Tennis

Kramer, for instance, still believes that Vines was the best ever.¹ Among the women, Lenglen and Wills Moody vie for the distinction of greatest of all time, along with several modern players: Court, Navratilova, Evert, and Graf. In October 2005, the Vice President's Chief of Staff Lewis Libby was indicted on 5 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Even among experts, however, no consensus exists as to who has been the greatest of all. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is investigating the events surrounding the naming of Valerie Plame to determine what crimes, if any, were committed in the process. Roger Federer is considered by many commentators to have the most "complete" game in modern tennis, with the potential to challenge the achievements of these past greats. "CIA leak scandal"). Since then, first Laver, then more recently Borg and Sampras, have been widely regarded as the greatest ever. The revelation of Plame's identity by Bush administration officials, is the basis for the "Plame affair" (aka.

For much of the 1950s and 1960s, many thought Gonzales had claimed that title. Other journalists have also mentioned her identity. Until the mid-1950s, Bill Tilden was generally considered the greatest player ever, his only rivals being Vines, Budge, and Kramer. Syndicated columnist Robert Novak described Plame as "an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction" in a July 2003 column. Among the women are Margaret Smith Court, Maria Bueno, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong, Chris Evert, Hana Mandlíková, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Justine Henin-Hardenne. The Senate Intelligence Committee Report of July 2004, however, indicates that Wilson's piece prematurely decided on what seems to be an open question about whether an Iraqi envoy attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger. Among the greatest male players of the Open era are Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, John Newcombe, Stan Smith, Guillermo Vilas, Arthur Ashe, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg,Goran Ivanišević, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios, Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, and Roger Federer. On 11 July 2003, five days following the publication of Wilson's Op-Ed piece, the CIA issued a statement discrediting what it called "highly dubious" accounts of Iraqi attempts to purchase uranium from Niger.[11] In the press release, CIA Director George Tenet said it should "never" have permitted the "16 words" relating to alleged Iraqi uranium purchases to be used in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, and called it a "mistake" that the CIA allowed such a reference to be used in the speech.

Doris Hart was the first player to win all 12 possible singles, doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. These documents, known as the Yellowcake documents, stated that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium, necessary for the creation of nuclear weapons, from the country of Niger. Maureen Connolly was the first female player to win a Grand Slam in 1953. He also criticized the administration for using allegedly unreliable documents (Yellowcake forgery) to make its case against Iraq. Among women the top two pre-Open era players are considered to be Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills Moody. Wilson later wrote an Op-Ed piece on July 6th, 2003, in the New York Times entitled, "What I Didn't Find in Africa," in which he claimed that he had found no evidence of Iraqi pursuit of nuclear material during his trip to Africa. Other fine players of the pre-Open era include Maurice McLoughlin, "Little Bill" Johnston, the "Four Musketeers" (Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet, and René Lacoste), Vinnie Richards, Jack Crawford, Vic Seixas, and Tony Trabert. Bush administration official — was quoted in the March 3, 2003, edition of magazine The Nation that "America has entered one of it periods of historical madness" in regards to the Iraq War.

Any one of these eleven would probably be competitive in today's game. W. Among them are "Big Bill" Tilden, Ellsworth Vines, Fred Perry, Don Budge, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Pancho Gonzales, Ken Rosewall, and Lew Hoad. Wilson — Plame's husband and a George H. Many great players played in the days before tennis's Open era, many of whom are unknown by modern sports fans. In one of his first statements on the plan to invade Iraq, Joseph C. Each year, a grass-court tournament is hosted on the grounds that are home to the Tennis Hall of Fame, as well as an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members. by Elisabeth Bumiller, who wrote (5 October 2003):.

The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Valerie Plame Wilson was identified in the New York Times as a N.O.C. In 1954 James Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island. [10]. Since the 1970s great champions have emerged from Germany (Boris Becker, Steffi Graf), the former Czechoslovakia (Ivan Lendl, Martina Navratilova, and Hana Mandlikova), Sweden (Björn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander), Brazil (Gustavo Kuerten), Russia (Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin), Belgium (Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne), Switzerland (Martina Hingis and Roger Federer) and from many other countries. Nevertheless, court papers released in early 2006 showed that Fitzgerald did in fact conclude that Plame was a "covert" agent under the IIPA, though he did not seek charges on that count because he lacked proof that Libby was aware of her status. With the beginning of the Open era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis has spread all over the world and has lost its upper-class English-speaking image. During the press conference, Fitzgerald was asked if he knew whether Libby revealed Plame's covert status knowingly; he responded:.

