179 Fun Facts About Tennis

The tennis term 'Grand Slam' was borrowed in the 1930s from which card game?

Bridge players score a grand slam by taking all 13 tricks; a 1933 New York Times column used the image when Jack Crawford was one title short of sweeping the four majors.

The red 'clay' of the French Open courts is really a thin top layer of what crushed material?

Brick dust, rolled and watered into a thin red skin, is all that covers the white limestone beneath, so the French Open's famous clay courts contain almost no clay.

Which officials did Wimbledon replace with electronic calling on every court in 2025?

Line judges gave way to cameras and recorded voices calling 'out'; the chair umpires stayed on, and the new role of match assistant was created alongside them.

What is the crowd-pleasing shot called when a player, running back from the net, hits the ball through their own legs?

Tweener is short for 'between the legs'; Argentina's Guillermo Vilas pioneered the shot in the 1970s, which is why Spanish speakers still call it the 'Gran Willy'.

Which male player held the record for most Grand Slam singles titles at the end of 2025?

Novak Djokovic won his first major in 2008, when Roger Federer already had 12, yet he went on to pass every rival and reach 24 in 2023.

Through 2026, which man had won the most Wimbledon men's singles titles?

Roger Federer took his record eighth in 2017 without losing a set, a year after a knee injury forced him to abandon the second half of his 2016 season.

Which American is the only player to win the US Open on grass, clay and hard courts?

Jimmy Connors won it on grass in 1974, on clay in 1976 and on hard courts from 1978, because the tournament changed its surface twice in the space of five seasons.

In no-ad scoring, what settles a game that reaches 40–40?

One deciding point settles it, with the receivers choosing which side to return from; in normal scoring a player has to go two points clear after 40-40 to win the game.

Which of the four Grand Slam tournaments was the first to offer equal prize money for men and women?

US Open organisers paid both 1973 champions $25,000 after the 1972 women's winner, who had received $15,000 less than the men's, said she would not come back unless the money was equal.

What is the standard score in games that triggers a tie-break in a tennis set?

6-6 first triggered a tie-break at a major at the 1970 US Open; its 'sudden death' version was the best of nine points, so 4-4 was set point for both players at once.

Which tennis player is known as the 'King of Clay'?

Rafael Nadal won 14 French Open titles on it; the tournament put up a statue of him in 2021, while he was still playing, and set a plaque into its centre court in 2025.

In which country are the courts of the Monte-Carlo Masters actually located?

France is the answer because the Monte Carlo Country Club sits in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, a French town on Monaco's border, so the principality's tournament is played abroad.

Iga Świątek was the first player representing which country to win a Grand Slam singles title?

Poland had never had a major singles champion until the 2020 French Open, which the 19-year-old won without losing a set or more than five games in any match.

In which New York City borough is the US Open played?

Queens has been home to both of its modern venues: the tournament moved in 1978 from Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows, parkland created for the 1939 World's Fair.

In tennis, when both players have scored three points each in a game, what is the score called?

Deuce comes from the Old French word for 'two': once the score is level at 40-40, a player has to win two points in a row to take the game.

The first Wimbledon, won by Spencer Gore in 1877, was staged by a club founded for which other lawn game?

Croquet was the All England Club's only game until 1875; it staged the 1877 tennis tournament to pay for repairs to the pony-drawn roller that kept its lawns flat.

Which Grand Slam singles matches are best of five sets?

Men's only: women play best of three at every major, although the final of the women's season-ending championships was best of five sets from 1984 to 1998.

Which Australian won Wimbledon in 1971 and again in 1980, the second time as a mother?

Evonne Goolagong, a Wiradjuri girl from the wheat town of Barellan, was first noticed peering through the fence of the local tennis club; in 1980 she became the first mother to win the title in 66 years.

In tennis, what is the term for a legal serve that the receiver fails to touch with their racket?

Ace is the same word as the one-spot playing card, from the Latin for a single unit.

Who was the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon singles title in 2013?

Andy Murray had lost his first four Grand Slam finals, the last at Wimbledon in 2012; a year later he won it in straight sets, the first British man to do so since Fred Perry in 1936.

In which city is the Australian Open played?

Melbourne became the permanent home only after decades in which the championship moved between Australian cities and was twice staged in New Zealand, in 1906 and 1912.

What kind of bird is Rufus, employed at Wimbledon to scare away the pigeons?

A hawk, specifically a Harris's hawk: when Rufus was stolen from his handler's car during the 2012 tournament, a public appeal followed and he was handed in three days later.

What is a serve that clips the net but lands in the service box, requiring a replay, called?

Let is an old word for an obstacle, the one that survives in 'without let or hindrance': the net got in the way, so the serve is simply replayed.

