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
CHRISTMAS SNOWMAN ATTRACTS CURIOUS SQUIRREL
Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .
LOVERAT BF HAD SEX IN PUBLIC WITH WOMAN HE’D MET AT GYM AND I FOUND OUT AFTER STRANGERS SENT ME VIDEOS
Katie Thompson, 22, met Joe Firby, now 23, in April 2020 on Tinder .
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 .
EYE-CATCHING TRIBAL HAIRSTYLES
BRAIDED, sculpted and beaded, these are the eye-catching hairstyles worn by the tribal women of Angola .
SQUIRRELS SQUABBLE OVER LUNCH
SQUABBLING over the last piece of grain, these hungry squirrels are determined to stock up on as much food as possible .
CHILD SHEPHERDS OF THE SIMIEN MOUNTAINS
CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .
WIDOW AWARDED £300K AFTER EX CONNED HER OUT OF THOUSANDS
A widow whose love rat ex-boyfriend left her homeless has had the last laugh after a judge ordered her ex to pay back £300,000 .
LIP FILLERS NEARLY KILLED ME
A woman left disfigured and traumatised by an addiction to lip filler injections has issued a warning to others searching for the perfect pout after the plastic chemicals nearly killed her .
MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS
These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create .
HYENA HAS THE LAST LAUGH
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
COUPLE CELEBRATE THEIR 70TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY AND RECEIVE SPECIAL CARD FROM NEWLY CROWNED KING CHARLES
A couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last week and have received a special card from newly crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla .
HUBBY LEFT ME FOR BEING A COUCH POTATO...SO I LOST 13 STONE
Most women would jump at the chance to put on some lipstick, sling on a pair of heels and head out for a romantic meal with their other half .