Lawn tennis is the outgrowth of the old French game of the courts of the early Louis.It spread to England, where it gained a firm hold on public favour.The game divided; the original form being closely adhered to in the game known in America as "Court tennis," but which is called "Tennis" in England.Lawn tennis grew out of it.
The old style game was played over a net some 5 feet high, and the service was always from the same end, the players changing courts each game.It was more on the style of the present game of badminton or battledore and shuttlecock.
Gradually the desire for active play had its effect, in a lowered net and changed laws, and tennis, as we know it, grew into being.From its earliest period, which is deeply shrouded in mystery, came the terms of "love" for "nothing" and "deuce" for "40-all." What they meant originally, or how they gained their hold is unknown, but the terms are a tradition of the game and just as much a part of the scoring system as the "game" or "set" call.
In 1920 the Rules Committee of the American Tennis Association advocated a change in scoring that replaced love, 15, 30, 40 with the more comprehensive 1, 2, 3, 4.The real reason for the proposed change was the belief that the word "love" in tennis made the uninitiated consider the game effeminate and repelled possible supporters.The loyal adherents of the old customs of the game proved too strong, and defeated the proposed change in scoring by an overwhelming majority.
Personally, I think there is some slight claim to consideration for the removal of the word "love." It can do no good, and there are many substitutes for it.It can easily be eliminated without revolutionizing the whole scoring system.It is far easier to substitute the words "zero," "nothing," for "love" than cause such an upheaval as was proposed.In my opinion the best way to obviate the matter is to use the player's name in conjunction with the points won by him, when his opponent has none.Ifthe first point is won by Williams, call the score "15, Williams" and, with his opponent scoring the next, the call would become "15-all."If tennis loses one adherent, it could otherwise gain, simply by its retaining the word "love" in the score, I heartily advocate removing it.This removal was successfully accomplished in Chicago in 1919, with no confusion to players, umpires, or public.
However, returning from my little digression on the relative value of "love" and "nothing," let me continue my short history of the game.The playing of tennis sprang into public favour so quickly that in a comparatively short space of time it was universally played in England and France.The game was brought to America in the latter part of the nineteenth century.Its growth there in the past twenty-five years has been phenomenal.During the last half century tennis gained a firm foothold in all the colonies of the British Empire, and even found favour in the Orient, as is explained in another portion of this book.
Tennis fills many needs of mankind.It provides an outlet for physical energy, relaxation, mental stimulus, and healthful exercise.The moral tone is aided by tennis because the first law of tennis is that every player must be a good sportsman and inherently a gentleman.
Tennis was recognized by the Allied Governments as one of the most beneficial sports during the World War.Not only were the men in service encouraged to play whenever possible, but the Allied Governments lent official aid to the various service tournaments held in France following the signing of the Armistice.The importance of tennis in the eyes of the American Government may be gleaned from the fact that great numbers of hard courts were erected at the various big cantonments, and organized play offered to the soldiers.
Many of the leading players who were in training in America at the time of the National Championship, which was played solely to raise money for the Red Cross, were granted leave from their various stations to take part in the competition.Among the most notable were Wallace F.Johnson, Conrad B.Doyle, Harold Throckmorton, S.Howard Voshell, and myself, all of whom were granted leave of two weeks or a month.CaptainR.N.Williams and Ensigns William M.Johnston and Maurice E.
M'Loughlin, and many other stars, were overseas.Official recognition at such a time puts a stamp of approval on the game which goes far to justify its world-wide popularity.
The tennis world lost many of its best in that titanic struggle.The passing of so many from its ranks left gaps that will be hard to fill.
The gallant death of Anthony F.Wilding in Flanders cost the game one of its greatest players, and finest men.I had not the pleasure of knowing Wilding personally yet I, like all the tennis world, felt a sense of keen personal loss at his heroic passing.Wilding was a man whose sterling qualities gave even more to the game than his play, and tennis is better for his all too brief career.
America lost some of its finest manhood in the War, and tennis paid its toll.No player was a more likeable personality nor popular figure among the rising stars than John Plaffman, the young Harvard man who gave his life in Flanders fields.I cannot touch on the many heroes who made everlasting fame in a bigger game than that which they loved so well.Time is too short.It is sufficient to know that the tennis players of the world dropped their sport at the call of War, and played as well with death as ever they did on the tennis court.
