This day is celebrated in honor of the game “court tennis”, which is referred to as “real tennis” in Britain and Australia, and “jeu de paume” in France. It shines a spotlight on a sport that looks like tennis’s eccentric, aristocratic ancestor, complete with indoor walls, sloping roofs, and a ball that behaves nothing like the lively yellow one most people picture.
Court tennis is considered by many to be the original game that dates back more than 800 years and is different from “lawn tennis” which is the game that most people are familiar with in today’s world. While modern tennis is built for open-air baselines and predictable bounces, court tennis is a game of geometry, improvisation, and reading angles like a billiards player who suddenly picked up a racket.
How to Celebrate International Tennis Day
Have fun and pay respect to this game that dates back centuries! Get involved with International Tennis Day using some of these ideas:
Try Playing Court Tennis
One ideal way to get involved with International Tennis Day would be to try playing. The slightly more difficult thing might be to find a court.
Court tennis is played on specialized indoor courts that are part sports venue, part historical architecture. That can make access feel exclusive at first, but many clubs and facilities welcome newcomers through introductory sessions, open houses, or “try-it” lessons with a professional. For a first experience, beginners do not need to show up with the perfect gear or an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules. Most places provide rackets and balls for first-timers because the equipment is unique.
As the game continues to grow, courts have become more popular and are popping up in cities in the US as well as the UK, Australia and Europe. Show some love for the day by finding a court, joining a club and giving it a shot! If a dedicated court is not nearby, a tennis or racquet club may still be able to point curious players toward the nearest venue, especially if it also hosts squash or other traditional indoor racquet sports.
A first hit can be delightfully humbling. The ball stays low, the angles off the walls arrive faster than expected, and the court itself seems to have opinions. That is part of the charm. New players often pick up the basics quickly once they stop trying to force lawn tennis habits onto a completely different environment.
Learn More About Court Tennis
Court tennis, real tennis, or in the past “royal tennis”, this game is a bit different from the lawn tennis that more people are familiar with. In honor of International Tennis Day, perhaps it would be interesting for novices to learn a few things about this type of tennis that are different and unique. Check out some of these to get started with:
Court tennis is played indoors and the ball is handmade and has a core made from cork. It is more like a cricket ball than a bouncy, rubber lawn tennis ball.
That heavier, hand-made ball is a huge part of why court tennis feels so distinct. It does not leap off the surface with a dramatic bounce, so rallies tend to stay lower and faster. That encourages slicing, blocking, and controlled placement rather than big topspin swings. Players learn to take the ball earlier, use the walls intentionally, and treat pace as something to manage rather than something to chase.
Because the ball is constructed differently, it also sounds different. There is a satisfying, dense “thock” when it meets the racket or wall, and a quieter skid along the floor. For spectators, that soundscape is part of the sport’s identity, almost like a language the court speaks back to the players.
Rackets for court tennis are wooden, have a longer handle and are asymmetrical. The asymmetrical head is not a decorative quirk. It is practical engineering for a walled court where balls regularly die near the floor and hug the base of a wall. The shape helps players scoop and control low shots, especially in tight corners where a modern tennis racket would feel clumsy. The longer handle gives extra leverage for quick changes of direction and compact swings.
Wooden rackets also change the feel of contact. They tend to reward clean timing and smooth mechanics rather than brute force. Players often describe court tennis as being as much about touch as it is about athleticism, and the racket design reinforces that. It is a sport where “soft hands” are a real advantage.
Instead of just using the court and the net, the walls play an important part in the game when it comes to court tennis. The ceilings are high and the walls and ends are also typically asymmetrical, but there is no exact standard dimensions for the court in real tennis.
This is where court tennis turns into delightful controlled chaos. The walls are not just boundaries. They are active surfaces used to redirect the ball, set traps, and open up angles that do not exist outdoors. Many courts include sloping roofs called penthouses on multiple sides, and the ball can be played off them like a tactical bank shot.
The court’s asymmetry means each side has its own personality. Players talk about “the service end” and “the hazard end” because the architecture creates different opportunities and challenges depending on where someone stands. There are also openings and recesses called galleries that act like targets. On many courts, striking certain galleries wins an immediate point, adding a pinball-like scoring thrill to rallies.
Then there is the feature that really separates court tennis from nearly every other mainstream sport: chases. In many situations, a rally that would simply end the point in lawn tennis instead sets a “chase,” a marked spot where the ball bounced a second time. Later, players switch ends and “play off” that chase, essentially replaying the point with a new objective: beat the previous bounce by doing better. It is strategy layered on top of strategy, and it gives matches a distinctive rhythm, with moments of tension that carry forward rather than disappearing instantly.
International Tennis Day can be celebrated simply by learning these odd, wonderful differences and sharing them. Even a short video of a rally showing wall play, a gallery winner, or a chase being played off can turn a casual tennis fan into a fascinated observer.
