Tennis in the 19th century referred to a racquet sport.
Real tennis -- one of several games sometimes called `` the sport of kings '' -- is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis ( usually simply called tennis ) is derived . Tennis . The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham , England , in the late 19th century as `` lawn tennis '' . During most of the 19th century , in fact , the term `` tennis '' referred to real tennis , not lawn tennis : for example , in Disraeli 's novel Sybil ( 1845 ) , Lord Eugene De Vere announces that he will `` go down to Hampton Court and play tennis . ''