Tennis is not real tennis.

“Wait, Chris,” you’re likely thinking, “You’re saying that tennis is not really tennis?”

No. I’m saying it’s not real tennis.

Because what we call tennis—whether grass, clay or concrete—is actually lawn tennis. Even if you’re playing a clay-court final at Roland-Garros, you’re still in the lawn-tennis family tree. Tennis grew out of an older sport simply called tennis, now more accurately labeled real tennis.

And real tennis is a different beast. Same fifteen-thirty-forty scoring, yes, but the “chase” rule makes it behave like lawn tennis on acid. The court is a literal court: three walls, sloping penthouses, odd buttresses and galleries where you can win points by being geometry-savvy.

Only about 45 active real-tennis courts still exist worldwide: roughly 27 in the UK, 10 in the US, 5 in Australia and 3 in France. A few inactive or unplayable survivors remain scattered around—like two in Ireland and one in the Netherlands.

So every time you watch the modern game, remember: you’re watching the descendant. The original has walls, chases and roof slants. Lawn tennis is the polished, easier-to-rate version.

@atomicpoet

so, what about pickle ball?

Tennis is not real tennis.

“Wait, Chris,” you’re likely thinking, “You’re saying that tennis is not really tennis?”

No. I’m saying it’s not real tennis.

Because what we call tennis—whether grass, clay or concrete—is actually lawn tennis. Even if you’re playing a clay-court final at Roland-Garros, you’re still in the lawn-tennis family tree. Tennis grew out of an older sport simply called tennis, now more accurately labeled real tennis.

And real tennis is a different beast. Same fifteen-thirty-forty scoring, yes, but the “chase” rule makes it behave like lawn tennis on acid. The court is a literal court: three walls, sloping penthouses, odd buttresses and galleries where you can win points by being geometry-savvy.

Only about 45 active real-tennis courts still exist worldwide: roughly 27 in the UK, 10 in the US, 5 in Australia and 3 in France. A few inactive or unplayable survivors remain scattered around—like two in Ireland and one in the Netherlands.

So every time you watch the modern game, remember: you’re watching the descendant. The original has walls, chases and roof slants. Lawn tennis is the polished, easier-to-rate version.

@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org It's easier to sell seats to lawn tennis because instead of walls you have spectator seats.

Probably why squash is so niche. You can't just build a squash stadium.