In 1874, Major Walter C. Wingfield patented in London the equipment and rules for a game fairly similar to modern tennis. In the same year, the first courts appeared in the United States. By the following year, equipment sets had been sold for use in Russia, India, Canada, and China.
在1874年，Walter C. Wingfield市長創造了一種新的網球裝置和游戲規則，類似目前的網球，并獲得了專利權。同年，在美國出現了第一個真的意義上的網球場地。隨后的第二年，這種裝置被銷售到俄羅斯，印度，加拿大和中國。
Croquet was highly popular at this time, and the smooth croquet courts proved readily adaptable^{1 for tennis. Wingfield's original court had the shape of an hourglass, narrowest at the net, and it was shorter than the modern court. His rules were subjected to considerable criticism, and he revised them in 1875, but he soon left the further development of the game to others.
在那時，槌球非常受青睞，并且槌球的場地直接可以用來玩網球。Wingfield所設計的場地形狀象沙漏，在球網處最狹窄。他設計的規則雖然遭到了不少非議，并與1875年別修改，但他卻帶來了現代網球的開端。
In 1877, the All England Club held the first Wimbledon tournament, and its tournament committee came up with a rectangular court and a set of rules that are essentially2 the game we know today. The net was still five feet high at the sides, a carryover from the game's indoor ancestor, and the service boxes were 26 feet deep, but by 1882, the specifications3 had evolved to their current form.
在1877年，一個英國的會所展開了首次Wimbledon錦標賽，比賽所設計的長方形場地和比賽規則和今天的一樣。網子仍然是五英尺高，發球箱仍然是26英尺深，但在1882年，進行了一些細微的修改，才產生了目前網球}