ABSTRACT
This chapter illuminates changes in prevailing playing styles and norms of behavioural etiquette for male and female players, from the emergence of lawn tennis in the 1870s until the post-Second World War period. Playing styles and etiquette were closely connected expressions of bodily control and deportment. While developments in both can be identified with key players, the specific influence of the amateur ideal as well as shifts in class and gender relations impacted discussions about on-court conduct before 1939. The increasing visibility of professional players during the post-war years, which culminated in the “Open” era from 1968, arguably marked a step-change, as male and female players responded to the demands of an increasingly commercialized game.
