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History of Tennis

Tennis as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets similar to the game of Poona or Badminton many British soldiers brought from being stationed in India and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, England.In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.The Courier of 23 July 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.

In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game - which he called sphairistike and was soon known simply as "sticky" - for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales.He based the game on the newer sport of outdoor tennis or real tennis. According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of real tennis and applied them to his new game.

The first championships at Wimbledon, in London were played in 1877. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions.The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the U.S. Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island.The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887.Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891.Thus, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis.Together these four events are called the Grand Slam (a term borrowed from bridge).The comprehensive International Lawn Tennis Federation rules promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tie-breaker system designed by James Van Alen.The Davis Cup, an annual competition between national teams, dates to 1900.

In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen.Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.

In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis.With the beginning of the open era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image(although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).

In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island.The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.

Tennis Odds

On the men's side Roger Federer has dominated the sport of tennis for quite a while. The women's side is more open although the top four or five players still routinely dominate tennis betting odds.

Tennis odds can be interesting to bet and to follow. Knowing the players is important when considering tennis odds. The problem for many people when looking at tennis odds is that just knowing the top few players is not enough.

Top players are well known, and offer little value in tennis betting odds. Sometimes the lesser-known players offer more value in terms of tennis odds. What you need to do is study some of the players outside of the top few so that you can spot value on the tennis odds board. Look at the tennis rankings and look at more players than just the top ten. Another handicapping factor to consider as you look at tennis odds is the surface. There are four different playing surfaces for you to consider as you bet tennis odds. You have hard, clay and grass. Some players are great on one surface, but struggle on the other surfaces. This has been the case in recent seasons where a player like Rafael Nadal is great on clay and just average on other surfaces. This is an important factor in tennis odds.

Each player has certain strengths and those strengths may be affected by the surface. When you are looking at the tennis odds board you must understand that the surface can affect a player. You also want to look at other factors as you consider tennis odds. You want to look at a player's recent performance. See how they have been performing in recent months. Also consider their rankings in the world. You also want to consider injuries in tennis. There will be times when a player is nursing an injury and still plays. These players are usually not good bets in terms of tennis betting odds.

Take a look at some of these factors as you consider tennis betting odds this year. You want to remember to look at other players beyond the top few, the different surfaces, injuries, and recent performance. These are all factors to consider before you make your next tennis wager.

Odds are made to facilitate betting. If there are no odds or betting lines casinos have no way to take bets, and casinos make their money by accepting bets.

Like the point spread, the money line is used to equal out the attractiveness of the favorite and the underdog for the typical bettor.

Money line results are decided by an event's straight-up winner, without regard to any point spread, since there is no point spread. Oddsmakers set the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite (the expected winner) and less money on the underdog in an effort to balance the willingness of bettors to back the respective sides of a contest.

For example, Emily's favorite tennis player Serena Williams wins a majority of her matches. The money line between Serena and her opponent, let's say the 102nd-ranked player in the world, would not be even for this very reason. Sportsbooks would make bettors wager significantly more money on Serena than her opponent because of the disproportionate likelihood of Serena winning the match.

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