VICTORIAN TENNIS RULE BOOK REVEALS GAME PLAYED BY THREE

TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book. Our ancestors started playing the game outdoors for the first time thanks to a Birmingham lawyer who experimented with the sport. Instead of the Wimbledon as we know it with strict singles and doubles teams with no mixing of the sexes the early Victorians were MORE liberal. In a version called the Unicorn one player could play against two opponents. And while ladies were discouraged from playing - they were permitted to battle against the men. This means if Wimbledon was played the Victorian way we could be looking at a big female name like Serena Williams playing the likes of Murray AND Djokovic. History buffs of the sport insist the 1874 'Lawn tennis or Pelota rules of the game' by Thomas Henry Gem was the first of its kind. Former PE teachers Sue Elks, 69, and Christopher Elks, 68, from Wythall in the West Midlands explained the difference the modern game has with the tennis of yesteryear.

Other great stories
ADORABLE ORANGUTAN TURNS ONE

An adorable orangutan named Pongo celebrates his first birthday at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, America .

THE POP-UP HOTEL RETURNS TO GLASTONBURY

GLAMPING is taken to a whole new level in the form of the luxurious Pop-Up Hotel .

SPELLBINDING ENGLISH STAR TRAILS

A photographer has captured spellbinding images of stars swirling above the English countryside .

AMAZING AERIAL PATTERNS

Swirling water and sand create amazing aerial images of river deltas across Iceland .

SNOW HITS BIRMINGHAM

More weather chaos is heading our way, with ice and snow already hitting areas across Birmingham .

'GRENADE' DIET PILLS PUT AIRPORTS ON ALERT

AIRPORT staff have been put on alert after diet pills that come in grenade shaped containers sparked security alerts .

WAVES FROZEN IN TIME

Beautiful turquoise waves rise and fall in a series of stunning images taken along the coastline of south-eastern Australia .

INDONESIAN TRIBE UNTOUCHED BY MODERN LIFE

An Italian photographer travelled to the highlands of New Guinea where he met an Indonesian tribe untouched by the modern world .

CHEEKY FROG HITCHES A RIDE ON A SNAIL

A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .

HUMAN CCTV COP BUSTS 130 CRIMINALS

Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents .

ABANDONED PLAZA HOTEL

The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .

SHIVERING SQUIRREL

THIS LITTLE squirrel tries to keep himself snug as snow starts to fall around him .