The original form of tennis, played with a solid ball on an enclosed court divided into equal but dissimilar halves, the service side (from which service is always delivered) and the hazard side (on which service is received); court tennis.
‘Let me hasten to add, that's the smaller ball of real tennis, about 5-1/2 centimetres in diameter, not today's familiar lawn tennis ball.’
‘In the early years of the reign of Henry VIII a law was passed in 1512 that banned the ordinary person from a whole range of games such as real tennis, as favoured by Henry VII, cards, dice, bowls and skittles.’
‘He can be passionate about beekeeping or real tennis or skiing or collecting old books; but buildings are merely assets to buy and sell.’
‘The Earl's penchant is for real tennis, the sport through which he met his wife.’
‘He needed his own energy, particularly for the scene in which he plays real tennis against Dudley.’
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