The very first book in the world on tennis was written by a priest, Antonio Scaino da Salo, after he witnessed a match during which a question about the game arose that was not explained to his apparent satisfaction. The way the historical accounts of the source of this book are worded, it is possible that the dispute was similar to ones that I imagine prompted the ITF Case Rulings and the Friend at Court USTA comments.
This book was published in 1555 and is titled “Trattato Del Giuoco Della Palla.” In case anyone is wondering, I haven’t suddenly learned Italian over night. However, through the magic of of google translate, the literal translation is “Treaty of the Ball Jacket.” I don’t know why, but that title sparks joy with me. The physical book is in the collections of the Royal Academy and reproductions can be purchased off amazon.com. While I am usually not shy about adding books on tennis to my personal collection, the price for the leather bound replica, combined with the fact that I don’t speak Italian is a deterrent, for now.
This book is one of the ancient sources for the base 15 scoring system, which as discussed yesterday, progresses from 15 to 30 to 45, This is consistent with other documented scoring systems of that period. The book also contains a description of the term used to indicate how many points are required to win the game after both players have won 3 points. “a una” is the term for when only one point is needed and “a deu” which subsequently modernized to “a deux.” While “a una” is not directly preserved in he modern game, “a deux”is the basis for the term “deuce” in which is in current usage.
Antionio Scaino’s book also contains references to the term “vantaggio” in Italian as well as the more familiar “advantage” in French. For tennis played in current times with the luxury of a chair umpire, the score is called “Advantage [Player’s Name].”
History does not tell us how the scoring of the third point evolved from 45 to 40, but one speculative theory is that it was a change made for the same of brevity and east of calling the score. I modern recreational play it is not uncommon to hear “5” used for 15 and “4” used for forty, which leads to the potentially convoluted score of 5-4 when the serving player is actually down 15-40. If we all keep at it, maybe one day our own shorthand terms will evolve into the standard usage for scoring in the game.
All of the words in the vocabulary used in modern tennis to score within a standard game are now accounted for in terms of an origin story.
- Trattato Del Giuoco Della Palla, Antonio Scaino, The collections of the Royal Academy (UK), 1555.
- United States Tennis Association (2020) Friend at Court. White Plains, NY
- Whitman, Malcolm D. “Tennis Origins and Mysteries”, Dover Publications, 2018.
