Sudden Death

On the Nobility of the Game of Tennis

First we shall see how the game of tennis has been ordered to excellent and rational ends, which is how all worthy and valuable art should be, in imitation of nature, which does nothing without great mastery. Note, for example, how the ancient and wise inventors of this game, considering that it inflames and impassions even the palest and weakest youth, contrived it in such a fashion that the player is never hurt. As will subsequently be explained, the ball is not hit while it is in the air, but rather after it has bounced on the ground, making it impossible for the receiving player to be injured. Similarly, the receiving player waits for the bounce to learn whether the point he intends to make is valid. If he wants the advantage, he is obliged to display the requisite decency and allow the other player equal time to recover.

ANTONIO SCAINO, Treatise on the Game of the Ball, Venice, 1555