Tennis recreational players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. The four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the Majors) are especially popular: the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open also played on hard courts. Historians believe that the game's ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand. Louis X of France was a keen player of jeu de paume ("game of the palm"), which evolved into real tennis, and became
Ainay several kings of France during the 16th century, when the French royal court was still itinerant rather than having a permanent base in Versailles or Paris. In 1536 the court set up home in Lyon, whilst Francis I of France was gathering his troops to the south-east of Avignon to face Charles V's invasion of Provence. On 2 August that year the dauphin Francis played at a jeu de paume court "pré[s] d'Ainay" and, getting overheated, drank a glass of iced water which proved fatal (he died a few days later at Tournon-sur-Rhône, aged 18). This event may have dissuaded