In 1968, commercial pressures 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. She was a national security asset until exposed by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby."[7] It was confirmed that she was a covert operative early in the investigation by acting intelligence officials, setting the matter to rest.[8]. Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments. She met with folks who worked in the nuclear industry, cultivated sources, and managed spies. For 42 years professional and amateur tennis remained strictly separate. In the case of Valerie Wilson, energy consultant for Brewster-Jennings, she traveled overseas in 2003, 2002, and 2001, as part of her cover job. The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Served does not mean lived.

("Cash and Carry") Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. Johnson attempted to clear up the confusion surrounding Plame's status in a column responding to Max Boot: "The law actually requires that a covered person 'served' overseas in the last five years. In 1926 promoter C.C. Former CIA officer Larry C. Winning the Grand Slam, by capturing these four titles in one calendar year, is the highest ambition of most tennis players. Columnist Robert Novak wrote that an Agency source said Plame "has been an analyst, not in covert operations." [6] It has been speculated that Plame may have worked in the CIA administration in the office of former CIA Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) James Pavitt. Together these four events are called the Grand Slam (a term borrowed from bridge). [5] Conservative columnist Max Boot argues that it is very unlikely that a CIA employee commuting to the headquarters building each day would be a covert agent.

Open, the French Open and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. According to USA Today, Plame worked in the Langley, Virginia, CIA headquarters since 1997, when she returned from her last assignment, and married Joe Wilson and had her twins. Thus Wimbledon, the U.S. Some claim to be uncertain as to whether Plame was a covert agent. It was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891. At his October 28, 2005, press conference, Special Counsel Fitzgerald noted:. Tennis was for many years predominantly a sport of the English-speaking world, dominated by the United States, Britain and Australia. Plame is known to have served in a classified position as a CIA officer.

The Davis Cup, an annual competition between national teams, dates to 1900. ^[4]. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887. If caught in that status she would have been executed." ^[3] David Armstrong, an Andover researcher for the Public Education Center, believed that the Brewster Jennings & Associates cover had not been done convincingly and that other covers would have been established for her by the CIA. The U.S. He explained: "...that meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. Johnson, who left the CIA in 1989, indicated Plame had been a "non-official cover operative" (NOC).

National Men's Singles Championship, now the U.S. Former CIA official Larry C. U.S. D&B records list the company as a "legal services office," located at 101 Arch Street, Boston, Massachusetts. rules promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tie-breaker system designed by James van Alen. "Brewster Jennings" was first entered into Dun and Bradstreet records on May 22, 1994, but D&B would not discuss the source of the filing. The comprehensive I.L.T.F. While undercover, she had described herself as an "energy analyst" for the private company "Brewster Jennings & Associates," which the CIA later acknowledged was a front company for certain investigations.

In 1881 the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions. Little is known of Plame's professional career. The first championships at Wimbledon, in London were played in 1877. ^[2]. In 1881 the desire to play tennis competitively led to the establishment of tennis clubs. During her time at Penn State, she had worked on the business side of PSU's student newspaper, The Daily Collegian. According to an October 9, 2003 Collegian article, she previously attended Lower Moreland High School in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. at the home of Mary Ewing Outerbridge on Staten Island, New York in 1874. government in Washington D.C.

It was first played in the U.S. Soon after graduation, she started working for the U.S. Tennis spread rapidly among the leisured classes in Britain and the United States. Plame is a 1985 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and the College of Europe, an international-relations school in Bruges, in 1995. Seeing the commercial potential of the game, Wingfield patented it in 1874, but never succeeded in enforcing his patent. Wilson and Plame are the parents of five-year-old twins. According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of royal tennis and applied them to his new game:. At the time, Wilson was separated from his second wife Jacqueline, a former French diplomat.

He based the game on the older sport of indoor tennis or real tennis ("royal tennis"), which had been invented in 12th century France and was played by French aristocrats down to the time of the French Revolution. She was able to reveal her CIA role to him while they were dating because he held a security clearance. In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield devised a similar game for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate at Nantclwyd, Wales. Plame met Wilson, her second husband, at a Washington D.C party in early 1997. The Courier of 23 July 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall (demolished 1948). Wilson IV. In 1874 they formed the Leamington Tennis Club, setting out the original rules of the game. On April 3, 1998, Plame became the third wife of former Ambassador Joseph C.

