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
Sport in France Road World Championships, and the gold in the road race at the 1996 Olympics. Though it is little known, Gaelic football is developing in France. There are currently 20 clubs across the country with 80% of the players French. Professional sailing in France is centered on singlehanded/shorthanded ocean racing with the pinnacle of this branch of the sport being the Vendée Globe singlehanded around the world race which starts every 4 years from the French Atlantic. Pétanque is mostly played in the South of France. Pétanque is not considered as a sport by many northern Frenchmen though the international federation