Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, royal tennis in the United Kingdom and Australia,The Macquarie Dictionary and courte-paume in France (to distinguish it from longue-paume, and in reference to the older, racquetless game of jeu de paume, the ancestor of modern handball and racquet games). Many French real tennis courts are at jeu de paume clubs.
The term real was first used by journalists in the early 20th century as a retronym to distinguish the ancient game from modern lawn tennis (even though, at present, the latter sport is seldom contested on lawns outside the few social-club-managed estates such as Wimbledon).
There are 45 active real tennis courts in the world, located in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and France. There are also currently six disused courts, such as the two in the Republic of Ireland. The sport is supported and governed by various organizations around the world.
Equipment
Balls Unlike latex-based technology underlying the modern lawn tennis ball, the game uses a cork-cored ball which is very close in design to the original balls used in the game. The diameter balls are handmade and consist of a core made of cork with fabric tape tightly wound around it, compacted by outer windings of string, and covered with a hand-sewn layer of heavy, woven, woollen cloth, traditionally Melton cloth (not felt, which is unwoven and not strong enough to last as a ball covering). The balls were traditionally white, but around the end of the 20th century "optic yellow" was introduced for improved visibility, as had been done years earlier in lawn tennis. The balls are much less bouncy than lawn tennis balls, and weigh about ; lawn tennis balls typically weigh .
Despite trials by Dunlop to introduce machine-made balls in the 1970s, almost all balls are entirely hand made by club professionals. The inner core of a ball can last several years, but the cover must be replaced every two to three weeks, depending on usage. Balls are produced in sets of around 60 and hand-sewn by the professional at each club. They are not available for purchase by the general public. Balls are stored in a wicker or plastic basket placed in a hole in the floor underneath the net. A trough under the net allows balls hit into the net to roll into the basket. The entire basket of balls is tipped into a tray in the dedans prior to play to reduce time spent fetching balls; ball boys are not required in real tennis.
Rackets
The spellings racket and racquet are both used by different sources. The short, asymmetrical racquets are made of wood and use very tight nylon strings to cope with the heavy balls. The racquet is oval-shaped to make it easier to strike balls close to the floor or in corners, and to facilitate a fast shot with a low trajectory that is difficult for an opponent to return. However, the rackets have a small sweet spot, which discourages a large swing in a shot and emphasises accuracy. Rackets are made of a combination of ash, hickory, vulcanized fibre and willow. Gut strings have now entirely been replaced by nylon, allowing strings to be tighter. Rackets are laminated, with improvements in epoxy resulting in stronger, sturdier rackets which last longer and have changed the game to be faster and more hard hitting.
Most of the rackets in the world are produced by Grays of Cambridge, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Companies that have previously produced real tennis rackets include Dunlop, Slazenger and Gold Leaf Athletics. The introduction of graphite rackets in lawn tennis has reduced the demand for wooden rackets of any sport, resulting in the larger companies leaving the industry. More recently, Harrow Sports has introduced graphite rackets which are not permitted by the rules of the game as of 2025, but are being trialled at the club level.
Due to the small nature of the game, rackets are almost exclusively sold by club professionals, who also provide restringing services to club members. Even at the elite level, professionals string their own rackets.
Courts
There are two basic designs in existence today: jeu quarré, which is an older design, and jeu à dedans. Both are doubly asymmetric: the two ends of the court differ in shape, as do the left and right sides. All existing tennis courts in the modern day are of the jeu à dedans variety, except the court at Falkland Palace in Scotland. The jeu à dedans court is a rectangular indoor court with high walls on all four sides and a high ceiling. The floor size of a court can vary from at Oxford to , and can be constructed of dyed concrete or, in some older courts, flagstone. The surrounding walls are usually constructed of brick or cinder block and are plastered smooth. Some courts, notably Prested and previously Washington, have glass walls down to floor level, though many more have installed glass walls higher up to increase viewing capacity without impacting play.
Three walls feature sloping wooden roofs, known as penthouses, built above the floor and extending to a width of . The wall without a penthouse is called the main wall. Protruding from the main wall is the tambour, an angled wall wide at an angle of approximately 53 degrees, though some courts can be up to 59 degrees.