International Tennis Day Timeline
Jeu de Paume Emerges in Medieval France
A handball game called “jeu de paume,” played by striking a ball with the palm, becomes popular in northern France and is recognized as the direct ancestor of real (court) tennis and modern lawn tennis.
Rackets Introduced to Jeu de Paume
Players begin replacing gloves and paddles with stringed rackets, transforming handball-style jeu de paume into the racket sport that evolves into real or court tennis.
Henry VIII’s Royal Tennis Court at Hampton Court
King Henry VIII has an indoor tennis court built at Hampton Court Palace, reflecting the game’s strong association with European royalty and establishing one of the world’s oldest continually used real tennis courts.
The Tennis Court Oath in Versailles
Deputies of the French Third Estate, locked out of their meeting hall, gather in an indoor jeu de paume court at Versailles and swear not to disperse until France has a constitution, in a defining early act of the French Revolution.
Jacques-Louis David Designs “The Tennis Court Oath”
Revolutionary painter Jacques-Louis David begins an ambitious, ultimately unfinished composition, “Le Serment du Jeu de Paume,” depicting the oath inside the Versailles tennis court and turning the sporting space into a lasting political symbol.
Wingfield Patents Lawn Tennis
Major Walter Clopton Wingfield patents an outdoor game he calls “Sphairistikè,” soon known as lawn tennis, helping popularize a simplified grass-court version distinct from the older indoor real tennis.
First Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships
The All England Club in Wimbledon stages the first lawn tennis championships, using codified rules and a standardized rectangular court that cement the global form of tennis most people play today.
History of International Tennis Day
International Tennis Day was founded in 2014 and is a collaboration of the US Court Tennis Association and the US Court Tennis Preservation Foundation.
It also has the support of all of the various governing bodies and associations throughout the globe. The aim of the day is to act as a motivation for current court tennis players as well as mobilizing new ones to get involved with the sport.
That mission makes sense for a game that is both historic and relatively rare. Court tennis is deeply rooted in tradition, but it also relies on a living network of players, professionals, and clubs to keep the sport accessible. Because there are far fewer courts than there are standard tennis courts, the game thrives when existing players bring friends, invite spectators, and explain what is happening on court. International Tennis Day functions as a coordinated nudge to do exactly that.
The hope for International Tennis Day is that the various court tennis clubs, universities, schools and other tennis players around the world will be simultaneously celebrating the day with events, exhibitions, tennis lessons, tournaments, marathon matches, parties, teaching clinics and so much more!
These celebrations are often designed with two audiences in mind: dedicated players who love an excuse for extra competitive play, and curious newcomers who might be intrigued if the sport feels welcoming. Exhibition matches can be especially effective because court tennis looks unusual even before someone understands the scoring. Seeing players deliberately use the walls and roofs, aim for galleries, and navigate the chase system makes it obvious that this is not simply “tennis indoors.”
Teaching clinics tend to focus on fundamentals that translate quickly. Beginners can learn how to serve into the proper area, how to keep the ball low, how to play safely near the walls, and how to understand basic etiquette in a shared indoor space. Many clubs also lean into the social side, since court tennis has a long history as a community sport. A match may be followed by a meal, a talk, or a casual gathering where longtime players swap stories about memorable chases and famously stubborn bounces.
As more and more people get involved with court tennis, the hope is that this day will encourage participation and catalyze more players. Preservation is part of the story too. Court tennis courts are specialized structures, and maintaining them requires expertise and resources. Highlighting the sport publicly helps build interest not just in playing, but also in supporting the places where the game survives.
International Tennis Day is situated on this date as it corresponds with the anniversary of the day that the first Tennis Court Oath was taken on June 20, 1789.
This occurred in France near the Palace of Versailles and acted as a pivotal historical moment for the French Revolution. Representatives of the Third Estate, locked out of their usual meeting space, gathered in an indoor jeu de paume court and pledged not to disperse until a constitution was established. Whatever someone’s interest in revolutionary history might be, it is hard not to appreciate the symbolism: a sports court becoming the setting for collective resolve.
An inspiration behind the day continues to be the most famous painting of a tennis court, “Le Serment de Jeu de Paume”, which was created by Jacques-Louis David in 1791.
David’s work, often discussed as an iconic revolutionary image, captures the intensity of a crowd bound together by shared purpose. It also happens to feature a jeu de paume court, linking the architecture of the sport to a moment far outside athletics. That connection gives International Tennis Day an unusual depth: it celebrates a game, but it also nods to the way sports spaces can become cultural stages.
While International Tennis Day focuses on court tennis, it also gently reminds the wider tennis world that today’s baseline rallies have a long, winding family tree. The familiar scoring terms, the very word “tennis,” and the concept of a net dividing opponents all carry echoes of the older indoor game. Celebrating court tennis is, in a way, celebrating the original draft of the tennis story, complete with quirky design choices that turned out to be brilliant in their own context.
