New Trier East doubles tennis team shakes hands with their opponents as the high school state tennis tournament at Arlington High School in May of 1972. (Daily Herald file photo)
Former Stevenson High School student tennis star Andrea Jaeger volleys during practice in July of 1986. (Daily Herald file photo)
Lincolnshire resident Andrea Jaeger competes in the U.S. Open Championships at the National Tennis Center in New York on September 5, 1983. Jaeger was a student athlete at Stevenson High School. (Associated Press)
Two players take a break in between sets during the state high school tennis tournament in May of 1976 at Arlington High School. (Daily Herald file photo)
Arlington High School player serves during a match against Conant High School in April of 1976. (Daily Herald file photo)
A player returns a shot with his backhand in a Harper College tennis match in April of 1976. (Daily Herald file photo)
A tennis player with the Arlington High School team returns a shot against his opponent from Forest View High School during a tennis match at Arlington in April of 1974. (Daily Herald file photo)
A tennis player serves during the high school district tennis tourney at Wheeling High School in May of 1974. (Daily Herald file photo)
A player competes in the high school district tennis tourney at Arlington High School in May of 1974. (Daily Herald file photo)
The state high school tennis tournament at Arlington High School in May 1974. (Daily Herald file photo)
A player serves in the state high school tennis tournament at Arlington High School in May 1974.
A player returns a shot in the state boys high school tennis tournament in May of 1976 at Arlington High School. (Daily Herald file photo)
A tennis player returns a shot during the district tennis finals at Arlington High School in May of 1972. (Daily Herald file photo)
An instructor helps a woman with her serve during Tennis for Adults class in Hoffman Estates during July of 1968. (Daily Herald file photo)
A man watches as a student waits for serve during a Tennis for Adults class in Hoffman Estates during July of 1968. (Daily Herald file photo)
An instructor helps a young girl with her grip on a racket during a tennis clinic in Itasca in June 1968. (Daily Herald file photo)
Students hit the ball back and forth during a tennis clinic in Itasca in June 1968. (Daily Herald file photo)
A boy returns a shot in a tennis clinic in Itasca in June 1968. (Daily Herald file photo)
A tennis instructor helps a student learn to hold a racket during a tennis class in Schaumburg in June 1970. (Daily Herald file photo)
A Harper College tennis player returns a shot in Palatine in May of 1970. (Daily Herald file photo)
A player returns a shot during the high school state tennis meet at Arlington High School in April of 1972. (Daily Herald file photo)
On indoor and outdoor courts around the suburbs, children and adults are hitting tennis balls back and forth across the nets as they enjoy the sport of tennis all year long.
The game of tennis is traced back to the 12th century to a French game called “jeu de paume,” or game of palm, where a ball has hit with the hand. A racket was used in the 16th century, and the game developed into lawn tennis played on grass courts by Victorian gentry.
Modern-day tennis grew rapidly in the late ’60s through the ’70s, when professionals were allowed to play in major championships with amateurs and expanded television coverage featured notable players and rivalries.
In Illinois, the first boys high school tennis tournament was held in 1894. In 1912, the University of Illinois sponsored the first statewide high school tennis tournament. The state high school finals tournament was moved to schoolcourts in Arlington Heights in 1973.
One of the most famous tennis players in the suburbs was Andrea Jaeger of Stevenson High School, who won the state tournament in 1979 before turning pro at 15. She eventually became the No. 2 player in the world. In 1980, she was the youngest semifinalist in U.S. Open history and the youngest quarterfinalist at Wimbledon.
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