Which man was the first to complete a career Golden Slam in singles?

Andre Agassi completed it at the 1999 French Open, where he lost the first two sets of the final 6-1, 6-2 before coming back to win in five.

Which Chinese player became the first from an Asian country to win a Grand Slam singles title, in 2011?

Li Na won the French Open three years after leaving China's state sports system to run her own career; an estimated 116 million people at home watched the final.

What type of spin causes the ball to dip sharply after crossing the net and bounce high?

Topspin rolls the ball forwards, and the air then forces it down sooner than gravity alone would, the Magnus effect, so even a hard-hit ball dips into court.

Under what name was tennis's top women's international team competition played from 1995 until 2020?

Fed Cup was the short form adopted in 1995 for the Federation Cup, which was launched in 1963 to mark the 50th anniversary of the sport's international federation.

Which man won the calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969, the first of the Open Era?

Rod Laver had already swept all four in 1962, then missed the majors for five years before coming back to sweep them all again.

What is the main stadium court at Roland Garros called?

Court Philippe-Chatrier was named in 2001 after the French federation president who led the campaign to bring tennis back into the Olympics; it gained a retractable roof in 2020.

Which 1972 Wimbledon champion is now best known for the white Adidas tennis shoe that bears his name?

Stan Smith's shoe was first sold under the name of French player Robert Haillet; Adidas later put Smith's portrait on the tongue and dropped Haillet's name altogether.

Where did Steffi Graf win the 1988 Olympic gold that completed her calendar-year Golden Slam?

Seoul was where Steffi Graf beat Gabriela Sabatini for gold, weeks after beating her in the US Open final to complete the calendar Grand Slam.

Wimbledon eased its all-white dress code in 2023 so that women could wear dark-coloured what?

Undershorts in dark colours were allowed after players described the stress of wearing all white during their periods; the rest of the kit must still be almost entirely white.

Which opening format, rare in tennis, lets a player lose a match at the ATP Finals and still win the title?

Round-robin groups of four send their top two to the semi-finals, so one defeat need not be fatal: the 2023 champion lost a group match to Jannik Sinner, then beat him in the final.

What is a win called when a player advances because the opponent withdraws before the match begins?

Walkover is borrowed from horse racing: when only one horse was entered, it merely had to walk over the course to be declared the winner.

Which seven-time Wimbledon champion of the 1990s was the leading serve-and-volley player?

Pete Sampras won seven Wimbledon titles between 1993 and 2000 rushing the net behind his serve, a style that became a rarity as rackets improved and courts were slowed down.

What change began tennis's 'Open Era' in 1968?

Professionals could enter the majors from 1968; before that, anyone who turned pro was barred from Wimbledon and the other great championships, however good they were.

Which stadium hosts the US Open singles finals?

Arthur Ashe Stadium honours the 1968 US Open champion, who was still an amateur and so could not accept the $14,000 first prize; it went to the man he beat in the final.

In tennis, what is the term for hitting the ball before it bounces on your side, usually from near the net?

Volley comes from the French 'volée', a flight, from the verb for 'to fly': the ball is met in mid-air, giving the opponent less time to react.

Which country has won the most Davis Cup titles?

United States teams have won 32 Davis Cup titles to Australia's 28, but only one of them, in 2007, has come since 1995.

Who became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam singles title when he took the 1989 French Open aged 17?

Michael Chang, cramping badly in the fourth round, threw in an underarm serve on his way to beating top-ranked Ivan Lendl, then won the final from two sets to one down.

In tennis, what is the term for a forehand or backhand hit after the ball has bounced once, typically from the baseline?

Groundstrokes include the backhand, which was almost always hit one-handed until 1970s champions such as Chris Evert inspired players everywhere to use two hands.

Which nation won its first Davis Cup title in 2022?

Canada had lost in that year's qualifying round and only reached the finals on a wild card freed up after Russia was banned; it then beat Australia in the final in Málaga.

In tennis, what is the term for a serve that lands outside the service box or in the net?

Fault also covers the foot fault, stepping on the baseline before contact; one such call in a US Open semi-final set off the tirade that cost Serena Williams the match.

Who was the first African American player to win a Grand Slam title?

Althea Gibson won the 1956 French title six years after a scathing open letter from former champion Alice Marble helped win her an invitation to the US national championships.

What nickname, coined by Roger Federer, does the Australian Open go by?

Roger Federer dubbed the Australian Open the 'Happy Slam', a nickname Tennis Australia adopted for the tournament's relaxed, fan-friendly atmosphere.

What is a tennis shot hit high and deep into the opponent's court called?

A lob is a shot hit high into the air, usually over the opponent's head, to push them back from the net and gain time.

