The Sport of Tennis
For a 41-year-old Welshman named Walter Clopton Wingfield, 1874 was a good year. The British army officer received a patent for a game he called sphairistike (alternately, lawn tennis); he published a 40-page rules book; and he sold more than a thousand kits that included a net, posts, balls, and rackets.
The popularity of the game spread quickly, but players and officials soon dropped the name sphairistike in favor of lawn tennis (and later, simply tennis), and they changed Wingfield’s hourglass-shaped court to one that was longer and rectangular. Players also figured out that they didn’t need Wingfield’s kit to play the game, sales sagged, and he let the patent expire after three years.
Tennis: Steps to Success Jim Brown,Camille Soulier