The origin of tennis could be identified either in the Greco-Roman culture, or in a game practiced by the Lombards (later called “pallacorda”), which previously played by hitting the ball with the palm of the hand covered by a glove, but in the XV century it was adopted the racket. The first occurrence of the word “tennis”, in its antiquated form “Tenes”, is found in the “Chronicle of Florence” by Donato Velluti which describes the event that was the origin of tennis: the visit, in 1325, of some French knights to Florence. They used to warn the player who received the ball by shouting “tenez!” (in French, “keep!”), and from here the name derived. In Italy an increase in the popularity of tennis occurred thanks to Nicola Pietrangeli, but the popularity of this sport declined in the mid-nineties when only pay tv started broadcasting the matches. In the 2000s, tennis enjoyed an increase thanks to the rivalry between Roger Federer (for a long time number one in the world) and Rafael Nadal, winner of twelve editions of Roland Garros. In recent years it is especially women’s tennis that has given Italy the greatest satisfactions, thanks to the conquest of four Fed Cups and the individual victories of four tennis players: Francesca Schiavone, Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci. Here is a small opinion that we asked Nicola Pietrangeli about today’s tennis
“What would you change about this sport today?”
“I would like to give more importance to the double, it is rarely seen on TV and the strongest players play it little. In my opinion, Federations should encourage tennis players more in this sense, because people enjoy seeing them and they also have fun. I remember years ago here at the Foro Italico when on the secondary fields the organization put in the first round of the double Nadal and Carlos Moya tournament against Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. All the people wanted to watch the game. And then also technically we see something different, now few take the net and we only see exchanges from the bottom. “
The Art of Sport 