And now it's time for Who Smarted?
Hey, smarty pants.
We have to be very, very quiet.
I'm at the Pimpledon Championships, and it's add-in 5-4 in the third set, match point.
But before we get into the swing of the action, can you tell me what sport I'm watching?
Is it...
Oh, wait.
You already know from the episode title.
I'm watching tennis.
Sorry.
Here comes the surf.
Game, set, and match.
Burn Fjord.
Wow, an ace.
That's game, set, and match.
Byrne Fjord has just beaten Jimmy McIntosh to become Pimpleton champion.
You cannot be serious.
That serve was out by a mile.
I'm sorry, Mr. McIntosh.
The serve was in.
Oh, yeah?
Says who?
Eagle Eye.
The Pimpledon Electronic Line Calling System.
I have a margin of error of a mere 3 millimeters.
Which is exactly how far out that last serve was!
You said it was out by a mile.
It's a figure of speech, Circuit Brain!
Hey, you!
Me?
Yeah, guy talking loudly during the match.
Did you think that serve was in or out?
I, um... I think it was in.
You can't be serious!
Well, I do tend to tell a lot of jokes.
Mr. McIntosh, it is proper tennis etiquette to be magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat.
Listen, you bucket of bolts.
I just lost Pimpledon because of the worst call in the history of tennis.
Ah, speaking of tennis history, Smarty Pants, have you ever wondered who invented tennis?
Or how it became a sport?
Or how the games evolved?
And what's up with the unique way they keep score?
And how many different kinds of tennis shots are there?
And why can't they see that serve was clearly out?
Because it was in.
You've got to be kidding me!
It's time for another whiff of science and history on Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science or history?
Listen up!
Hey, Smarty Pants, true or false?
The origins of tennis go back over 800 years.
If you said true...
You're right.
You cannot be serious!
It's true, Jimmy Mac.
The earliest origins of modern tennis date back to the 12th to 13th century French handball game Jeu de Palme, or Game of the Palm, played on an indoor court.
And as the name implies, no tennis rackets were used.
But it was from this game that real tennis evolved, the true ancestor of the modern game, with rules even weirder than those of tennis.
But more on that later.
Smarty Pants, what do you think the earliest tennis balls were made out of?
Were they A. Old, stale meatballs, B. Wood covered with fur, or C. Cork covered with wool?
Ooh, ooh, I know!
A. Old meatballs.
He asked the Smarty Pants.
So?
Smarty pants.
If you said A, old stale meatballs, you're wrong.
I just can't catch a break today.
Sorry, J-Mac.
The answer is actually C.
The earliest tennis balls were often made of cork, wound tight with fabric and covered with sewn wool.
It wasn't until the 16th century that rackets were used, and by then real tennis had boomed in popularity.
There were over 1000 real tennis courts in 16th century Paris, and the game was enjoyed by everyone, from commoners to royalty.
Henry VII was known to be an avid player.
I am sorry, Your Majesty, but the shot was out.
You cannot be serious!
Off with his head!
It's unclear when exactly lawn tennis the modern outdoor variant was invented, but it's generally accepted that the first book of rules was published in 1873.
In 1875 a rubber ball covered with white flannel was introduced and in 1880 revised rules were put in place, very much like those used today.
Rules that continue to confuse the uninitiated.
I can't believe I double-faulted a 30-all, 4-all in the third set!
I've seen stranger things happen.
Smarty Pants.
What on earth does Jimmy Mack mean when he says he double-faulted a 30-all 4-all in the third set?
Let's unpack it.
First, what is a double fault?
Uh, two bad calls in a row and the bane of my existence.
Okay.
So, to start a point, in tennis you serve the ball by hitting it from your side of the court over the center net to a marked area on a diagonal from you.
Oh!
This is called your opponent's service box.
If you hit the serve into the net or fail to land the ball inside the service box, the shot was out.
That's called a fault.
You get two chances to serve the ball into the service box.
Miss both and that's a double fault, which results in you losing the point.
If the serve is in, the returner must hit the ball back over the net inside the lines before it bounces twice.
If the serve zips by the returner and they don't touch it, that's called an ace.
Did you have to remind me?
After a successful serve and return, players will then hit the ball back and forth, known as a rally, until one fails to hit the ball over the net, hits it outside the court, or fails to hit it before it bounces twice on their side.
If any one of those things happen, they lose the point.
Or have the points stolen from them.
One more outburst and you'll be fine.
Fine.
Okay, so now we know what double fault means.
What about 30 all?
Smarty Pants, what do you think?
Does it mean A, each player has two points?
B, Each player has 30 points.
Or C, one player has 30 points and the other has all the points.
If you said C, one player has 30 points and the other has all the points, that's incorrect.
I should have all the points.
If you said B, each player has 30 points.
I see your logic, but that's also incorrect.
But if you said A, each player has two points, funny as it sounds, that's correct.
