By Haddon Libby
Originally called Jeu de paume (palm game), tennis originated in France during the 12th century. Back then, it was more like handball as there were no racquets and the game was played indoors. This version of the sport has held an amateur championship since 1740 making it the oldest active trophy amongst international sports.
The name tennis came into being about 500 years ago when the sport crossed the English Channel and entered the United Kingdom. The name of tennis is thought a derivative of the French word ‘tenez’ which means ‘to receive’ which is a common term when starting a match.
The first tennis courts were indoors with sloping walls and various obstacles where the ball was struck by wooden racquets. This gave way to outdoor courts played on grass lawns.
The scoring system in tennis has always seemed a bit odd. The first point is 15, the second point brings us to 30 and the third point 40. In the original version of the game, scoring was in increments of 15 with 60 being the winning score. It is believed that the 40 was used to consider the need to win by two points. When a score is 40-40, it is called deuce. The winner then plays for 5 points to reach the 45 point level. This seems a bit odd as the original game would go to 60. Others believe scoring was done this way to keep the commoners away from the sport.
The longest match in history occurred in 2010 at Wimbledon when Roger Federer bested Sam Growth in a match that lasted just over 11 hours! The longest rally was in 1984 between Vicki Nelson-Dunbar and Jean Hepner when they hit the ball a collective 643 times over 29 ½ minutes.
The BNP Paribas Open is being held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden through March 17th. This year marks its 50th year since the first tournament. The tournament came to the Coachella Valley in 1976 after an inaugural year in Tucson, Arizona as the American Airlines Tennis Games. In that first iteration, the event was a men’s tournament with 64 players and a large purse of prize money at $150,000. Today the purse is $18 million split between the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Australian John Newcombe won the first event by defeating Arthur Ashe in two sets. Where Newcombe earned $25,000 for that victory, this year’s champion will receive $1.1 million.
There was no second year in Arizona. The tournament was revived by Charlie Pasarell in 1976 when it was held at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. Pasarell was part of a doubles team that won alongside Newcombe.
This inaugural desert tournament had just twelve players and was not part of the tennis tour. Some of the players included Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, and tournament winner Jimmy Connors.
Those first two tournaments were not part of the tennis tour. From 1977 through 1989, it was part of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour with 96 players.
Outside of a Grand Slam tournament, the BNP Open is generally considered to be the most important tennis tournament of the year. With an attendance that can reach 500,000, it is the most attended tournament outside of the Grand Slams.
The Indian Wells Tennis Gardens have twenty-nine courts with its main court capable of hosting 16,100 spectators making it the second largest tennis-only stadium in the world. The largest stadium seats 23,771and is used for the US Open in Queens, New York. Three stadiums with capacities 15,000 are in Beijing China, Wuhan China and New Haven Connecticut. Wimbledon is seventh with 14,979 seats.
Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Drake Investment Management, an RIA firm. For more information on our services, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com.
