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
Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta is a regatta on the River Thames in England which takes place at Thames Ditton, Surrey beside Hampton Court Palace. The regatta was inaugurated in 1887, being described as an "Aquatic Sports and Venetian Fete", although Alfred Sisley's painting illustrates a regatta in existence some thirteen years earlier at the same location. Pleasure boating on the River Thames between Teddington Lock and Molesey Lock had become extremely popular, and owners of self-propelled craft were interested in more sporting activity than just recreational boating, and competitors came from local sports clubs.