Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. It features men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles; junior's championships; and wheelchair, legends, and exhibition events. Prior to 1988 it was played on grass courts, but since then two types of hardcourt surfaces have been used at Melbourne Park – green coloured Rebound Ace up to 2007 and, afterwards, blue Plexicushion.
The Grand Slam tournaments, also called majors, are the four most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of field, and greater number of "best of" sets for men, which is 5. The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in mid January, the French Open around late May through early June, Wimbledon in June–July, and the US Open in August–September. Each tournament is played over a two-week period. The Australian and United States tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, and the Australian in 1905. However, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major before 1924–25, when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments. Skipping majors—especially the Australian Open because of the remoteness, the inconvenient dates and the low prize money—was not unusual before 1982.
Rodney George Laver, better known as Rod Laver, is an Australian former tennis player. He was the No. 1 ranked professional from 1964 to 1970, spanning four years before and three years after the start of the Open Era in 1968. He also was the No. 1 ranked amateur in 1961–62.
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, formerly royal tennis in England and Australia, and courte-paume in France.
Margaret Court, also known as Margaret Smith Court, is a retired Australian tennis player and former world No. 1. She amassed more major titles than any other player in history and is considered as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She is currently a Christian Minister in Perth, Western Australia.
Marat Mubinovich Safin is a Russian politician and retired professional tennis player. He achieved the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 1 singles ranking on 20 November 2000. Nobody taller than Safin has ever reached the No. 1 ranking. Safin is the older brother of former world No. 1 WTA player, Dinara Safina. They are the only brother–sister tandem in tennis history who have both achieved No. 1 rankings. On court, Safin was famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper.
Roy Stanley Emerson is an Australian former World Number One tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. He has 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles. His 28 major titles are the all-time record for a male player. Emerson is the first male player to win each of the four major titles at least twice in his career. He is one of only eight men to win all four majors in his career. The others are Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world no. 1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis of the calendar year.
Grant Connell is a former professional tennis player from Canada, and has been a real estate agent for the past 14 years in Vancouver. He specializes in West Vancouver North Vancouver and Downtown properties real estate transactions. He is considered one of the world's top doubles player from the early to late -1990s, reaching the World No. 1 doubles ranking in November 1993.
Robert Anthony John Hewitt is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. He has won 15 major titles and a career Grand Slam in both men's and mixed doubles.
Colin Dibley is a former tennis player from Australia.
The game that most people call 'Tennis' is the direct descendant of what is now known as real tennis or royal tennis. Most rules of the game commonly known as tennis derive from it. It is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand; hence, the name jeu de paume. It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called "tennis." It was popular in England and France, and Henry VIII of England was a big fan of the game, now referred to as real tennis.
The Cambridge University Real Tennis Club is located on Grange Road, Cambridge, England. The club runs under the auspices of the University of Cambridge. It is one of the few real tennis clubs and courts in the United Kingdom
Ashleigh Barty is an Australian professional tennis player and former cricketer. She is ranked No. 1 in the world in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the second Australian WTA singles No. 1 after Evonne Goolagong Cawley. She is also a top 20 player in doubles, having achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. Barty has won seven singles titles and ten doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including one Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 French Open and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US Open with partner CoCo Vandeweghe. She is also the reigning champion in singles at the WTA Finals.
Alex de Miñaur is an Australian tennis player with dual Australian and Spanish citizenship. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of 18 in October 2019.
James Holmes is a former professional tennis player from Australia.
William Coghlan is a former tennis player from Australia.
Peter Smylie is an Australian former professional tennis player.
