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
History of music in Paris 15, 1672, he opened his own opera house in the "jeu de paume du Bel-Air" (also known as "jeu de paume de Bécquet"). He also demanded and received from the king the exclusive rights to use the theater of the "Palais-Royal", until then used by the theater company of Molière, giving him control over any and all musical performances in Paris. He presented a new opera each year, entirely funded by the royal treasury. In April 1673, he premiered "Cadmus et Hermione", the first French opera in the lyric-tragedy form. This form, which dominated French opera for the next two