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
Bollhuset the Royal Dramatic Theatre. The building was located on Slottsbacken near the Royal palace Tre Kronor. It was described as a large, but simple rectangular building of white bricks with a hip roof. Bollhuset was built by the crown for the royal court in 1627 as a house for ball sports, especially "jeu de paume", which was at that time a very fashionable sport among the European aristocracy, and it was mainly used by the members of the royal court. From 1648, when an additional Ball House was built, Bollhuset was referred to as Stora Bollhuset (Big Ball House) or