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
MONSTER EX LEFT ME FOR DEAD AND BATTERED ME UNRECOGNISABLE AFTER BRUTAL 10HR ATTACK
Amber Baskerville, 30, started dating Craig Chard, 34, in October 2021 .
AN OTTER-ONE BITES THE DUST
Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .
BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .
HOUSEWORK-OUT
STEPFORD wives from the 1950's and 60's are performing history's most sexist exercise programme .
LIVING ON WATER: REFUGEES BUILD A LIFE AT SEA
SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .
OUT OF THIS WORLD PLANET CAKES
Complete with core, mantle and crust, these incredible planet cakes are truly out of this world .
VICTIM SAVES HER RAPIST'S LIFE AFTER HE OVERDOSES FOLLOWING ATTACK
A woman has told how she saved the life of her own rapist after he overdosed on pills shortly after attacking her .
WOMAN GAINED 5ST IN A YEAR DUE TO CRIPPLING POSTNATAL DEPRESSION, BUT PHOTO SHOCK SAW HER LOSE 7.5ST AFTER SHE DIDN’T RECOGNISE HERSELF - NOW SHE’S A SLIM SIZE 8
A mother-of-three who weighed almost 16st has revealed how she lost 7 .
A HOLE LOT OF TROUBLE! - WOMAN HAS PHOBIA OF HOLES
Meet mother of four, Jackie Wright, whose bizarre fear means she is terrified of HOLES .
VISOR FASHION FAIL
FROM motorcycling to department store shopping these spookily faceless people are part of the Chinese-fad for wearing protective solar-visors in public .
WOMAN'S SKIN TURNED SILVER AFTER TAKING NOSE DROPS
An American woman whose skin turned silver after using nose drops is warning people of the dangers of medicines containing the metal .
CUTEST PICTURES OF PUPPIES AND BABY EVER
HEART-MELTING shots of a French bulldog and a ten-month-old French baby could be the cutest you’re likely to see .