Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Tennis, Lawn

TENNIS, LAWN, an out-door game played with balls, which are of hollow rubber, covered with smooth white cloth, cemented to the ball, on a piece of smooth, level sward. It remotely resembles tennis. The players are separated from each other by a low net, stretching across the ground, over which they strike a tennis ball with rackets resembling tennis bats. The net should be 42 inches high at the sides of the court and 36 inches high in the middle. Each ball is two and a half inches in diameter and weighs two ounces. The weight of the racket may vary from 10 to 20 ounces. The modern game of lawn tennis was originated by Major Wingfield in Wales in 1874, and introduced into the United States the same year by F. R. Sears and James Dwight.