Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from … See more

Unlike latex-based technology underlying the modern lawn tennis ball, the game uses a cork-cored ball which is very close in design to the original balls used in the game. The 2+1⁄2-inch (64 mm) diameter balls are ha… See more

To begin play, the players spin a racket or toss a coin to decide who serves first. Serves are always made from the service end of the court, that is, the side of the court with the dedans. Unlike lawn tennis, at least one fo… See more

The pinnacle of the sport is the biennial World Championship. The first champion is known only as Clergé, becoming the champion in approximately 1740. Scores for challenge formats are only known from 1862 onwar… See more

There are 45 playable real tennis courts in the world, with 28 of these in Britain, and six further disused courts.
• Bristol and Bath Tennis Club, Bristol: 1 court in use
• Cambridge University Real Tennis Club… See more

Tennis is mentioned in literature from the 16th century onwards. It is frequently shown in emblem books, such as those of Guillaume de La Perrière from 1539. Erasmus lets two students practice Latin during a ga… See more

Real tennis is featured in the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, a fictional meeting between Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud. One of the film's plot points turns on Freud playing a grudge match with a Prussian … See more