The First Tennis Clay Court Was Invented in Cannes Articles about Provence

The first clay court were started to use in 1880 in Cannes, and with this invention tennis is obliged to the British, the multiple winners of Wimbledon, the twin brothers, Ernest and William Renshaw. At that time Cannes were a greatly popular venue for sports games, particularly among the British vacationists, so the two brothers-spertsmen decided to give tennis lessons. Initially, the game was conducted on the grass court, but because of the scorching sun the lawns fell into disrepair, and the Renshaws decided to improve their quality and to modify them. In the city of Vallauris a pottery centre was located. They took from there the terracotta wreckage of broken pots, chopped them, brought to Cannes where spread them on the lawns and thus created the first clay court.

Today, there are several options of tennis court covering: grass, hard, with carpet flooring, asphalt, rubber, wood, and clay court which was invented by two Englishmen particularly in the French territory, on the Côte d'Azur.