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
TRANSGENDER WOMAN SPENDS £25K TO BECOME BEAUTY QUEEN

A transgender woman has beaten the bullies after spending £25K on surgery to become a beauty pageant queen .

IPAD GAMES FOR KITTIES TURNS THEM INTO PI-CAT-SSO

Is your cat bored? Do his usual playthings simply not do it for him anymore? Not to worry - there's an app for that .

YOGI - BEAR - POLAR CUBS MORNING BEAR-ROBICS

A young polar bear cub becomes the yogi bear as she stretches off for a morning aerobics session .

SCULPTURES THAT WILL LEAF YOU SPEECHLESS

GIANT garden sculptures don't beat about the bush .

FIGHTING BABOONS

THEIR gnarling teeth at the ready, these two baboons fight it out for the last piece of fruit .

TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES

She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl .

PLAYFUL OWL PLAYS HIDE AND SEEK

A cheeky owl fancies a game of hide and seek as it peeps out from behind a tree .

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 .

MODEL SPENDS £22K TO TRANSFORM HER ENTIRE BODY

A GLAMOUR model who has spent £22K on cosmetic procedures is hoping that a revolutionary new treatment to give her a designer vagina will end her quest for perfection .

GENTLE WHALE SHARK GIANTS FEED UNDER FISHERMAN’S BOAT

A group of whale sharks gather to feed underneath a fisherman’s boat off the coast of Papua, Indonesia .

PELICANS CLASH OVER FOOD

LIFTING their heads high and bumping beaks, these aggressive pelicans clash over fish .