TENNIS Tennis, sometimes called royal tennis, and in America Court Tennis, is one of the oldest of ball games. It is played in a walled and roofed court, I 'oft. by 38ft. 8in., the floor, however, measuring but 96ft. by 3' ft. 8in., the difference being the width of a roofed corridor, the "penthouse" which runs along the two end walls and one of the side walls. Across the middle of the court a net is stretched, and the first object of the game is to strike the ball over this with a racket. The net is 5ft. high at the ends, 3ft. at the middle, and divides the floor into two equal parts, the "serv ice" side and the "hazard" side. The floor and walls are made of cement and should be smooth, but not polished.
There is no standard size for a tennis court, and courts vary considerably in dimensions, though the more modern ones have all been built on the same plan. The dimensions given here are those of the most suitable existing courts.
The court is lighted from the roof and sides. The height of the court to the tie-beam is Soft., the height of the play-line, above which the ball must not go, i8ft. at the sides and 23ft. at the ends. The roof of the penthouse, which is made of wood, slopes down , wards towards the court, the lower edge being 7ft. from the floor, the upper 'oft. 7in., the width 7ft. The dedans consist of an opening in the end wall on the service side, under the penthouse, where provision is made for spectators, who are protected by a net. It is 2' ft. 8in. in width; the upper edge is 6f t. loin. from the floor, the lower edge 3ft. Sin. The opening of the dedans is 4ft. 6in. from the main wall, 5ft. 6in. from the other side wall. Look ing from the dedans (i.e., from the service side), the right-hand or main wall has one peculiarity, the "tambour," a sloping buttress, to form which the wall is built inward, reducing the breadth of that part of the court to Soft. 2in. In the right-hand corner of the hazard side-end wall (as viewed from the dedans) is the grille, an opening lined with wood, 3ft. 'in. square ; and on this wall is painted a continuation of the pass-line. The left-hand wall, along which runs the pent-house, is not continuous, being broken by a long opening between the floor and the penthouse similar to the dedans, and at the same height from the ground. The low walls
under this opening and the dedans are called the batteries. There is no wall in front of the marker's box, through which the court is entered on either side of the net-post. This long opening in the left-hand wall is divided into galleries and doors, the latter situ ated where the entrances to the court used to be in early times. The measurements in order from the dedans are as follows, the numbers of the galleries being counted from the net : Service side : last gallery 9f t. 6in., second gallery 9f t. 6in. ; door 3ft. 6in. ; first gallery 5ft. 8in.; marker's box or line-opening 7ft. loin.; hazard side : first gallery 5ft. 8in. ; door 3ft. 6in. ; second gallery 9ft. 6in.; last gallery (also called winning gallery) 9ft. 6in. The last galleries are i5ft. 'lin. each from their respective end walls. The galleries are marked by posts, which also serve to support the penthouse. The galleries, dedans and grille are known as the openings; three of these-the grille, dedans and winning gallery-are winning-in openings; for if a ball in play is struck into one of these, the striker scores a point. In the earlier French courts were other winning openings, l'ais (the board), an upright board 9ft. by ft. in the left-hand corner of the dedans-wall, le petit trou or le trou, a hole i6in. square at the bottom of the other side of the wall, and la lune, a round opening high up by the play-line, one at each end of the court. The regulation court has certain lines painted on the floor, which are also continued perpendicularly on the walls. On the hazard side is the half-court line, the pass-line, and the service-line. The first is only required when one player gives the other the odds of "half the court" (vide infra, Scoring and Handi capping). The pass-line is drawn 7ft. 8in. from the main wall, the service-line 2I ft. 'in. from the grille-wall. The rectangle contained by the pass and service lines forms the service-court. The other lines, both on the hazard side and service side, mark the chases, which will be explained below.