Which British Army officer patented an early version of lawn tennis under the Greek name Sphairistikè?

Walter Wingfield set his game on an hourglass-shaped court rather than a rectangle, a shape that may have been chosen so that his patent stood apart from existing courts.

Which fruit is traditionally served with cream at Wimbledon?

Strawberries and cream have become a symbol of Wimbledon; the berries are picked early in the morning on a farm in Kent and delivered straight to the grounds.

Which green-coloured hard-court surface did the Australian Open use from 1988 to 2007?

Rebound Ace, a rubberised surface, was blamed for turning sticky in extreme heat and was replaced by blue Plexicushion in 2008.

Which 55-year-old ex-champion lost the 1973 'Battle of the Sexes' to the reigning Wimbledon champion?

Bobby Riggs had thrashed another women's champion 6-2, 6-1 that May in the 'Mother's Day Massacre', then lost in straight sets at the Houston Astrodome four months later.

Which European clay-court tournament laid blue courts in 2012, then scrapped them after players complained?

Madrid Open organisers dyed the clay blue so the ball would stand out on television; players found it slippery, some threatened to boycott, and red clay was back in 2013.

In tennis slang, what is a set won or lost 6–1 called?

Breadstick is tennis slang for a set won or lost 6-1, the straight stick supposedly echoing the shape of the numeral 1.

On which type of court surface are the Wimbledon Championships traditionally played?

Grass was once the surface of three of the four majors; the US Open gave it up in 1975 and the Australian Open in 1988, leaving Wimbledon the only one still played on lawns.

Which nation won the Davis Cup three years running from 2023 to 2025?

Italy had waited 47 years after its first title in 1976, then won three in a row, the last of them on home soil in Bologna.

Which female player holds the record for the youngest Grand Slam singles title winner in the Open Era?

Martina Hingis was 16 years and 3 months old when she won the 1997 Australian Open; injuries to both ankles then forced her into a first retirement at just 22.

From which country does legendary tennis player Roger Federer hail?

Switzerland's Roger Federer was a ball boy at his home-town tournament in Basel in 1992 and 1993, and later came back to win the title there ten times.

Which country does Novak Djokovic represent in professional tennis?

Serbia has been Novak Djokovic's flag since 2006; born in Belgrade, he began his career representing Serbia and Montenegro until that union broke up.

A dispute over which issue kept tennis out of the Olympic medal programme from 1928 until 1988?

Amateur status was the sticking point: the tennis federation and the IOC could not agree on who counted as an amateur, and tennis returned only when the Games were open to professionals.

Venus Williams was born in Lynwood, a city in which US state?

California was home until she was eleven: born in Lynwood, Venus grew up practising in nearby Compton before the family moved to Florida in 1991 to train with coach Rick Macci.

In which country was multiple Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka born?

Belarus, where she was born in Minsk; from 2022 its players had to compete on tour as neutrals, without their flag, because of the country's part in the invasion of Ukraine.

What is the overhead stroke hit hard downward, usually off a high ball, called?

Smash is the name for an overhead struck with a serve-like swing, usually when an opponent's high ball has not been hit deep enough, which is why it so often ends the point.

Who became the youngest man to complete a Career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open?

Carlos Alcaraz was 22 when he completed the set, beating in the final the man who had knocked him out in the quarter-finals a year earlier.

Which American twins won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles together?

The Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, are mirror twins, one left-handed and one right-handed, which is often credited for their success; they celebrated points with a chest bump.

Which Croatian won Wimbledon in 2001 as a wild card ranked 125th in the world?

Goran Ivanišević had lost three Wimbledon finals and needed an invitation just to get in; he beat Pat Rafter 9-7 in the fifth set of a final held over to a Monday.

What replaces a full deciding set in most professional doubles events?

A match tiebreak, first to 10 points and two clear, settles tour doubles at one set all; since 2022 the four majors have used a first-to-10 tiebreak to end singles deciding sets that stay level.

In tennis, what term describes winning a return game immediately after losing your own service game?

Break back is the term because it cancels the break just conceded and puts the set back 'on serve'; a double break means being two breaks ahead.

In tennis, which player is one point away from taking the game on a break point?

The receiver holds a break point; because the server is expected to win each service game, taking one is called breaking serve and is often the key moment of a set.

What are the side strips of a tennis court that are in play only during doubles called?

Alleys, or tramlines in Britain, widen the court from 27 feet to 36 for doubles, so each of the four players has less width to cover than a singles player does.

Which Australian holds the women's all-time record of 24 major singles titles?

Margaret Court won the first of her 24 major singles titles in 1960, and in 1973 took three of the four majors a year after giving birth to her first child.

Which country hosts the Grand Slam played in white?

