Real tennis

Real tennis is the original racquet sport and the direct walled-court ancestor of the modern game of lawn tennis. It is played indoors on an asymmetrical, enclosed court featuring complex sloping roofs, galleries, and a protruding buttress. The game relies heavily on hitting the ball off of the angled walls.

Real tennis is an incredibly rare sport today, played on fewer than 50 active courts worldwide. The majority of these courts are located in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and the United States. The sport's lore is heavily tied to the Hampton Court court built for Henry VIII in 1530.

Unlike lawn tennis, real tennis is played on an enclosed, asymmetrical court with walls that players can hit the ball off of to strategically place their shots. The ball is also much heavier, made of solid cork wrapped in hand-stitched cloth. Players use heavy, asymmetrical wooden racquets that look like a cross between a bat and a modern racquet.

Real tennis earned the nickname the "Sport of Kings" because it was famously popular among European royalty and nobility during the 16th and 17th centuries. King Henry VIII of England was one of its most famous and avid players. The sport was heavily restricted to the wealthy elite who could afford to build the massive, specialized courts.