The Development of Tennis Flashcards
What was tennis like in the 19th century?
Middle classes aspired to be like the upper classes in society and copied their sports , rather than playing the working class sports like football. However they were excluded from playing real tennis. Lawn tennis was introduced for middle classes so they could be like the upper classes. Walls and hedges ensured privacy from the lower classes who were initially excluded from participation
How did participation in tennis for women differ from football? How has this affected these sports in modern day?
Woman began participating in lawn tennis much earlier than they were allowed to participate in football which explains the much closer ability levels in tennis than in football in modern day
How has lawn developed to modern day?
1920s - Tennis was spread around the world (by public schoolboys)
- Tennis remained strictly amateur maintaining a divide
1968 - Emergence of professionalism
- Crossover of professionals getting high status
- Women could become professionals (much sooner than women’s football
2007 - equality in prize money for Wimbledon was achieved (£700,000)
2015 - Prize money risen to £1,760,000
