious competitions. By the late 1960s, this division had become untenable, as the best players in the world were turning professional and the amateur events were therefore not contested by the best players.
In 1968, the major tennis federations agreed to allow both amateurs and professionals to compete in the Grand Slam events. The Open Era, as it became known, began at Wimbledon and the US Open that year. The immediate effect was to restore meaningful competition to the majors. Rod Laver, the Australian player who had won the Grand Slam as an amateur in 1962, won it again as a professional in 1968, the only man to have achieved the feat twice.
The Open Era also created the economic infrastructure that would eventually support the professional game at scale. Prize money grew steadily through the 1970s. The Women's Tennis Association, founded in 1973, established the women's professional tour. Billie Jean King's 1973 victory over Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" match drew 90 million television viewers worldwide and accelerated the cultural acceptance of women's professional sports.
Racket Technology and the Power Era
The wooden racket era effectively ended in the 1970s as manufacturers began experimenting with metal and composite materials. The Wilson T2000, a steel-framed racket used famously by Jimmy Connors, introduced a generation of players to equipment that was lighter and more powerful than wood. The transition was not universally embraced. Traditionalists argued that steel rackets reduced the skill required to generate power, and the debate about equipment and its effect on playing style has never fully resolved.
Graphite composites became standard in the 1980s, delivering lighter frames with larger hitting surfaces that generated more power with less physical effort. The oversized racket head, pioneered by Howard Head in his design for Prince Sports, expanded the effective hitting zone and made the sport more accessible to recreational players. At the professional level, graphite rackets combined with improved string technology shifted the game toward a baseline power style that gradually displaced the serve-and-volley game that had defined Wimbledon champions for a century.
Serve speeds that were measured in the low 100s of miles per hour in the wooden era reached 130, 140, and eventually over 150 miles per hour with graphite and modern string technology. The physical demands of the professional game changed accordingly, with players carrying significantly more muscle mass and training year-round in ways that earlier generations had not.
The Modern Game and the Big Three
The late 1990s and 2000s produced the most concentrated dominance in the sport's history. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, collectively known as the Big Three, redefined what tennis achievement looked like. Federer won his first Wimbledon in 2003 and accumulated 20 Grand Slam titles before retiring in 2022. Nadal won 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record 14 French Opens. Djokovic, whose consistent peak performance extended across the longest period of the three, reached 24 Grand Slam titles.
The rivalries between these three players drove viewership and commercial investment in the sport to levels that would have been unrecognizable in the Open Era's early decades. Their competition spanned more than 15 years at the highest level, and the records they set created benchmarks that the next generation, including Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, is only beginning to approach.
Tennis today is governed by the International Tennis Federation, with the four Grand Slams representing the sport's highest competitions, the same four events established between 1877 and 1905. The equipment has been transformed from wood to composite materials, from hand-sewn felt balls to precision-manufactured pressurized cores. The racket Bertie de Meza improved with his cork handle in 1925 bears no physical resemblance to the graphite instruments used on the professional tour today. But the game those instruments are used to play, over a net, into a defined court, scored with the same "love," "15," "30," "40" system that medieval French monks called out in monastery courtyards, is recognizably continuous with where it started.
Shop Tennis Patent Art Prints
Tennis Racquet (1925), Bertie de Meza
De Meza's 1925 patent drawing documents the innovation that improved how tennis rackets held together under competitive conditions: a compressed cork handle that absorbed shock and resisted the climate-driven loosening that plagued wooden construction. The drawing is a clean, precise engineering document from the era when the wooden racket was still the professional standard. Recognizable to any tennis player, detailed enough to start a conversation about the engineering behind equipment that most players take for granted. Works in a home office, a tennis room, or as a gift for the player in your life who cares about the history of the sport.
Best for: Tennis players and fans, home office or den, gift buyers who want something beyond a trophy photo
Tennis Ball (1932), Albert Ernest Penfold
Penfold's 1932 patent solved a problem that every tennis player experiences but almost none can name: why the ball in the new can feels different from the ball that has been in play for a set. The patent describes the pressurized construction method that made consistent ball performance possible across manufacturing at scale. The drawing shows the geometry and layering of the object that every point in tennis begins with. Pairs well with the racquet print or stands alone as an unexpected, conversation-starting piece.