The United Kingdom hosts Wimbledon, whose all-white rule is so strict that the 2012 Olympic tournament on the same courts stood out because players could wear national colours.

Which Russian tennis star had a 2001 computer virus named after her?

Anna Kournikova's fame did the damage: the email promised a picture of her, and thousands of people who opened the attachment set the worm loose instead.

In tennis, what is the mid-court area between the service line and the baseline nicknamed?

No man's land is a bad place to be caught: a player stranded there is at a tactical disadvantage, more vulnerable than anywhere else on the court.

Which city hosted the ATP Finals from 2021 to 2025?

Turin replaced London's O2 Arena, which had staged the ATP Finals for twelve editions, and Jannik Sinner rewarded the home crowds with the title in 2024 and 2025.

Which British player gave his name to the Wimbledon hill where fans watch on a giant screen?

Tim Henman's matches drew crowds of British fans to the slope beside No. 1 Court, and the nickname stuck, though its official name is Aorangi Terrace.

In tennis, what does the umpire call when a player wins the first point played from 40-40?

Advantage: win the next point and the game is yours; lose it and the score drops back to level, a loop that can repeat without limit.

The first Black Grand Slam tennis champion later became the first Black woman on which sport's professional tour?

Golf: with little money to be made from tennis in the 1950s, she joined the LPGA Tour, where some clubs kept her out of the clubhouse and she had to change in her car.

Which Swede won six French Open titles, including four in a row from 1978 to 1981?

Björn Borg won his sixth French Open in 1981 at just 25, then stunned the sport by announcing his retirement at 26.

In tennis, which shot is hit softly, often with backspin, so that it falls just over the net?

A drop shot dies just beyond the net, punishing an opponent who is camped far behind the baseline with a long sprint forward.

Which Australian won the 2001 US Open and Wimbledon the following year?

Lleyton Hewitt had announced himself at 16 by winning his home-town tournament in Adelaide while ranked 550th, the lowest-ranked champion in ATP history.

Which nation won the 2019 Davis Cup, the first played as a one-week finals?

Spain won the 2019 title in front of a home crowd, the first under an 18-team, one-week finals devised by Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué.

What is the term for a set won with a score of 6-0?

A bagel is a set won 6-0, and two in one match make a 'double bagel', the score by which Steffi Graf won her second French Open final.

Which ball-tracking camera system first allowed players to challenge line calls at a major at the 2006 US Open?

Hawk-Eye gave each player two challenges a set at that tournament; Mardy Fish made the very first one, and the replay upheld the original call.

In tennis, what is it called when a server misses both serves in a row and loses the point?

A double fault throws the point away without a rally, which is why most players hit their second serve slower and with a safer margin than the first.

Which Belgian won the 2009 US Open, unranked, in only her third tournament back after having a baby?

Kim Clijsters had retired at 23 to start a family; two years later she won in New York, and her 18-month-old daughter Jada joined her on court for the trophy ceremony.

In tennis, which stroke is hit on a player's dominant side with the palm of the hand leading?

The forehand is most players' stronger wing; Steffi Graf's was feared enough to earn her the nickname 'Fräulein Forehand'.

In a tournament draw, what is it called when a seeded player is given no first-round opponent and starts in round two?

A bye is needed whenever a draw is not a power of two: in a 96-player field the 32 seeds skip the first round so the bracket halves evenly.

Which trophy, contested from 1923 to 1989, pitted US and British women's teams against each other?

The Wightman Cup was suspended after 1989 because the contest had become so one-sided: the Americans had won the last eleven meetings.

What is a 'golden set' in tennis?

Winning a set without losing a single point takes 24 in a row; Yaroslava Shvedova did it at Wimbledon in 2012 and only learned of it when her coach told her afterwards.

Who led the 1973 meeting that founded the women's players' association?

Billie Jean King gathered the players at London's Gloucester Hotel a week before Wimbledon and was elected the new body's first president.

Which player wept on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder after losing the 1993 Wimbledon final, then won the title five years later?

Jana Novotná was a point from a 5-1 lead in the deciding set before Steffi Graf swept the next five games; she lost another final in 1997 and at last won in 1998.

Which Briton won the Wimbledon women's singles in 1977, with Elizabeth II watching in her Silver Jubilee year?

Virginia Wade lost the first set to Betty Stove before winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; the monarch, no tennis fan, did not come back to the tournament for 33 years.

Which French phrase is one proposed origin of tennis's word for a score of zero?

L'œuf, 'the egg', is a popular theory because an egg resembles a zero, but word historians think the term more likely comes from playing for the pleasure of the game rather than for stakes.

Under one theory, tennis's unusual point-scoring sequence began as marks on what object?

