Did You Know?

Do you know tennis? If not, use this list as a refresher. Impress your tennis friends after your next match with one or more of these little-known facts.

• The net is 36" high in the center.
• 17-gauge string is more resilient than 15-gauge string, but will not last as long.
• The standard length of an adult racquet is 27".
• In Australian doubles play, the server's partner stands on the same half of the court as the server.
• Canadian doubles is played with 3 people - one person against a doubles team.
• Grass is the fastest court surface, and produces the lowest bounce.
• The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam event to be played on 3 different surfaces.
• A standard tennis ball weighs between 2 and 2-1/16 ounces.
• The tennis court is 78 feet long.
• The traditional scoring system in a tennis game is 15-30-40-deuce-ad-game is said to derive from the usage of the four quarters of a clock.
• On the NTRP rating system, 7.0 is a world class player.
• The Eastern forehand grip is the classic forehand grip, and sometimes called the "shake hand" grip.
• The standard racquet head size is 66 square inches; the oversize is 110+ square inches.
• The fastest serve speed recorded is 143 miles per hour.
• The Royal Tennis Court, built by Henry VIII in 1530, is the oldest tennis court in use in the world.
• The game of tennis originated in France before the 12th century.
• Lower string tensions generate more power.
• In doubles, when one partner calls a ball out and the other one good, the ball must be considered to have been good.
• Returning a service that is obviously out (accompanied by an out call) is a form of rudeness.
• The kick serve gives you the most time to get in to net for serve and volley play.
• If your opponent hits a winner and his/her foot touches the bottom of the net, it's your point.
• If your opponent's serve hits you before it bounces, it's your opponent's point.
• The serve is probably the most important shot in tennis but the least practiced.
• The mental side of the tennis, is said to be 80 percent of the game.
• If you're not sure whether your opponent's shot is in or out, it's in.
• Rumor has it that if you beat Henry VIII in tennis, you stood a good chance of being beheaded.
• The game of tennis was originally played with the bare hand, later with a glove.
• The first Lawn Tennis Championships was instituted at Wimbledon in 1877, where the Gentleman's Singles was contested.
The copyright of the article Did You Know? in Tennis is owned by Sandra Eggers. Permission to republish Did You Know? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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