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
FIRST SHOES, FIRST STEPS FOR MENINGITIS TOT
Oday she is a picture of health - a happy, smiling child, enjoying life to the full .
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 .
FORGETFUL PARENT’S LIVING TIMEKEEPER
FOR TWO memory-impaired parents their new-born baby Cian is a living timekeeper .
CHEEKY GORILLA
A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .
BOSTON MARATHON PICTURES
T least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .
WOMAN LOSES 13ST AFTER BEATING HALF-TON POTATO ADDICTION
A woman has lost over 13st after beating her addiction to POTATOES .
UNIQUE TREEHOUSES: A NIGHT UNDER THE STARS
WITH LUSH GREEN LANDSCAPES stretching out as far as the eye can see, you're in for a treat at these one of a kind treehouses .
NINJA RED SQUIRREL
A NINJA red squirrel cuts a dashing figure as the little fella jumps up to ten-feet between treetops in the Yorkshire Dales .
SPECTACLED BEAR IS CHRISTMAS STAR ON ZOO’S TREE
Most people have an angel at the top of their Christmas tree, but one bear at Chester Zoo decided he wanted to be the star of the show .
INCREDIBLE BABY DREAMS BROUGHT TO LIFE
WHETHER FLOATING through space or diving underwater, a lucky baby boy enjoys once in a life time experiences - in his DREAMS .
JOLY THE WOLLY FALLS FOR PARKING PRANK
PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .
VICTORIAN TENNIS RULE BOOK REVEALS GAME PLAYED BY THREE
TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book .