A clock face is one theory: a hand was moved a quarter turn for each point and the game ended when it reached 60, though the scoring's real origin remains obscure.

Which American won tennis's longest match, beating Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set at Wimbledon in 2010?

John Isner needed 11 hours 5 minutes spread over three days, and the courtside scoreboard froze at 47-47 because it had not been programmed to count any higher.

Who in 1983 became the last Frenchman, as of 2026, to win the men's singles at Roland Garros?

Yannick Noah beat defending champion Mats Wilander to end France's 37-year wait for a home men's champion, and through 2026 no Frenchman had won it again.

Which American shouted 'You cannot be serious' at a Wimbledon umpire in 1981?

John McEnroe's tirade came in the first round, when he also called the officials 'the pits of the world'; he was punished for it, yet ended the fortnight as champion.

Which American won 125 consecutive matches on clay between 1973 and 1979?

Chris Evert lost only eight sets during the streak, which ended in a third-set tiebreak against 16-year-old Tracy Austin in Rome.

Which country did Martina Navratilova defect from as a teenager?

Czechoslovakia: Navratilova asked the US for asylum, became an American citizen in 1981, and won six of her nine Wimbledon singles titles in a row.

In which city was Monica Seles stabbed by a spectator in 1993?

Monica Seles was stabbed between games at the Hamburg tournament on 30 April 1993 by Günter Parche, an obsessed Steffi Graf fan.

What did Andre Agassi's memoir blame for his defeat in the 1990 French Open final?

Worrying his wig would fall off: Agassi wrote in his memoir 'Open' that he spent the final against Andrés Gómez fearing his hairpiece would come loose.

Which 17-year-old German became Wimbledon's first unseeded men's singles champion in 1985?

Boris Becker was ranked 20th but only 16 players were seeded then, so the youngest men's champion in the tournament's history was also its first unseeded one.

Which gin-based English fruit cup, usually mixed with lemonade, has had its own bar at Wimbledon since 1971?

Pimm's began as a digestive tonic that James Pimm served at his London oyster bar, long before it became the drink of the English summer season.

At which tournament did Serena Williams win a major singles title while pregnant?

The 2017 Australian Open: she beat her sister in the final without dropping a set all tournament, then revealed in April that she was 20 weeks pregnant.

Which autoimmune disease did Venus Williams reveal when she withdrew from the 2011 US Open?

Sjögren syndrome saps energy and causes joint pain; Venus Williams changed to a vegan diet after the diagnosis.

Which player became the first Asian to top the world singles rankings after winning the 2019 Australian Open?

Naomi Osaka sealed the top ranking by beating Petra Kvitová in the final, her second major in a row after the 2018 US Open.

Which player won 37 straight matches in 2022, the women's tour's longest streak this century?

Iga Świątek won six tournaments in a row during the run, including the French Open, before Alizé Cornet ended it in the third round at Wimbledon.

Which 15-year-old qualifier beat five-time champion Venus Williams on her Wimbledon debut in 2019?

Coco Gauff, the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon in the Open Era, beat a rival she had called one of her idols in straight sets and went on to the fourth round.

In which sport was Jannik Sinner a national junior champion before he chose tennis?

Skiing: Sinner won a national giant slalom title as a boy, but switched at 13 because one mistake ends a ski race, while in tennis you can err and still win.

After which games of a set do tennis players change ends?

Odd-numbered games: players swap after the first, third and every later odd game, with 90 seconds to sit down each time except after a set's opening game.

Which team event inspired Roger Federer to create the Laver Cup?

The Ryder Cup, with its continental team rivalry, was Roger Federer's model for the Laver Cup, and he chose its 2022 edition in London for the last match of his career.

Roland Garros, namesake of the French Open venue, was famous for what aviation feat?

The first flight across the Mediterranean took Garros almost eight hours from Fréjus to Bizerte in Tunisia, reportedly on a tank that held fuel for just eight.

Which eight-time major champion lost two Wimbledon finals but never won the title?

Ivan Lendl had won the Wimbledon boys' title in 1978, but the main trophy was the one major prize missing from his eight Grand Slam singles titles.

Rod Laver Arena was the first tennis venue in the world to have what installed?

A sliding roof meant matches no longer had to stop for the weather: it can be closed against rain and, under the tournament's heat policy, against extreme heat.

Lines from which Rudyard Kipling poem are inscribed above the entrance to Wimbledon's Centre Court?

Kipling's 'If—' supplies the lines players walk beneath on their way onto Centre Court: a reminder to meet Triumph and Disaster and 'treat those two impostors just the same'.

Which animal, René Lacoste's nickname as a player, became the logo of his clothing brand?

