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
LETHAL BIRTHMARK NEARLY SUFFOCATES GIRL
HOTSPOT MEDIA - LETHAL BIRTHMARK NEARLY SUFFOCATES GIRL: Zoe Mitchell when she was two-weeks-old .
SUMMER ARRIVES AT LAST
Britons have finally received some good news about the weather with temperatures expected to reach 30 degrees this weekend .
CAT RIPS OFF OWN EARS DUE TO UNTREATED CANCER
Animal rescue volunteers have told how a cat riddled with cancer was forced to ripped off its own ears after it was abandoned by its owners .
WOMAN LOSES 10ST AND DITCHES HUSBAND AFTER 'FAT COW' JIBE
A former size 30 comfort-eater ditched her husband and lost over 10st after he called her a 'fat cow' .
SNOW HITS BIRMINGHAM
More weather chaos is heading our way, with ice and snow already hitting areas across Birmingham .
WOMAN’S SICK NEIGHBOUR SEXUALLY ABUSED HER FROM AGED NINE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT – WHEN SHE BRAVELY REPORTED HIM, SIX OTHERS CAME FORWARD
Kaitlin pictured aged nine - Heart pounding, Kaitlin Womack stared in shock at a Facebook post on her phone .
SWASTIKA'S SPRAYED ON MOSQUE
Pic By HotSpot Media - SWASTIKA’S SPRAYED ON MOSQUE - RACIST graffiti including swastikas have been emblazoned on a £2 .
OUT OF THIS WORLD PLANET CAKES
Complete with core, mantle and crust, these incredible planet cakes are truly out of this world .
THE DEVIL'S OWN GOAL: CLUB RENAMES STADIUM IN SATAN'S NAME
football club has scored an own goal after it had to embarrassingly rename its stadium in honour of the DEVIL .
THE END OF THE WORLD CINEMA
SITTING in the middle of a vast desert, an abandoned cinema is still waiting for its first movie to be screened .
SPECTACULAR BODY ART
FROM COLOURFUL autumn leaves to living trees at first glance you might miss these people blended with nature .
BIRD FISHING
DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .