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
AMAZING PEN ART

FROM THE world famous Girl with a Pearl Earring painting to a jaguar in the grass, these incredible drawings are created from coloured ballpoint pens .

DOCTORS THOUGHT MY 30CM OVARIAN CYST WAS A BABY DUE TO GROWING BELLY – BUT CANCER WAS RAVISHING MY ORGANS

A woman was diagnosed with cancer after a cyst left her so bloated medics were convinced she was pregnant .

WORLD’S MOST BLINGED-OUT CAR

FEAST your eyes on the £500K coin-covered Range Rover that could be the world’s most blinged-out car .

FEARLESS CHEF SLAMS TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS WITH HILARIOUS INSULTS

FOR most restaurateurs, the phrase ‘the customer is always right’ is gospel .

HEARTBREAK DIET LOST ME 11.5ST AND BAGGED ME A FELLA

When Janet Curry, 38, was told she was ‘too big to date’ by a man she met on the dating website Plenty of Fish, she didn’t let it stop her from looking for love .

‘PEG-LEG’ AMPUTEE OVERCOMES BULLIES TO MODEL LINGERIE

An amputee who was cruelly nicknamed 'peg-leg' by school bullies has conquered her insecurities to become a model .

UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP

SAT happily on the branch of a tree, this little frog appears unfazed by a surprise visitor .

IN FLIGHT MEAL

This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .

RELAXING OTTER

FLOATING effortlessly on his back, this little otter laps up a rare glimmer of English spring sunshine .

HAPPILY UN-COUPLED - JILTED WOMAN THROWS DIVORCE PARTY

A woman has celebrated the end of her marriage to her unfaithful husband by throwing herself a DIVORCE PARTY .

DAREDEVIL DIVERS HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME

SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .

EYE-OPENING INSIGHT INTO KENYA’S LARGEST DUMPING GROUND

PILES of trash provide a living for thousands in Nairobi, Kenya .