Counting clockwise from the main wall, the penthouses are called the dedans penthouse, the service penthouse and the grille penthouse. The side with the dedans penthouse is also known as the service end, and the side with the grille penthouse is also known as the hazard end. Beneath the penthouses are various openings in the wall, which have various mechanics in the gameplay and allow spectators to view the game. Underneath the dedans penthouse is the dedans, between wide positioned centrally along the wall. A net across the opening allows spectators to view the game without fear of injury. Beneath the grille penthouse is the grille, a roughly square opening measuring between and positioned on the upper right hand side as viewed from the court. The grille is usually blocked by a solid wood cover with a picture or club logo, though American courts usually have netting instead. Beneath the service penthouse is a long opening, divided up into smaller openings by wooden or metal posts. The central such opening, known as the line, extends to the floor and allows players to enter the court and change ends. Counted from the centre of the court, the openings are known symmetrically as first gallery, the door, second gallery and last gallery, though at the end of the court closest to the grille penthouse the final opening is instead called the winning gallery and contains a bell which rings when a ball enters the opening.
Strung across the centre of the court is a net, which sags in the middle. At the centre of the court, the net is positioned above the playing surface, rising to at the sides of the court. Most courts have a trough and a sunken basket at the base of the net for collecting balls at the change of ends.
On the hazard side, the receiving court is marked by a line called the service line approximately from the back wall, and a line parallel to the main wall called the fault line. Often, the receiving court is painted a different colour to the rest of the floor. A series of lines called chase lines measure the distance from the back of the court on the service side and from the service line on the hazard side towards the net. Courts in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia mark the distance in intervals yards from the back wall. The lines are numbered on the side walls, up to 6 on the service side and 2 on the hazard side, with the seventh line corresponding to the last gallery and second gallery respectively. Subsequent lines correspond to the gallery openings up to first gallery. Often, the last gallery and second gallery lines on the service end are a different colour to the remainder of the lines to make them easier to identify. At Prested in Essex, the floor is painted in alternating green and blue colours in lieu of chase lines. In France, the lines are measured in pied du roi units, numbering up to 14 on the service side and 4 on the hazard side.
As many courts were built before the introduction of electric lighting, most courts have clerestory windows above the main and service walls. Typically, these areas are considered out of court, and are demarcated with an out of court line that extends around the top of the playing area. Often the out of court area is not plastered like the playing area. Notable exceptions include Hobart, where the wall between the windows is considered in play, and Hyde Bridport, where the two windows at the ends of the court are still in play. Alternatively, some courts have skylights in the roof of the building. All courts now use artificial lighting, allowing play at all times of day. Some modern courts, such as Radley and Oratory, do not have windows at all, and are lit entirely artificially. Most courts have gabled roofs, with the ridge line along the length of the court. Each court has local rules as to whether balls hit over the beams are in or out of play.
The court at Falkland Palace is the last remaining jeu quarré design which, unlike the jeu à dedans court, does not have a tambour, a dedans and a dedans penthouse. Instead, it has an ais, a piece of wood on what would be the dedans wall adjacent to the service penthouse, and four lunes, openings in the walls high above what would be the dedans. The court is the only existing, playable court in the world to not have a roof.
Manner of play
Service To begin play, the players traditionally spin a racket or toss a coin to decide who serves first. Serves are always made from the service end of the court, that is, the side of the net with spectator seating in the dedans behind it. Unlike lawn tennis, at least one foot must be grounded during the service, but the player may serve from anywhere in the court between the dedans wall and the second gallery line. The serve is played onto the service penthouse, and must touch the service penthouse at least once on the receiver's (hazard) side of the court. It may also touch the service wall above the penthouse or the service penthouse on the server's side. From there, it may touch any other surface except the main wall or tambour. Serves may be volleyed by the receiver, or be played off a single bounce on the floor. To be a valid serve, the ball must land in the rectangle marked by the service line and the fault line. Serves which land between the fault line and the main wall, below the service line, or which fail to touch the service penthouse are called fault. Players are permitted a second serve, but if it is also a fault, then the server double faults and the receiver wins the point. Under French rules, balls which land between the fault line and the main wall are not considered a fault, and are instead called a pass, with the serve replayed.