Best for: Tennis enthusiasts, anyone who appreciates the engineering behind everyday objects, gift buyers looking for something unexpected
Tennis Court (1907), J. C. Chapin
Chapin's 1907 patent (No. 857,598) lays out the dimensions and net arrangement of the lawn tennis court, the geometry every match is still played on today. The drawing pairs an overhead view of the full court with a detail of the net, rendered in soft green watercolor over the original engineering lines. A quietly architectural piece for anyone who appreciates that the court itself is a designed object.
Best for: Players and club members, anyone who loves the geometry of the game, pairing with the racquet and ball prints
Tennis Net (1929), L. L. Appleyard
Appleyard's 1929 patent (No. 1,700,192) covered the tennis net and the process of manufacturing it, addressing how the mesh held its shape and tension across the full width of the court. The drawing details the net's construction down to the weave, a reminder that even the simplest-looking equipment was engineered. A subtle, knowing piece for the serious player.
Best for: Dedicated players, understated decor, gift buyers who want something less obvious than a racquet
Table Tennis Table (1935), E. D. Kaser
Kaser's 1935 patent (No. 1,995,543) documented the table tennis table, complete with net fittings and the regulation surface markings that standardized the indoor game. The drawing shows the table in perspective alongside the playing-surface layout. A playful piece for a game room, a basement bar, or anywhere a ping-pong table already lives.
Best for: Game rooms and rec spaces, ping-pong enthusiasts, fun housewarming or family gifts
Table Tennis Paddle (1982)
This 1982 patent (No. 4,324,400) details the layered construction of the modern table tennis paddle: a core of wood or fiberglass, graphite reinforcement, and a foamed-plastic-backed rubber face. The exploded-view drawing shows exactly how the modern paddle is built for speed and spin. A great conversation piece for anyone who takes their basement game seriously.
Best for: Competitive ping-pong players, game rooms, gift buyers who appreciate the engineering in everyday gear
Frequently Asked Questions
When was tennis invented?
Tennis as a recognizable sport traces to the 12th-century French game Jeu de Paume, a handball game played in monastery courtyards. By the 16th century, it had evolved into Real Tennis, played in purpose-built enclosed courts. Modern lawn tennis was invented in 1873 by Walter Clopton Wingfield, and the first Wimbledon Championship was held in 1877. The scoring system in use today, including "love," "15," "30," and "40," derives from Real Tennis.
Who invented lawn tennis?
Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, a Welsh-born British Army officer, invented lawn tennis in 1873. He designed a game that could be played on the grass croquet lawns common to English country houses, applied for a patent on the rules and court design, and marketed a packaged set of equipment. The rules were significantly modified by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club before the first Wimbledon Championship in 1877, but Wingfield's adaptation of Real Tennis for outdoor grass courts is the direct origin of the modern game.
What was the Bertie de Meza tennis racquet patent?
Bertie de Meza filed patent US1532991A in 1925 for an improvement to tennis racket construction. His key innovation was the use of compressed cork rather than wood in the racket handle. The cork composition improved the handle's shock absorption and resilience, and was more resistant to the joint-loosening that affected wooden handles in humid or varying climates. The patent contributed to the durability standards that competitive racket manufacturing came to require.
When did professional players get to compete at Wimbledon?
Professional players were allowed to compete at Wimbledon beginning in 1968, the year the Open Era began. Before that, the Grand Slam events including Wimbledon were restricted to amateur players, which meant that professionals who had accepted prize money or appearance fees were barred from the sport's most prestigious competitions. The 1968 rule change allowed both amateurs and professionals to compete together for the first time, and Rod Laver immediately won the Grand Slam that year as a professional.
What tennis patent art prints are available?
Original U.S. Patent Office drawings for the tennis racquet (1925, Bertie de Meza) and tennis ball (1932, Albert Ernest Penfold) are available as framed watercolor prints, reproduced from the actual engineering documents filed with each patent application. Each print is made in the USA on museum-quality paper and available framed or unframed. Shop the full tennis patent art collection →
Written by Rider Tuff, founder of Timeless Patents. Timeless Patents makes museum-quality patent art prints from original U.S. Patent Office documents, celebrating the inventors behind your favorite sports, hobbies, and passions. Every print is available framed or unframed. Shop the full tennis collection →
