In 1872, the world’s first tennis club was founded in Leamington Spa. The world’s oldest tennis tournament, the Wimbledon Championships, was first played in London in 1877. These first Championships culminated in a debate on how to standardise the rules of the sport as it evolved.

John Moyer Heathcote was one of those who devised the original rules of lawn tennis, and he is also credited with inventing the cloth covering for the tennis ball. An amateur tennis champion until 1882, he wrote one of the very first manuals of the sport. The Classic Guide to Tennis instructs the budding tennis player in how to become a master of the game.

• The latest title in Amberley Publishing’s new Classic Guide series. 
• Wimbledon 23 June 2014. 
•  Barclays ATP World Tour finals, 11 November 2014. 
•  Reproduced  from  J.  M.  Heathcote’s  1890  Tennis (Badminton  Library  of  Sports & Pastimes: out of copyright).