A crocodile: in one telling the nickname came from a bet over a crocodile-skin suitcase, and a friend then embroidered the reptile on Lacoste's blazer, the start of the logo.

Which French star, 'La Divine', won six Wimbledon singles titles from 1919?

Suzanne Lenglen drew such crowds that she is credited with forcing Wimbledon to leave its old ground for the bigger Church Road site in 1922.

René Lacoste belonged to which celebrated group of French players who won six straight Davis Cups?

The Four Musketeers (Lacoste, Borotra, Cochet and Brugnon) took the Davis Cup in 1927, and France built Roland Garros stadium to stage their first defence a year later.

Fred Perry was world champion in which other sport in 1929?

Table tennis: Fred Perry was world champion in 1929 before turning to the bigger court, where he won three straight Wimbledons from 1934 to 1936.

What ended Maureen Connolly's career at 19, a year after her 1953 Grand Slam?

A horseback riding accident in July 1954, in which a passing vehicle crushed her right leg against her horse, ended Maureen Connolly's career at 19.

Who was the first American man to win Wimbledon, in 1920?

Bill Tilden had not been good enough for his college team, yet in 1920 he became the first American man to win Wimbledon and then dominated the sport until 1926.

Which form of tennis lets the ball bounce twice before a player must return it?

Wheelchair tennis allows a second bounce, which may even land outside the court, and the chair counts as part of the player's body under the rules.

Which American won the 2003 US Open, his only Grand Slam singles title?

Andy Roddick was a point from defeat in the semi-final against David Nalbandian, escaped with a big serve, and then beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final.

Which British teenager won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier without dropping a set?

Emma Raducanu, 18 and ranked 150th, had to win three qualifying rounds just to enter, and became the first qualifier of either sex to win a major.

Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for playing which tennis figure?

Richard Williams, the coach-father at the centre of 'King Richard', had planned his daughters' tennis careers from the cradle and trained them on public courts in Compton.

Who directed the 2024 tennis drama Challengers, starring Zendaya?

Luca Guadagnino's film was due to open the 2023 Venice Film Festival, but the actors' strike pushed its release back to April 2024.

Which banned substance did Maria Sharapova test positive for at the 2016 Australian Open?

Meldonium was added to the banned list only on 1 January 2016; Maria Sharapova said she had taken it for ten years on her doctor's advice and had missed the change.

Which other sport did Ashleigh Barty play during her break from tennis?

Cricket: Ashleigh Barty joined the Brisbane Heat for the first Women's Big Bash League season with no formal training in the sport, then returned to tennis in 2016.

What did Gustavo Kuerten draw on the Roland Garros clay after winning?

A heart: Gustavo Kuerten carved it with his racket and lay down inside it to thank the Paris crowd after his 2001 title, won after he had been a point from defeat in an earlier round.

Which former Rhode Island resort houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame?

The Newport Casino hosted the first US national championships in 1881 and kept them until 1914; the Hall of Fame was founded there in the 1950s to save it from demolition.

Which bird of prey, named Rufus, has been flown at Wimbledon since 2008 to scare pigeons off the tennis courts?

A Harris's hawk, Rufus was issued his own Wimbledon security pass listing his job title as Bird Scarer. He has also been hired to clear pigeons from Westminster Abbey.

Tennis's rule makers approved yellow balls in 1972 after research showed they were easier to see where?

On television, fluorescent 'optic yellow' balls stood out better than white ones, and they soon took over. Polls still split on whether the colour is really yellow or green.

The fuzzy covering of a tennis ball is made of which fabric?

Felt wraps the ball's hollow rubber core in a blend of wool, nylon and cotton. The fuzz changes how air flows around the ball in flight.

What is a tennis win called when the opponent withdraws before the match starts and no ball is struck?

Walkover is the term, marked w/o on the draw sheet. Pulling out once play has begun is a retirement, and being thrown out by the umpire is a default.

What is a tennis tournament entry called when organisers award it to a player ranked too low to get in?

Wild card places, a few in every draw, usually go to local players or to those ranked just outside the cut-off. Players can even ask for one to enter at short notice.

What do British players call the side strips of a tennis court that are in play only during doubles?

Tramlines is the British name for the pair of parallel lines down each side; Americans call the strip between them the doubles alley. Each one adds four and a half feet of width.

Which brand has supplied every tennis ball used at Wimbledon since 1902, the longest-running sponsorship in sport?

Slazenger's Wimbledon deal has never lapsed. Fred Perry switched to the brand's rackets in 1932, two years before the first of his titles there.

The tennis term 'Grand Slam', first used by sportswriters in the 1930s, was borrowed from which card game?

Bridge players call winning every trick a grand slam. A New York Times writer reached for the image in 1933, when Jack Crawford was one title short of sweeping all four majors.

