A sphairistike racquet circa 1875, Jefferies & Co. stamp to the tilted head frame, plus additionally stamped on the convex wedge SPHAIRISTIKE, and wit
£5,000 - £7,000
A sphairistike racquet circa 1875, Jefferies & Co. stamp to the tilted head frame, plus additionally stamped on the convex wedge SPHAIRISTIKE, and with the other side of the wedge stamped FRENCH & Co., LONDON, good condition except for some broken stringing When Major Walter Clopton Wingfield defined the rules of the modern game of tennis in 1874, he called it ''sphairistike'' (pronounced, ''sfair-rist-ik-ee''), Greek for ''playing ball.'' At the same time, he also referred to the game as ''lawn tennis.'' According to The Times of London (1927), the name ''sphairistike'' was dropped very quickly because it was so difficult to pronounce. Wingfield chose the old racquet making firm of Jefferies & Co. to make his boxed sphairistike sets. The word ''tennis'' is said to have been derived from the French word, ''Tenez'' (''look here''). In the French game, the server announced ''Tenez!'' and then served the ball. Certainly by the short time to the first Wimbledon Championships in 1877 lawn tennis had been adopted as the sport's name.