The imminent foundation of the United States Lawn-Tennis Association was announced in a list of public notices that ran on April 24, 1881 in the New York Times. It was a single paragraph buried in an eclectic list of wildly disparate items. For example, other notices included how much mail was sent out from the port the previous day, the name of a servant who was charged with theft of silverware, and a couple that was cleared of murder charges following the autopsy of a dead body found in their woodshed.
The invitation to join the United States Lawn-Tennis Association was extended to all tennis clubs as well as other clubs that included tennis among their sports. Membership bore the right to representation as two primary objectives were decided for the organization. The first was to develop and adopt a unified set of rules for how the game of tennis was to be played. The second was to determine a unified specification for the tennis ball.
The following month, what we now know as the USLTA was formed. The New York Times reported that convention delegates representing 35 lawn tennis clubs met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The first order of business was the election of officers and the adoption of a constitution and by-laws. After that, the body turned its attention to standardization of the rules of the game.
After “considerable discussion,” it was decided that the rules of the All England Cricket and Lawn-Tennis Club for 1881 would be adopted. Additionally, the English Ayre’s tennis ball was selected for official use in the United States by the organization.
This is what can be regarded as the first official baseline of the rule of tennis within the United States. The global standard under the purview of the International Tennis Federation would not come for another 32 years.
- New York, The New York Times Machine, April 24, 1881.
- The Lovers of Lawn Tennis, The New York Times Machine, May 22, 1881.