Which Shakespeare history play has the Dauphin mock the young English king with a gift of tennis balls?

Henry V takes the Dauphin's gift as a sneer at his youth and frivolity, and answers it by going to war.

Which animal's intestines supply the natural gut still used as a premium string in tennis rackets?

Cows provide the serosa, a collagen-rich membrane of the intestine whose fibres are dried into string. The old nickname catgut misleads: string makers have relied on sheep, goats and cattle.

Who needed only 56 minutes to beat Serena Williams in the 2019 Wimbledon ladies' singles final?

Simona Halep made just three unforced errors, a record low for a major final, and became the first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title.

Which teenager beat Serena Williams in the 2019 US Open final to become the first Canadian major singles champion?

Bianca Andreescu was the first teenager to win a major singles title since Maria Sharapova in 2006. She was also the first player to win the US Open on her main-draw debut.

Which Czech left-hander reached the 2019 Australian Open final two years after a knife attack damaged her playing hand?

Petra Kvitová needed surgery on the tendons and nerves of her left hand after fighting off an intruder at her home in 2016. The final was her first at a major away from Wimbledon.

Who came from a set down to beat Roger Federer in the 2019 Indian Wells final, his first Masters 1000 title?

Dominic Thiem went on to reach three more major finals and won the last of them, at the 2020 US Open.

Which Russian reached six consecutive tournament finals in 2019, including a five-set US Open loss to Rafael Nadal?

Daniil Medvedev made his top-10 debut during that breakthrough year, then returned to New York to win the US Open in 2021.

Who won the 2019 ATP Finals in London on his first appearance at the men's season-ending championship?

Stefanos Tsitsipas had ended the previous season by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals, the tour's showcase for its best young players.

Which Australian was fined $113,000 by the ATP after his outbursts at the 2019 Cincinnati Masters?

Nick Kyrgios was then investigated by the ATP, which handed him a suspended 16-week ban and six months' probation.

In which city did Roger Federer win his 100th ATP singles title in 2019, at an event he won eight times?

Dubai made Federer only the second man to reach 100 ATP singles titles, after Jimmy Connors in 1983.

At which mixed-team event in Perth did Roger Federer and Serena Williams first face each other, in January 2019?

Hopman Cup organisers drew 14,064 fans, a record tennis crowd for Western Australia, to watch Federer and Belinda Bencic win the mixed doubles.

Which Chinese city hosted the 2019 WTA Finals, whose $4.42 million winner's cheque was then the biggest in tennis?

Shenzhen was hosting for the first time, the tenth city to stage the event since 1972. Ashleigh Barty took home the record cheque.

Which 1970s American tennis champion gave his name to a white Adidas shoe that has sold over 30 million pairs?

Stan Smith's name replaced that of Frenchman Robert Haillet on the shoe. For five years before the 1978 switch it carried Smith's portrait and Haillet's name together.

Which Russian tennis star, who never won a WTA singles title, had a 2001 computer virus named after her?

Anna Kournikova was the bait: the worm arrived as an email attachment posing as a photograph of her. She did win two Grand Slam titles in doubles.

Which left-hander, ranked 125th in the world, won Wimbledon in 2001 after losing three earlier finals there?

Goran Ivanišević got into the draw only by invitation, on the strength of those three lost finals, and became the lowest-ranked man to win the title.

Which 1983 French Open champion later became a popular singer and the father of a long-serving NBA centre?

Yannick Noah was the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the title. His son Joakim went on to spend 13 seasons in the NBA.

Which Chinese player became the first Asian winner of a Grand Slam singles title at the 2011 French Open?

Li Na later became the first Asian player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and Time magazine named her among the world's 100 most influential people.

Who won the 2009 US Open as an unranked player, in only her third tournament back from retirement?

Kim Clijsters had no ranking because players then needed three tour events to earn one. She had left the sport two years earlier and came back as a mother.

Which eight-time major champion twice skipped the French Open to prepare for Wimbledon, the one Slam he never won?

Ivan Lendl reached 19 major finals in all, a tally that included eight US Open finals in a row, but grass defeated him even with a racket designed for it.

Which Aboriginal Australian won Wimbledon in 1971 and again in 1980, the first mother to take the title in 66 years?

Evonne Goolagong grew up in a Wiradjuri family in the country town of Barellan, where a local man saw her peering through the fence of the tennis courts and invited her in to play.

Rafael Nadal was born, and later opened his tennis academy, on which Mediterranean island?

Mallorca is even in his title: in 2025 King Felipe VI created Nadal Marquess of Llevant de Mallorca. He was born in the town of Manacor.

