Real tennis

Real tennis is the original racket sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis, or tennis, is descended. It is also known as jeu de paume in France, "court tennis" in some parts of United States, and formerlycitation needed] called "royal tennis" in Australia.

The term real tennis is often thought to be a corruption of "royal" and related to the game's connection with royalty during its heyday in England and France in the 16th and 17th centuries. In factcitation needed], "real" was first used at the end of the 19th century as a retronym to distinguish it from the then recently invented game of lawn tennis. Real tennis players often just call it "tennis", describing the modern game as "lawn tennis".citation needed]

Real tennis is still played at a small number of active courts in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and France. The sport is supported and governed by organizations around the world.