Wellesley Tomkins to found the first lawn tennis club in the world, and played the game on nearby lawns. . A. Bush's closest assistants on national security, and Chief of Staff for the Vice President Dick Cheney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, is now indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice. Frederick Haynes and Dr. Resulting from the October 2005 investigation, one of President George W. Pereira joined with Dr. The ensuing political controversy, commonly referred to as the Plame affair, or the CIA leak scandal, led, in late 2003, to a Justice Department investigation into possible violation of criminal statutes, including the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

In 1872 both men moved to Leamington Spa, and with two doctors from the Warneford Hospital, played pelota on the lawn behind the Manor House Hotel (now residential apartments). Valerie Elise Plame Wilson^[1] (born April 19, 1963 in Anchorage, Alaska) was a United States Central Intelligence Agency officer, who was identified as a CIA operative in a newspaper column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. The game was played on a lawn in Edgbaston.
. In 1859 Major Thomas Henry Gem, a solicitor, and his friend Batista Pereira, a Spanish merchant, who both lived in Birmingham, England played a game they named "pelota", after a Spanish ball game. Tennis has a long history (deriving from the 'jeu de paume'), but its establishment as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots.

system called the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP): 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, etc.) which is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches. According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, he or she is given a rating (examples from the U.S. Players may also be matched by their skill level. In the four grand slams, the draw (the maximum number of players allowed in a particular category of the tournament) is 128 people.

There are also tournaments for handicapped players. Tournaments may be arranged for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Common tournament configurations include men's singles, women's singles, doubles (where two players of the same sex play on each side), and mixed doubles (with a member of each sex per side). Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players.

Finally, if an opponent is deep in his court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot, softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it. If the lob is not hit deeply enough into the other court, however, the opponent may then hit an overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the point. From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court to either enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent's head. The half-volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net.

A volley is made in the air before the ball bounces, generally near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent's court.
. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a deadly accurate slice backhand with underspin through the 1950s and '60s.

The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a very powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and '40s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Two hands give the player more power, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors and later Mats Wilander used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world's best players, including Andre Agassi and the Williams sisters. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich.

For most of the 20th Century it was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. It can be executed with either one or both hands. The backhand, which is struck by swinging the racquet away from one's body in the direction of where the player wants the ball to go, is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. In the 1940s and 50s the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to devastating effect against larger, more powerful players, and many female and young players use the two-handed stroke today.

No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. For a number of years the small, apparently frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. The most important ones are the Continental, the Eastern, and the Western.

There are various grips for executing the forehand and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. Then swing up and across to get the right amount of spin. The forehand is accomplished by starting the racquet above the height of the ball, and then dropping the racquet head behind your body. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an ace.

Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A reverse spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness, while a severely sliced serve is sometimes called a sidespin. The server may employ different types of serve: a flat, a top-spin, an American twist (or kick), a reverse spin, or a slice serve. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net.

A serve (or, more formally, a service) in tennis is a shot to start a point. A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob. The first player or team to four points wins the game. No-ad: You play through the match without any ads.

This is played like a regular tie-break but you go to ten instead of seven. It decides who wins instead of a third set. Super tie-break: This is played sometimes after players split sets (Each wins one set). All other rules apply.

A pro set is first to 8 games instead of 6. Pro set: Instead of playing best out of three sets, players may play one pro set. During highschool tennis team matches players may have to follow a few different rules:. The scoring is the same as a regular game.

For the single person, single court rules apply (such that the ball must be within the singles court lines) but on the side of the doubles team, doubles court rules apply (the alleys are considered in). This involves three players, with one person playing against a doubles team. Another tennis format is called "Australian doubles" (Sometimes referred to as "Canadian doubles" or "Korean doubles"). In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only.

It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair user and a legs user, or for a wheelchair user to play against a legs user. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and legs matches. In wheelchair tennis, in which the players move in wheelchairs instead of using legs, an extra bounce is permitted. There is an exception for those who are only able to propel themselves using a foot.

The use of legs or feet is then prohibited, and the player is required to remain seated in the wheelchair. Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. Continuity of the balls' condition is considered part of the game, so if a re-warm-up is required after an extended break in play (usually due to rain) then the re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match balls is resumed only when play resumes. The first such change occurs after only seven games, because the first set of balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up.

Balls wear out quickly in serious play, and therefore are changed after every nine games. Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond the players' control, such as rain, damaged footwear, or the need to chase an errant ball. This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (every two games), and a 120 second break is permitted between sets. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20 seconds after the end of the previous point.

Stamina is a relevant factor, so arbitrary delays are not permitted. A tennis match is intended to be continuous. This is the case for many high school and college level matches. In some leagues players will make their own calls based upon the honor code.

The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority on the rules. They have no adjudicative role. Ball boys or girls (who are usually children) may be employed to retrieve balls, pass them to the players, and hand players their towels. There may also be a net umpire who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service.

The chair umpire may be assisted by line umpires, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. The umpire has absolute authority to determine matters of fact. In serious play there is an officiating chair umpire (usually referred to as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. See Tennis score for a description of both tie break scoring and its history.

