Real tennis 1599. The game thrived among the 17th-century nobility in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and the Habsburg Empire, but suffered under English Puritanism, as it was heavily associated with gambling. By the Age of Napoleon, the royal families of Europe were besieged and real tennis, a court game, was largely abandoned. Real tennis played a role in the history of the French Revolution, through the Tennis Court Oath, a pledge signed by French deputies in a real tennis court, which formed a decisive early step in starting the revolution. During the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis
Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court 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 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 & Rackets Association tournaments including the Field Trophy. The club regularly records the highest court usage of any court in the world, along with the courts at Radley College, Oxford and the Royal