But wait, how does 30 all mean two to two?
Well, in tennis, players start with zero points, which is called love or love all, since all the players have zero.
From there, it goes 15, 30, 40, game.
The exact origins of this point system are a little unclear, but we know that they were used in real tennis.
Some think love came from ,, the French word for egg.
And eggs, of course, are oval, just like what number?
Zero.
Nice job, Smarties.
Others think the points relate to the progression of a clock.
But no one is sure why 45 changed to 40.
It is a mystery to this day.
You mean like that line call that just lost me Pimbleton?
The serve was in by a mile.
What?
A mile?
It's just an expression.
To win a game you must win by two points, which means if both players get to 40, all it's called deuce a situation where one player must win two points in a row to win the game.
If they get one point, it is called advantage or add.
But if they don't get the second point in a row, the score goes back to Deuce.
Why Deuce?
It comes from the French word deux de jus, meaning two games.
Or, in this case, two points.
Smarty Pants, how many deuces do you think the longest game in tennis history had?
Was it 25 deuces, 37 deuces, or 53 deuces?
If you said 37, nice!
In 1975, Keith Glass won a game against Anthony Fawcett that had 37 deuces.
That's over 78 points played in a single game.
Sounds like a nightmare I woke up from once.
In tennis, a player has to win six games to win a set.
When Jimmy Mack said it was for all, he meant each player had four games in that set.
And then to win the match, you generally have to win two out of three sets.
So if it was the third set, that means that each player already won one set.
Yeah, but I bageled him in the first set.
Bageled him?
I schmeared him.
I won six games to zero.
In tennis, that's called a bagel.
If you win a set six games to one, that's called a breadstick.
What can I say?
They got a thing for bread.
Again, you can probably blame the baguette-loving French for all the bread references.
But it doesn't matter by how many games you win a set, only that you win it by two or, in special circumstances, a tiebreak.
Tennis is a game of narrow, not wide, margins.
Studies have shown that to win a match, a player only needs to win 52% of points on average.
That's all I had to do?
Win 4% more points than my opponent?
Or lose 4% less points than your opponent?
You cannot be serious!
But what kind of shots did Jimmy Mack use to win or lose all those points?
How does ball spin and shot direction, height and length come into play?
And when you factor in all the variables, exactly how many different tennis shots are there?
I'll tell you if you let me do over that point.
Or I can just tell you right after this quick break.
Now back to Who Smarted?
Okay, smarty pants, you just heard a nice tennis rally or volley, but how many basic shots are there in tennis?
Are there A, three, B, four, or C, five?
If you said B, four, Oh, so close.
That was almost as close as the ball that was clearly out.
It was in.
If you said C, five.
That's correct.
The five basic shots of tennis are the serve forehand backhand, volley and overhead, otherwise known as a smash.
Like I said, the serve is the first shot of every point.
The server must toss the ball in the air, hit it before it bounces and land it in the opponent's service box.
Then the rally begins, which is where the four other shots come into play.
A forehand is when you swing your racket with the palm of your dominant hand forward.
A backhand is when you swing with the palm of your dominant hand backward.
A volley is when you hit the ball out of the air before it bounces.
These usually come when both players charge the net and are close to one another.
And an overhead is, well, when you hit the ball when it's over your head and smash it down.
Smash!
The crowd always loves a good overhead.
Many players put spin on the ball to affect its flight and bounce.
Smarty Pants, can you name the spin that is not a type of tennis spin?
Is it A, corkspin, B, topspin, or C, slice spin?
If you said A, corkspin, Good job.
The three types of ball spin are top spin or overspin, slice or underspin and flat, which is actually no spin at all.
In terms of direction, players can hit the ball cross-court or diagonally, down the middle of the court or down the line which is straight down the sideline.
When it comes to height and length.
Players can either hit a lob, a high loopy shot meant to go over an opponent's head, or a drop shot, a super short shot meant to bounce twice before the opponent can hit it.
Taking all the basic shots, then adding spin direction, height and length, you get 120 different tennis shots, including between-the-leg shots, also known as tweeners.
You know what?
After watching that last shot in super slow-mo...
I see it was in.
It hit the line.
Chalk flew everywhere.
I was wrong.
I lost.
I'm sorry for being such a bad sport.
Wow, good for you, Jimmy Mac.
Come on, I'll buy you a slice of pizza to cheer you up.
Actually, there's no pizza at the concession stand.
They just ran out.
Out?!
!
You cannot be serious.
A super shout out to Carson and Hayden in Lacey, Washington.
I'm so happy to hear that you love learning about all kinds of different topics and all the silliness that comes along with them.
That's exactly how we like to smart on Who Smarted.
Thanks, you two.
This episode Tennis was written by Dan Grasscourt-Gold and voiced by Adam Nutz-Davis and Max Claycourt-Kamaski and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hardcourt-Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Backhand, Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Colmer.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
Thank you.
