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
Paris in the 17th century events. All they lacked were color; all the fireworks were white or pale gold, until the introduction from China of colored fireworks in the 18th century. The most popular sport for French nobles in the first part of the 17th century was the "jeu de paume", a form of handball or tennis, which reached its peak of popularity under Henry IV, when there were more than 250 courts throughout the city. Louis XIV, however, preferred billiards, and the number of courts for "jeu de paume" dropped to 114. The owners of the courts found an original and effective strategy to