A tiebreak game, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7-6. A tiebreak game is sometimes played when the score for the set is presently 6-6. Should the player in the lead take any one of those points, he wins the game (set, etc.). If the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, he has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.).

For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-15, he has a double game point (double set point, etc.). It may happen that the course of play has been such that the player who is in the lead in the game has more than one chance to score the winning point, even if his opponent should take the next point(s). It is of importance in professional tennis, since service breaks happen less frequently with professional players. A break point occurs if the returner, not the server, has a game point.

The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game (the smallest unit of play) needs only one more point to win the game. The running score of each game is described in a manner particular to tennis: scores of zero to three points are described as "love" (or "zero"), "fifteen", "thirty", and "forty" respectively. A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving, and is won by the first player to have won at least four points and at least two points more than his opponent.

If a tiebreak is played, the set is determined by the winner of the next game, and is scored as 7-6. It has become common, however, to play a one game tiebreak when each player has won six games. Typically, a player wins a set when he wins at least six games and at least two games more than his opponent. A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria.

Some matches may consist of five sets (the winner being the first to win three sets), while most matches are three sets (the winner being the first to win two sets). The match ends as soon as this winning condition is met. Matches consist of an odd number of multiple sets, the match winner being the player who wins more than half of the sets. A set consists of a number of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.

A tennis match usually comprises one to five sets. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point. It then travels back over the net and bounces in the court on the opposite side. A legal return consists of the player or team hitting the ball exactly once before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures.

A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. If the second service is also faulty, this is a double fault and the receiver wins the point. If the first service is otherwise faulty in any way, the serving player has a second attempt at service. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service court, this is a let service, which is void.

In a legal service, the ball travels over the net (without touching it) and into the diagonally opposite service court. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve. The receiver may stand anywhere on his side of the net, usually behind the diagonally opposite service box. For each point, the server stands behind his baseline, between the center mark and the sideline.

Service alternates between the two halves of the court. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player, or in doubles one of the opposing players, is the receiver. The players (or teams) stand on opposite sides of the net. Open and Australian Open use hardcourts (though they used grass courts and clay courts in the past), the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon is played on grass.

Of the Grand Slam tournaments, the U.S. Grass courts add an additional variable, with bounces depending on how healthy the grass is and how recently it has been mowed. Hardcourts and grass are "fast" surfaces, where fast, low bounces keep rallies short, and powerful, hard-serving and hard-hitting players have an advantage. On clay courts, line calls are easily reviewable because the ball leaves a visible mark.

Clay courts are considered "slow," meaning that the balls lose speed as they hit the court and bounce relatively high, making it more difficult for a player to hit an unreturnable shot, called a winner. Hardcourt encompasses many different surfaces, ranging from old-fashioned concrete courts to coated asphalt to wooden gymnasium surfaces to artificial grass similar to AstroTurf. Each surface provides a difference in the speed and bounce of the ball. There are three main types of courts, depending on the materials used for the court surface.

The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts, and 3 feet (914 mm) high in the center. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and its width is 27 feet (8.23 m) for singles matches and 36 feet (10.97 m) for doubles matches.

Tennis is played on a rectangular flat surface, usually of grass, clay, or concrete (hard court). . Along with its millions of players, millions of people follow tennis as a spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments. Its rules have remained remarkably unchanged since the 1920s.

Tennis is now an Olympic sport that is played at all levels of society and by all ages in many countries around the world. Originating in England in the late 19th Century, the game spread first throughout the English-speaking world, particularly among the upper classes. In some places, tennis is still called lawn tennis, to distinguish it from real tennis (also known as royal tennis or court tennis), an older form of the game that is played indoors on a very different kind of a court. Player(s) use a stringed racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered in felt over a net into the opponent's court.

Tennis is a racquet sport played between either two players ("singles") or two teams of two players ("doubles"). The convention of numbering scores "15," "30" and "40" comes from quinze, trente and quarante, which to French ears makes a euphonious sequence. Love may come from l'oeuf, the egg, a reference to the egg-shaped zero symbol; however, since "un oeuf" is more commonly used, the etymology remains in question. Deuce comes from à deux le jeu, meaning "to both is the game" (that is, the two players have equal scores).

Racquet comes from raquette, which derives from the Arabic rakhat, meaning the palm of the hand. Tennis comes from the French tenez, the imperative form of the verb tenir, to hold: This was a cry used by the player serving in royal tennis, meaning "I am about to serve!" (rather like the cry "Fore!" in golf). Hardcourt. Grass court.

Clay court.