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
ATTEMPTED MURDER: EX PARTNER STABBED ME WITH A KNIFE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT - THANKFULLY GOOD SAMARITAN INTERVENED & SAVED MY LIFE
Marina Afonina, now 51, from Northampton, met Ioan Budea in 2006 .
LEAPING WOOD MOUSE
LEAPING through the air this determined little mouse is on a mission for food .
BRAVE TOT ALLERGIC TO SUN
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BRAVE TOT ALLERGIC TO SUN: Leighton Brownrigg, 2 .
CEMETERY FINES
A COUNCIL has come under fire for slapping fines on people’s GRAVESTONES for breaching petty regulations on pot plants .
LITTLE OWL WINKS FOR THE CAMERA
A Little owl looks down the lens of a camera and gives the photographer a cheeky wink .
SEXUALLY ABUSED AT 9 BY GRANDAD
A survivor of abuse has bravely waived her anonymity to tell how she was sexually assaulted from the age of nine - by her depraved grandad .
ADORABLE SQUIRREL TRIES HER HAND AT PHOTOGRAPHY
A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .
AIR OF THE DOG: HILARIOUS FLYING POOCHES
FLYING through the air, these delighted pooches pull their best poses mid-flight .
AERIAL PICTURES OF FURTHER FLOODING AS HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES
An aerial view of flooding in Gloucestershire .
AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY
STRIKING photos capture nature at its most raw and powerful during Earth’s most electrifying event .
WOMAN REVEALS HOW DAUGHTER WAS STABBED TO DEATH BY VIOLENT EX WHILE HER CHILDREN WATCHED
A mother-of-four has revealed how her daughter was stabbed to death by her ex partner, while their horrified children watched on .
HONEYMOON BRIDE DIED OF HEROIN OVERDOSE
A coroner stunned an inquest into a honeymooner who died abroad today by asking her husband if he was involved in her drugs death .