18 July 16  |  Tennis   |  

Playing Tennis at Golden Ocala? Enjoy These Fun Tennis Facts

You enter a caged area to swat a furry yellow ball with a weird stick while wearing strange clothes and talking about love (which apparently only losers experience). Is tennis unusual? You bet. Is tennis at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club kind of off base? We hope not.

But for avid players, the game of tennis is perfectly normal, healthy and sane; it’s just the terminology and attire that can confound the outsider.

Now let’s explore the unusual side of tennis. Here are some strange happenings in the world of tennis, according to Tennis Canada.

Scotland’s Killer Tennis Balls

Tennis balls can be murderers: Scotland’s King James I became infuriated with losing tennis balls, which rolled into sewage drains. He decreed the sealing of the sewage drains. Days later, he attempted to flee assassins by crawling into the drainage system only to find passage blocked by a collection of stray tennis balls. The assassins were easily able to catch the tennis-loving king.

Ancient English sailors used to put pineapples on their gateposts after returning for long voyages. Somehow the original designers of the Wimbledon trophy thought a pineapple would look dandy atop the prize.

The first yellow balls were used at Wimbledon in 1986.

Tennis trophy

On vacation in Athens in the late 19th century, John Pius Boland ended up playing in the 1896 Olympics – and won two Gold medals. Boland hadn’t intended on playing; his friend was a member of the organizing committee and had signed him up. Boland played – and won – in singles, then played in the doubles, and won.

In 2010, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played at Wimbledon for 11 hours and five minutes over three days. Isner won by 70-68 in the record longest match.

Steffi Graf beat Natalia Zvereva in the Grand Slam final in 34 minutes for the record shortest match.

Until the 16th century, the game was played with hands. French monks were avid players of “jeu de paume” (the game of the palm).

We conclude with “love,” which in tennis means zero. Sports historians don’t agree about the word’s origins, but some suggest it came from the French “l’oeuff,” an egg, which represents a zero.

Contact one of Golden Ocala’s tennis professionals today at 352-402-4351 to discover what makes tennis so wonderful. What do you think of this information? Keep up with all of the latest news from Golden Ocala by following us on Facebook and Twitter.

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