Which Czech player wept on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder after losing the 1993 Wimbledon final, then won it in 1998?

Jana Novotná had been one point from a 5–1 lead in the deciding set of that 1993 final. Her win five years later came in her third Wimbledon final.

Who won her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open, regaining the world No. 1 ranking after six years?

Caroline Wozniacki's gap of exactly six years between spells at the top was a record, beating Serena Williams's five years and 29 days.

Who beat Serena Williams in the 2018 Wimbledon final to become the first German champion there since Steffi Graf?

Angelique Kerber won 6–3, 6–3 for her third major, each of them at a different Grand Slam tournament. Graf's last title there had come in 1996.

Who beat John Isner 26–24 in the fifth set of a six-and-a-half-hour Wimbledon semi-final in 2018?

Kevin Anderson had already beaten the defending champion from two sets and a match point down, and became the first man representing South Africa in the final since 1921.

Naomi Osaka, who won the 2018 US Open as Japan's first major singles champion, has a father from which country?

Haiti is the homeland of her father, Leonard François, who comes from the town of Jacmel. Osaka was born in Japan but has lived and trained in America since she was three.

Which outfit, worn by Serena Williams at the 2018 French Open, did the French federation then ban from the event?

A catsuit was her way of promoting her own clothing line, Serena. After the ban she turned up for her first match at that year's US Open in a black tutu.

Who beat Roger Federer and then Novak Djokovic on successive days to win the 2018 ATP Finals in London?

Alexander Zverev was the youngest champion in a decade and the first German to win the season-ending title since Boris Becker in 1995.

Which Barcelona footballer's group Kosmos backed the 2018 overhaul that made the Davis Cup a one-week finals event?

Gerard Piqué's group promised $3 billion over 25 years, but its partnership with the sport's governing body was ended in January 2023, only a few years in.

Serena Williams's row with the umpire in the 2018 US Open final began with a code violation for which offence?

Coaching was the charge, for hand signals from Patrick Mouratoglou in the stands. He later admitted it; Williams said he had only given a thumbs-up and demanded an apology.

Which American, the 2017 US Open champion, took the first set of the 2018 French Open final but lost in three?

Sloane Stephens had reached that final by beating Madison Keys in a rematch of their US Open final, the first all-American semi-final in Paris since 2002.

Which nation won the 2018 Davis Cup on indoor clay, the last title decided before the one-week finals format arrived?

Croatia won 3–1 for its second title, with Marin Čilić taking the decisive point in straight sets.

The USTA's National Tennis Center, home of the US Open since 1978, stands in which New York City borough?

Queens won the tournament after USTA president William Hester spotted an underused stadium there while on a flight into nearby LaGuardia Airport.

Which jazz great, who lived in nearby Corona, gives his name to the second-largest stadium at the USTA's US Open site?

Louis Armstrong Stadium was the US Open's main court until 1997. It was rebuilt with 14,000 seats and a retractable roof in time for the 2018 tournament.

In which Florida city did the USTA unveil its National Campus in 2017, billed as the new Home of American Tennis?

Orlando's campus has 100 courts spread over 64 acres at Lake Nona, and houses the USTA's community tennis and player development operations.

Which rating scale, running from 1.5 for beginners to 7.0 for world-class players, groups adults in USTA leagues?

NTRP stands for National Tennis Rating Program. A computer algorithm adjusts each rating by comparing a player's actual results with the expected outcome of every match.

Which cushioned acrylic surface covered every court at the USTA's National Tennis Center from 1978 until 2020?

DecoTurf gave way to Laykold in 2020 after 42 years. Outside tournament weeks, the centre's courts are open for the public to play on.

Which island, together with the US Virgin Islands, became the last of the USTA's 17 sections in 1983?

Puerto Rico and its neighbours make up the section called USTA Caribbean. Hawaii has a section of its own, Hawaii Pacific.

Which Forest Hills venue staged the US national championships until the USTA moved the US Open in 1978?

West Side Tennis Club let its stadium decay so badly after the Open left that by 2011 it was called a crumbling ruin and was denied landmark status.

Which Michigan city has been home to the USTA boys' 18 and 16 national championships at Stowe Stadium since the 1940s?

Kalamazoo built the stadium in 1946, for $5,000, to stop the tournament going to another community. Its champions are also presented with locally made Heritage guitars.

What is the title of the USTA's official book of tennis rules and regulations, mailed to every newly certified official?

Friend at Court arrives in a welcome kit from the USTA's officiating department, along with a tape measure, a stopwatch and a flipping coin.

Which former touring pro became the first African-American woman elected president of the USTA, in 2015?

Katrina Adams was also the first former touring professional of any background to lead the USTA. Its first woman president, Judy Levering, had been elected in 1999.