Real tennis Real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (originally called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, formerly royal tennis in England and Australia, and courte-paume in France (a reference to the older, racquetless game of "jeu de paume", the ancestor of modern handball and racquet games; many French real tennis courts are at "jeu de paume" clubs). The term "real" was first used by journalists in the early 20th century as
Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta is a regatta on the River Thames in England which takes place at Thames Ditton, Surrey beside Hampton Court Palace. The regatta was inaugurated in 1887, being described as an "Aquatic Sports and Venetian Fete", although Alfred Sisley's painting illustrates a regatta in existence some thirteen years earlier at the same location. Pleasure boating on the River Thames between Teddington Lock and Molesey Lock had become extremely popular, and owners of self-propelled craft were interested in more sporting activity than just recreational boating, and competitors came from local sports clubs.