Circa 1500; A game of tennis during the time of King Henry VII. The sport originated in the 13th century, and was called 'La Paume' on the continent, since the ball was first struck with the palm of the hand. Original Artist: A Forestier.

Spectators at a lawn tennis tournament in Eastbourne, 9 Jan 1889.

Circa 1897: Reggie F. Doherty ('Big Do') one of three brothers who were serious tennis players. He was Men's Singles Champion at Wimbledon four times and his brother Laurie five times.

25 Mar-3 Apr 1896: General view of a match in the Tennis Doubles event during the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Joh Pius Boland of Great Britain and Fritz Traun of Germany won the gold medal in this event.

June 1908: Tony Wilding of New Zealand in action during the Men's Singles Tennis Championships at Wimbledon.

June 1910: Miss M Coles in action during the Ladies' Singles Championships at Wimbledon, wearing a long skirt.

June 1918: Court boys at Queen's Club, London.

Unlocated picture taken in the 1930s showing (from L to R) French tennis players Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet, Rene Lacoste, and Jean Borotra. The group, known as the four Musketeers, won the Davis Cup six times between 1927 and 1932.

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 22: Australian Ken Rosewall tries to catch a lob of his opponent during a match at France Tennis Open 22 September 1958 in Paris. Parker won the tournament twice in 1953 and 1968.

American champion tennis player Billie Jean King in action at Wimbledon. 

5 July 1979: Czech-born American tennis player Martina Navratilova in action against fellow American Tracy Austin during their semi-final match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.

Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia with the trophy after beating Paul Haarhuis of Holland and Sandon Stolle of Australia during the final of the mens doubles in the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship in 1999 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London.

Switzerland's Roger Federer poses with the Wimbledon Trophy after beating Andy Roddick of the US in the Men's Singles Final of the 2009 Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Tennis Club, in southwest London, on 5 July, 2009.