Page:EB1911 - Volume 26.djvu/658

Rh last gallery (also called “winning” gallery), 9 ft. 6 in. The last galleries are 15 ft. II in. each from their respective end walls. The galleries are marked by “posts” which also serve to support the penthouse. The galleries, dedans and grille are known as the “openings”; three of these-the grille, dedans and winning gallery-are “winning-in openings”; for if a ball in play is struck into one of these, the striker scores a point. In the earlier French courts were other “winning openings," l'ais (the board), an upright board 9 ft. by 1 ft. in the left-hand corner of the dedans-wall, le petit trou or le trou, a hole 16 in. square at the bottom of the other side of that wall, and la lune, a round opening high up by the play-line, one at each end of the court. In the illustrations are shown certain lines painted on the floor, which are also continued perpendicularly on the walls. On the hazard side is the “half-court line,” the “pass-line” and the “service-line.” The first is only required when one player gives the other the odds of “half the court” (vide infra, “Scoring and Handicapping”). The pass-line is drawn 7 ft. 8 in. from the main wall; the service-line 21 ft. 1 in. from the grille-wall. The rectangle contained by the pass and service lines forms the “service-court.” The other lines, both on the hazard side and service side, mark the “chases,” which will be explained below. The cost of a tennis-court is about £2000.

The Implements.—The balls, for which there are no regulation dimensions, weigh 2 oz. and are 2 in. in diameter. They are made of strips of cloth, no twine being used except to keep the outside layer in place, and are covered with white Melton cloth. The American balls, made of layers of cotton and cloth alternately, are somewhat lighter and slower than the English. A set of balls consists of six or seven dozen; the same set should not be used twice in a day. The racquet is usually about 27 in. long and weighs about 16 oz. The head is about 9 in. long and 6 in. broad, but there are no restrictions as to size or weight. The head is somewhat pear-shaped, but its centre line does not correspond with the centre-line of the handle, as it is curved upwards to facilitate the stroke when the ball is taken close to the Hoof. The earliest racquets were strung diagonally, i.e. in diamonds; later the present vertical-horizontal stringing was adopted, then followed knotting at the points of intersection; but now the knotting has disappeared. The name racquet (or racket) appears in French as racquette and in Italian as racchetta. It is variously derived from Latin reticulata (netted), Dutch racken (to stretch), later Latin racha (palm of the hand or wrist), or the Arabian ráhat (palm of the hand): in favour of the two last derivations is the fact that tennis is a development of a game originally played with the hand, protected by a leather glove, and later on strings were stretched violin-fashion across the palm, to give more power to the stroke. Then followed a wooden bat (battoir), and then a short-handled racquet, either strung or covered with parchment, and finally the modern implement.

Technical Terms.—Some of these have already been explained, but the following may be added. “Bisque”: the privilege, given as a form of odds, of scoring a stroke during any part of the game, except after the delivery of “service” or after a “fault.” “Boast”: to hit the ball on to the side wall first. “Cut”: to strike the ball with the head of the racquet held at an angle to the ball's course instead of meeting it with the full face, thus causing backward rotation of the ball (similar to-the “screw” in billiards), which alters its natural rebound from the wall. “Twist”: analogous to “cut,” but the strings are drawn across the ball at the moment of impact, so as to make it rotate sideways. A ball so struck with a fore-hand stroke twists inwards towards the other player off the

floor, and away from' him if it is allowed to strike the end wall; the reverse being the effect of twist from a back-hand stroke. “ Rest”: a series of strokes between the two players. “Service ”: the first stroke of a “rest.” The server may serve from any part of the court on the service side. The ball must strike the roof of the side penthouse, and fall within the service-court. “Fault ”: a ball so served that it either does not touch the side penthouse, or falls outside the service-court. “Pass”: a service in which the ball drops beyond the pass-line; the service in this case does not count, but a “pass” does not annul a previous fault, as was once the case. “Force”: to strike the ball hard; a hardhit stroke. “Volley”: to strike a ball in its flight (ai la volée) before it has touched the floor. “Half-volley”: to strike a ball immediately after it touches, and before it rises from, the floor. “Nick”: the angle where the floor and walls meet. “Marker”: the attendant who marks and calls the chases and other points scored in the game.

Scoring and Handicapping.—A match consists of three or five “sets”; a “set” of eeven games. The winner of six games wins the set. If a player wins six games consecutively he wins a “love set,” even though his opponent may have won several games. The loser of a love set, by an old custom, gives the marker a shilling. Should the score be called “Five games all,” the players may arrange to play a “vantage game,” the set in that case not being won till one or other has won two games in succession. A game consists ordinarily of four winning strokes, called by the marker as “Fifteen,” - “Thirty,” “Forty,” “Game”; if the score is “forty-all,” the marker calls “Deuce,” and two strokes have to be won in succession by one of the players. When one has won a stroke his score is called “Vantage”; if he wins the next, he wins the game; if he loses it, the score reverts to deuce. The score of the player who won the last stroke or made the last chase is called first. In handicapping the usual odds are (1) bisques, which may also be given in addition to other odds, or to balance odds received; (2) half-fifteen, or one point to be taken at the beginning of the second and every alternate game; (3) fifteen, or one point in every game; (4) half-thirty, or one point in every odd game and two points in every even game; (5) thirty, or two points in every game; (6) half-forty, or two points in every odd game and three in every even game; (7) forty, or three points in every game. Other handicaps are:—“Round services,” the giver of odds having to serve so that the ball hits both the side and end penthouse; “half the court,” the giver of the odds confining his strokes, except service, to one side of the court as divided by the half-court line, a stroke played into the other half counting to his adversary; “touch no walls,” the giver of odds confining his play except service to the floor; “bar the openings,” the giver of odds losing a point if his ball goes into a gallery or into the dedans or grille; “bar winning openings,” which are closed to the giver of odds, who loses a point if time ball enters them; “side wails,” the giver of odds losing a point if he plays the ball on to any side wall, the end penthouses being open to him, and the dedans and grille. In these “cramped” odds the rules do not apply if the ball goes out of limits after the second bound.,

The Game and Hints on Play.—The players decide who shall serve by spinning a racquet on its head. One spins and the other calls “rough” or “smooth,” the “rough” side of the head of the racquet showing the knots of some of) the lower