14 Facts About Real tennis

The more common real tennis court is a very substantial building .

Real tennis evolved, over three centuries, from an earlier ball game played around the 12th century in France.

Real tennis spread across Europe, with the Papal Legate reporting in 1596 that there were 250 courts in Paris alone, near the peak of its popularity in France.

Real tennis's successor, Henry II, was an excellent player and continued the royal French tradition.

The first codification of the rules of real tennis was written by a professional named Forbet and published in 1599.

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Real tennis played a role in the history of the French Revolution, through the Tennis Court Oath, a pledge signed by French deputies in a real tennis court, which formed a decisive early step in starting the revolution.

In Victorian England, real tennis had a revival, but broad public interest later shifted to the new, much less difficult outdoor game of lawn tennis, which soon became the more popular sport, and was played by both genders .

Real tennis courts were built in Hobart, Tasmania and in the United States, starting in 1876 in Boston, and in New York in 1890, and later at athletic clubs in several other cities.

Real tennis greatly influenced the game of sticke, which was invented in the 19th century and combined aspects of real tennis, lawn tennis and rackets.

Real tennis has the longest line of consecutive world champions of any sport in the world, dating from 1760.

Forgotten master of designing, building and restoring real tennis courts was the British Fulham-based builder, Joseph Bickley .

Real tennis became a specialist around 1889 and patented a plaster mix to withstand condensation and dampness.

Real tennis is featured in the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, a fictional meeting between Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud.

Real tennis has occasionally been televised, but the court, the speed at which the ball travels, and the complexity of the rules all militate against the effectiveness and popularity of televised programming.