Forget strawberries and cream at Wimbledon – let's talk real tennis

While its roots are firmly planted in 12th century France, tennis is very much a part of Scottish history and Scotland can claim to have the oldest tennis court in the world; The Royal Tennis Court at Falkland.

James V had the tennis court built in 1539 in the grounds of Falkland Palace in Fife, the royal hunting lodge of the Stewarts, who visited the village of Falkland to enjoy a more leisurely pace of life away from the cities. Even then, our high achievers needed a quick escape from the tensions of city living! It is believed that as well as James V, Mary Queen of Scots and James VI (James I of England) also played on the Royal Tennis Court. Completed in 1541, the appearance of the court remains relatively unchanged today. In 1989 the Royal Court at Falkland Palace was once again the setting of a royal game of tennis as it celebrated its 450th anniversary with an international tournament, in which Prince Edward played, watched by the Queen.

A Royal Tennis Court in Perth, built before the court in Fife and no longer standing, was also the scene of much regal tennis playing; as well as a royal murder in 1437. Had it not been for his love of tennis, King James I may have escaped his assassins, but upon fleeing his killers the King hid in the drain under his tennis court, only to find it offered no means of escape, as he had recently ordered the drain to be blocked to prevent him from losing so many tennis balls in it! No love match there, then!

Tennis Trivia:

• Kings had their servants hit the first ball to begin a game, hence the origins of the "serve" in tennis.
• The sport played on the Royal Court, known as "real tennis" or "Royal tennis", is different from that played at the major tennis competitions today; yet today's sport owes many of its rules, scoring systems and equipment to the older game.
• Although the popularity of real tennis has decreased over the centuries, there are still many people playing the sport world wide today and real tennis courts can be found in England, France, Australia and the USA.
• However, the Royal Tennis Court in Fife is the last real tennis court without a roof, featuring penthouses on only two sides rather than three and including a unique set of four square openings at the service end in which a point can be scored if a player successfully returns a ball through one of them.

It is not only with real tennis that Scotland should be associated though. Scottish tennis players who have played in, and won, some of the greatest championships include Donald Budge – okay it was actually his father who was Scottish, but it could have been those Scottish genes that helped his son become the first of only two men to achieve the Grand Slam in 1938 by winning Wimbledon, plus the US, French and Australian Championships.

Bobby Wilson of Scotland played tennis during the 1950s and was a Junior Wimbledon Champion as well as four times a Wimbledon quarter-finalist and a stalwart British Davis Cup player; whilst Winnie Shaw began her career at Clarkston Tennis Club in Glasgow and was one of Scottish tennis' greatest women champions. Shaw reached the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon ladies' singles in 1970 and 1971 and, with Joyce Hume of Dundee, contested the semi finals of the Wimbledon women's doubles in 1972. She also reached the final of both the ladies' doubles and mixed doubles of the French Open and played twice in the Australian Open semi-finals.

In 1974 Ken Revie of the Broomhill Tennis Club in Glasgow became the first Scot to win both the British Junior Tennis (U18) title at Wimbledon in 1974 as well as the (U21) title in 1977.

More recently 17-year-old Scot, Andrew Murray, stormed onto the international tennis scene in 2004 when he won the US Open Junior Title with a straight-sets defeat of his opponent thus becoming the first Scottish, indeed British, winner of the Junior Singles crown at the US open. Aged 18 his first match of his Wimbledon debut in 2005 saw him get off to an equally convincing performance with another straight-sets win, which he then repeated in his second match against the number 14 seed. He eventually lost to former finalist David Nalbandian of Argentina in a gruelling five-set match.

Although Andrew may be the son of former Scottish National Coach, Judy Murray, that does not mean that other young players with the potential for success do not have the opportunities to reach their goals.

Since the 1990s there has been a Tennis Academy based at the Gannochy Tennis Centre at the University of Stirling with other Academy venues based in Craiglockhart in Edinburgh, Scotstoun and the West End in Glasgow, Westburn in Aberdeen, and Monifieth in Dundee; all of which provide training for those identified by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) as having international potential. Plans are also underway for the creation of a National Tennis Centre at the University of Stirling which should be completed in 2006.

Murray started playing tennis aged three and to encourage all youngsters who have never played tennis before, the game of Mini Tennis has been launched. Mini Tennis introduces young players to the skills and tactics of the game of tennis, but modifies the court and ball size. Launched by the LTA to encourage younger players to take up the sport, it has been extremely successful in Scotland and many Scottish clubs are now accredited Mini Tennis Clubs.

The LTA and Tennis Scotland have been working hard at making the game more accessible to everyone in Scotland, regardless of age and/or ability. There are currently 5 indoor Tennis Centres in Scotland at which anyone can play, 40 indoor courts, 2304 outdoor courts and 208 clubs operating in the nine tennis districts of Scotland. There are also initiatives run by local authorities, based at local club courts and sports centres, as well as the City Club Tennis Scheme which was launched in Glasgow and Edinburgh to provide access to tennis to children living in cities.

To ensure tennis stays on the agenda in Scotland, the Scottish Sports Minister, announced in January 2005 that funding was to be awarded to Tennis Scotland to support the development of the sport and encourage the next generation of Scottish champions. After Murray's performance in Wimbledon 2005, new companies are already looking to join his existing sponsor, Royal Bank of Scotland, which would help ensure that both he and tennis stay in the public eye.

For those wishing to learn about past Scottish champions from all sporting fields, including tennis, the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is based in the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. One of the original inductees into the hall, when opened on St Andrew's Day in 2001, is the aforementioned Glasgow tennis player Winifred Mason Woolridge (née Shaw).

Tennis is also featuring at the Special Olympics 2005, the biggest sporting event in the UK this year, which are being held in Glasgow. The Special Olympics Great Britain National Games are held every four years and this will be the first time the event has been held in Scotland. Nineteen teams from throughout Great Britain will compete, with ten from England, one from Wales and eight from Scotland. Those sports with limited British participation have invited athletes from Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Denmark and Spain to join the competition. Scottish tennis players from the Grampian, Borders and Scotland West teams will compete against players from the rest of the Great Britain teams, Spain and The Netherlands. And perhaps a successful Games will help the Glasgow bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.