Tennis Tennis was first developed in France, by French royalty, beginning in the 1500s. It was known as the sport of kings. In the US, the game became popular in the 1800s, first as court tennis and later as lawn tennis, although still a game for the rich. The Olympics included tennis in the first modern Olympiad in 1896 and it was an Olympic sport through 1924, when 2 Americans, Helen Wills and Vince Richards, won the singles gold medals. In 1900 the first British-American Davis Cup competition was staged with the Americans winning the first two Davis Cups. A similar prize for women, the Wightman Cup, was established in 1923.

Tennis Men's tennis was dominated in the 1920s by Big Bill Tilden, who was from the Philadelphia area. He won the national mixed doubles title in 1913 and 1914 and became the number 1 ranked tennis player in the US in During the 1920s, Tilden, who was also a playwright and actor, won Wimbledon 3 times and won 7 U.S. singles championships. He often defeated Little Bill Johnston, who had defeated Tilden for the 1919 U.S. Championship. Tilden and Johnston combined to play as doubles partners, as well as singles players for the U.S. Davis Cup team. They won 7 consecutive Davis Cups in the 1920s, a record that still stands.

Tennis In the early 1920s, Molla Mallory was the dominant U.S. player, but she was overshadowed by Suzanne Lenglen of France. In 1923 Helen Wills won her 1 st U.S. championship, and she was the outstanding female tennis player of the 1920s. Besides her Olympic medals, Wills won 6 U.S. championships, 3 Wimbledon titles, and 2 French championships in the 1920s. She married in 1929 and, as Helen Wills Moody, won 5 more Wimbledon titles, 2 French championships, and 1 U.S. championship in the 1930s.

Tennis Despite the popularity of Tilden and Wills, tennis was still largely restricted to wealthier classes. There were few public courts and all the championships were strictly amateur; any player who made any money from tennis was considered a professional. The game was international in scope, but few ethnic groups in the US other than wealthy, established Western Europeans could afford to play competitive tennis.