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What is sport ?

Sport is all forms of usually competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators.

History of sport

There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 2000 BC. Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports, including swimming and fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt.Ancient Persian sports such as the traditional Iranian martial art had a close connection to the warfare skills.Among other sports that originate in ancient Persia are polo and jousting.

. A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient Greece and the military culture and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another considerably. Sports have been increasingly organised and regulated from the time of the ancient Olympics up to the present century. Industrialisation has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication. Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase in sport's popularity, as sports fans began following the exploits of professional athletes through radio, television, and the internet — all while enjoying the exercise and competition associated with amateur participation in sports.

Tennis

Tennis is a sport people usually play individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racquet that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a good return. 

   Equipment

Racquets   The components of a tennis racquet include a 

handle, known as the grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings. For the first 100 years of the modern game, racquets were of wood and of standard size, and strings were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more strength in racquets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and then composites of carbon graphite, ceramics, and lighter metals such as titanium were introduced. 

Balls Tennis balls came a long way from being 

made out of cloth strips, which were stitched together with thread.Tennis balls are made of hollow rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant color was gradually changed to optic Yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for improved visibility. Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce criteria to be approved for regulation play. 

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A tennis racquet and balls.

Rule variations No ad

From 'No advantage'. Scoring method created by Jimmy Van Alen. The first player or doubles team to win four points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is ahead by two points.

Pro set Instead of playing multiple sets, players may play one "pro set". A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tie-break is usually played when the score is 8–8. These are often played with no-ad scoring.

Match tie-break This is sometimes played instead of a third set. A match tie-break is played like a regular tie-break, but the winner must win ten points instead of seven.

Tennis strategy Players use different tennis strategies to enhance

their own strengths and exploit their opponent's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and win more points.

Players typically specialize or naturally play in a certain way, based on what they can do best. Based on their style, players generally fit into one of three types: baseliners, volleyers and all-court players. Many players have attributes of all three categories but may focus on one style based on the surface or their opponent.

. A baseliner plays from the back of the tennis court,

around the baseline, preferring to trade groundstrokes rather than to come up to the net (except in certain situations). A volleyer tries to approach the net and hit volleys, putting pressure on the opponent. All-court players fall somewhere in between.

A player's weaknesses may also determine strategy. For example, most players have a stronger forehand, therefore they will favor the forehand even to the point of "running around" a backhand to hit a forehand.

Famous players

Male

Donald Budge,Roger Federer,Rafael Nadal,Rod Laver,Jack Kramer,Lew Hoad,Pete Sampras, Bill Tilden.

Female

Martina Navratilova,Serena Williams,Margaret Court,Steffi Graf, Helen Wills Moody, Venus Williams.

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oTennis field

oTennis match