Tennis disappeared from the Olympic arena since the 1924 Games (Paris) since its appearance in the 1896 Games at Athens. The game returned in the 1988 Games at Seoul (64 years later). The tennis lovers have a point to be positively content as the event is being held exactly three weeks post the Annual Tennis Grand Slam Tournament.

This year at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the games will be held from July 28th to August 5th. The venue for the tennis matches will be the grass laden courts in Wimbledon. The courts at Wimbledon have a history of their own. Wimbledon was the venue for tennis during the 1908 games at London. The team of Great Britain won all the 6 medals that season. This year, there will be 172 tennis players taking part in 5 medal events.

There will be five medal events this season. The events are:

• Singles matches for men and women;

• Doubles matches for men and women, and

• The mixed doubles.

This time during the London Summer Games, India has sent a strong contingent. The Indian teams have players having worldwide reputation and the skills to beat the best in the business. They are Somdev De Burman (singles for men), Mahesh Bhupathi with Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes and Vishnu Pradhan for the men’s doubles, Rushmi Chakraborty and Sania Mirza for the doubles event for women. Leander Paes will team up with Sania Mirza for the mixed doubles event. All Indians are positively content and hope to see some good results in this year’s Olympics.

The tennis court measures 23.77 meters in length and 8.23 meters in width. The width increases during a doubles match and becomes 10.97 meters. A net measuring 0.914 meters divides the court into half.

The objective of tennis is to hit the ball into the opposition’s court in such a way so that the opposition cannot return the ball. The scoring system is unique in this game. The points go like 15, 30, 40 and the very next point achieved means the set is won. Score of 40 for both the sides is called a deuce (tie). Deuce can be broken when either of the one scores two points to win. “Love” means a score of zero in Tennis.

All the five events in Tennis will be played under elimination rules. The winner will move onto the next round and the loser goes home.

There is an umpire to oversee every match while the line umpires on each end make sure the ball has landed safely. The line umpires inform the main umpire in case the ball drops over the line. The main umpire’s job is to ensure a free flowing match. An umpire’s job is tough and they need to be positively content about every decision they make.

Tennis matches can stretch for hours. Therefore a player needs to have great stamina and strength. Also they need to have the will to compete in harsh situations. The player must be a good team person as well as they need to compete in doubles as well as mixed doubles events.