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
Jeu de Robin et Marion of these motets to Adam de la Halle is unconfirmed. Adam de la Halle wrote the Jeu de Robin et Marion for the Angevin Court of Charles I of Naples. He originally went to Naples in the service of Robert II of Artois. The play was first performed there and it has been suggested that the choice of genre was particularly poignant for those members of the court homesick for France. Although it is tempting to link the characters of French medieval "pastourelle" and "Le" "Jeu de Robin et Marion" with the early history of Robin Hood and Maid Marian,