Chisago Lakes Tennis
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Fun Facts About Tennis
We thought it might be fun to present some information here about the great game of tennis. There is information here about the game itself, as well as facts comparing it to other popular high school sports. Enjoy!
The History Of Tennis
A Historical Past:
Historians believe that the game's ancient origin lay in 12th-century northern France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand. . . . It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use and the game began to be called "tennis", from the French term tenez, which can be translated as "hold!", "receive!" or "take!" . . . In the United States in 1874, Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda with a sphairistikè set. She became fascinated by the game of tennis after watching British army officers play. She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club . . . In 1968, commercial pressures and rumours of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the Open Era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the Open Era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide. . .
(all of the above taken from Wikipedia - for more information, click on the button below)
The Speed of The Game
Fastest Football Pass: Oct 20, 2020 — Josh Allen (a guy) has thrown a ball 62 mph in a game, and Mahomes (another guy) has thrown over 60 MPH as well.
Fastest Recorded Hockey Shot: As of November 2023, Zdeno Chara (a guy) holds the NHL record for the hardest shot at 108.8 mph, recorded during the 2012 NHL All Star Skills competition.
Fastest Recorded Pitch In Baseball: As of August 2023, Aroldis Chapman (a guy) holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest baseball pitch at 105.8 miles per hour (mph).
But wait, that's a pitch. How about a hit in baseball?
OK, so The Fastest Recorded Hit in Baseball: As of August 2022, the hardest-hit baseball in MLB history is a 122.4 mph single hit by Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (another guy) on August 23, 2022.
Fastest LaCrosse Shot: June 21, 2023 — The world record for the fastest shot (in LaCrosse) is 127 mph.
Soccer: October, 2023: The throne of the truth king of power goes to Ronny Heberson thanks to his eye-watering 210km/h strike (or 131 mph).
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Ok, so some of those are fast speeds, but what about tennis? Glad you asked. And here you go:
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> Serena Williams: The fastest tennis ball served by very well known Serena Williams, a woman, is 128.6 mph, achieved at the 2013 Australian Open.
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> Georgina Garcia Perez: The fastest recorded female serve is 136.7 mph (220 km/h), achieved by Perez in 2018 at the Hungarian Ladies Open.
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And (drumroll):
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​As of May 9, 2012, the fastest recorded tennis serve is 163.7 mph (263.4 kph), hit by Australian Sam Groth in Busan, South Korea.
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Try reacting fast enough to even touch the ball coming across the net at 164 mph! >>>
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Just like the records in other sports are exceptions, the 164mph serve is an exception also. But it is not unfair to say that the average speed of serves for professional mens tennis players in the modern open era is close to the other sports' records above. Tennis serves for pro men today average close to 125mph. For more information, click the button:
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Playing Time
How about we make a comparison between tennis and some of the other high school sports concerning playing time and the number of ball/puck contacts per match? Great idea, so here we go:
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Football: The official length of an American football game is 60 minutes, with four 15-minute quarters. However, due to stoppages, timeouts, and other factors, the actual time the ball is in play is much less. On average, a football game typically has only around 11 minutes of actual gameplay. If a player is on offense OR defense only (which is the norm!), then they are involved in actual gameplay for a short 5 to 6 minutes. And, if they are strictly on defense and/or a non-impact offensive player, they MIGHT touch the football, but probably not at all.
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Hockey: Hockey games are structured into three periods, each lasting 20 minutes, for a total of 60 minutes of playtime. On average, hockey players spend around 15-20 minutes on the ice per game. In a typical 60-minute NHL game, a star player who contributes a lot to the offense will only have the puck on their stick for 45 seconds.
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Baseball: Well we all know baseball games can last forever, so there's no need to even talk about how long they are. We can note this though: 90% of a player's time in a game is spent standing around. OK, so let's look at two other stats. First of all, how many times does a player bat on average in a 9 inning game? During a nine inning game a batter normally bats 3 to 5 times and sometimes more depending on how successful his team is on offense. Based on 2023 MLB stats (excluding the main 3 that touch the ball: catcher, pitcher, and 1st base), the average number of fielding attempts per player is 3.05 per player.
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Tennis: The average total time for a best out of 3 set match in high school is around 1-1/2 hours. The only allowed breaks during those times are 90 seconds when changing ends and 2 minutes at the end of the first set and a mandatory 3 minute break if the match goes to a third set tie-breaker. The players are thus playing the vast majority of the time. For a singles match, the average number of times a player will contact the tennis ball during the overall match is over 500 times.
On a professional note, the average length of time for a mens' best out of 5 set match is 3 hours long, with the players having only a few rests between side changes and between sets.
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The Greatest Sport For Life
A study from Denmark, published by Forbes Magazine in 2018, documented how playing tennis may extend your life by nearly 10 years over other sports. While every sport can have its virtues, tennis has been proven through the noted study and others to provide benefits that on average prolong one's life.* It's a sport that can be enjoyed by the entire family and played into a person's 90s thus spanning a lifetime. It is therefore sometimes referred to as THE GREATEST SPORT FOR LIFE.