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Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court

Real tennis court in London, England

Summary

Real tennis court in London, England

Field	Value
name	Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace
image	Hampton Court Real Tennis Court - geograph.org.uk - 2884175.jpg
caption	Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace
location	Hampton Court Palace
coordinates
opened	1528
renovated	1660, 1975
embedded	{{infobox designation list
embed	yes
designation1	Grade I
designation1_date	2 September 1952
designation1_number	1080809

The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed court for playing the sport of real tennis. It was built for Cardinal Wolsey between 1526 and 1529. Henry VIII of England played there from 1528. This court is still home to an active tennis club. In 2015 it was closed to visitors for major restoration works.

During the 17th century various improvements were made to the court. One of the first acts of Charles II after his restoration in 1660 was to order the extensive refitting of the Tudor tennis court. This included the laying of a new tile floor, the remodelling of the galleries and repairs to the roof. At the same time, new nets, curtains and velvet cushions for the spectators' seats were provided. The interlaced initials above the net on the wall opposite the corridors are, however, not those of Charles but of William III and Mary II (1689–1702). Since the end of the 17th century the court has undergone little alteration. However, progress is not incompatible with history: in 1975 sodium halide lighting was installed.

Real Tennis World Championship matches

The Real Tennis World Championship has been played at the Royal Tennis Court on five occasions:

1885 Thomas Pettitt beat George Lambert 7–5
1977 Howard Angus beat Gene Scott 7–2
1979 Howard Angus beat Chris Ronaldson 7–0
1983 Chris Ronaldson beat Wayne Davies 7–4
2002 Rob Fahey beat Tim Chisholm 7–6

The Ladies' World Championship, inaugurated in 1985, was played at the Royal Tennis Court in 1999, when defending champion Penny Lumley beat Sue Haswell 2–1 in the final.

The court today

The court is home to a real tennis club of over 450 members. The club is active in interclub competitions and fields sides in the National League (administered by the International Real Tennis Professionals Association) and also in Tennis and Rackets Association tournaments including the Field Trophy. The court hosts the annual Champions Trophy, part of the qualifying series for the Real Tennis World Championship.

The club regularly records the highest court usage of any court in the world, along with the courts at Radley College, Oxfordshire and the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club.

Masters of the Royal Tennis Courts

c. 1540: Oliver Kelly
1543: Thomas Johns
1584: William Hope
1591: Edward Stone
1604: Jehu Webb
c. 1621: John Webb (jointly with Gedeon Lozier until 1631)
1656: Ralph Bird
1660: Thomas Cooke
1689: Henry Villiers
1697: Horatio Moore
1708: Thomas Chaplin
1728: Charles Fitzroy
1762: Richard Beresford
1764: William Chetwynd
1765: Richard Beresford (again)
1791: Charles Meynell (son of Hugo Meynell)
1815: William Beresford (until his death in 1883)

References

{{National Heritage List for England. (2 September 1952)
McNicoll, Kathryn. (2010). "First & Foremost A Gallery of Champions". Ronaldson Publications.
McNicoll, Kathryn. (2010). "First & Foremost A Gallery of Champions". Ronaldson Publications.
"Club website".
"Real Tennis Online (Clubs & Associations)".
[http://www.royaltenniscourt.com/the-club/professionals/masters/ Masters]. www.royaltenniscourt.com. Accessed 19 April 2019.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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