Timeline

A timeline of the five racquet sports.

Every row below comes from the sources used across the History section, and every row is about one sport only, named in the second column. Where sources disagree about a date, the row gives each version and the source column says who gives which. Rows marked unconfirmed rest on a single secondary source or a search summary of a page that could not be opened.

Before 1800

Date	Sport	Event	Source
12th century	Tennis (root)	Jeu de paume played in northern France, per most historians	Wikipedia
About 1200	Tennis (root)	A bishop reprimanded for missing evensong to play	Tennis Hall of Fame
1230	Tennis (root)	Earliest recorded private court, Poitiers	Tennis Hall of Fame
1245	Tennis (root)	Archbishop of Rouen bans French priests from jeu de paume	Tennis Hall of Fame
1249 to 1286	Tennis (root)	First reference to hand tennis in the British Isles, reign of Alexander III of Scotland	Tennis and Rackets Association
1368	Tennis (root)	Charles V builds a court at the Louvre	Tennis Hall of Fame
Early 16th century	Tennis (root)	The racket adopted, after gloves, thong bindings and the wooden battoir	Tennis Hall of Fame
1592	Tennis (root)	Hulpeau's Ordonnance, the first published rules of tennis, Paris	Tennis and Rackets Association
18th century	Squash (root)	Rackets played in London's Fleet and King's Bench debtors' prisons, as historians generally date it (a Britannica summary disputes the prison origin)	World Squash Library; Britannica (summary)
1789	Tennis (root)	The French Revolution nearly ends the game in France	Tennis Hall of Fame
1795 or 1822	Squash (root)	Rackets at Harrow (a 1795 lithograph per Wikipedia; 1822 per Britannica), both seen in summaries	Wikipedia; Britannica (summaries)

1800 to 1899

Date	Sport	Event	Source
About 1830, or during or just before the 1850s	Squash	Squash begins at Harrow School	Wikipedia (summary, about 1830); World Squash Library (1850s)
1834	Squash (root)	Bishop Jenner reports rackets played at several spots in Harrow's school yard	World Squash Library
1856	Badminton (related game)	Ball badminton, a separate Indian game, played in Tanjore	Badminton Museum
End of the 1850s, or early 1860s	Badminton	A new game at Badminton House (Adams: by the end of the 1850s; Museum: early 1860s; the popular account says 1873, which no museum or body source read confirms)	Adams; Badminton Museum
1864	Badminton	"Badminton party" photograph caption at Simla, India	Badminton Museum
1864 to 1865	Squash	First four courts built for squash at Harrow, in use January 1865 (a Times account says the site became fives courts)	World Squash Library
23 July 1868	Tennis	All England Croquet Club founded	Wikipedia
1872 or 1874	Tennis	Lawn tennis club at Leamington (1872 per a club's own page; 1874 per the Harry Gem Project and Wikipedia)	Harry Gem Project (summary); Wikipedia
10 July 1873	Badminton	George William Vidal said to play the first game in western India, at Satara	Badminton Museum
11 October 1873	Badminton	The Field prints the Calcutta rules, with the Nagpore rules; the Simla rules a week later (Adams says the first rules were framed at Poona in 1873)	Badminton Museum; Adams
December 1873, 23 February 1874 or March 1874	Tennis	Wingfield's lawn tennis: unveiled in Wales, patented, or rules and sets on sale	Tennis Hall of Fame (two pages); Wikipedia
1874	Tennis	Lawn tennis reaches the US: Mary Ewing Outerbridge at Staten Island, or James Dwight and Fred R. Sears at Nahant in August	Wikipedia; Gillmeister (summary)
1875 (1876 in a local account)	Tennis	A lawn at the All England Club given to lawn tennis	Wimbledon (summary); Wikipedia
1876	Badminton	J. H. E. Hart revises Selby's rules	Badminton Museum
1877	Tennis	Wingfield's patent expires	Tennis Hall of Fame
9 to 19 July 1877	Tennis	First Lawn Tennis Championship at Wimbledon; Spencer Gore wins	Wikipedia
21 May 1881	Tennis	US National Lawn Tennis Association founded, Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York (the USTA gives the year only)	Tennis Majors (summary); USTA
31 August to 3 September 1881	Tennis	First US national championship, Newport Casino; Richard Sears wins	Wikipedia
1884	Tennis	First Wimbledon ladies' singles, won by Maud Watson	Wimbledon and Wikipedia (summaries)
1884	Squash	First squash court in North America, St Paul's School, New Hampshire (single secondary source, unconfirmed)	Squash World Wide (summary)
1890	Badminton	Hart revises the rules again, with Mr Bagnel-Wild	Badminton Museum
13 September 1893	Badminton	Badminton Association founded at Southsea (nine clubs present per the Museum; 14 per Adams)	Badminton Museum; Adams
1897	Squash	Harrow's first squash courts remodelled into three larger ones	World Squash Library
1898	Badminton	First open tournament, Guildford	Badminton Museum
1899	Badminton	First All England Championships, doubles only (singles added in 1900)	Badminton Museum

1900 to 1959

Date	Sport	Event	Source
8 August 1900	Tennis	First Davis Cup tie, USA against Great Britain, Longwood (Boston or Brookline)	Davis Cup; Tennis Majors (summary)
1904 or 1907	Squash	US national squash association founded (US Squash says 1904, Philadelphia)	US Squash; summaries
1905	Tennis	First Australasian Championships, Melbourne	Wikipedia (summary)
1907	Tennis (root)	Tennis and Rackets Association formed	Tennis and Rackets Association
1913	Tennis	International Lawn Tennis Federation formed (1 March, Paris, 15 members per ITF summaries; 12 attending plus 3 per Wikipedia)	Sportcal; ITF (summary); Wikipedia
1915	Tennis	Bancroft patent for a leather layer between wooden racket laminations	Tennis Hall of Fame
1922	Tennis	Dayton steel racket introduced	Tennis Hall of Fame
1922	Squash	Squash court dimensions standardised	World Squash Library
1925	Tennis	French Championships open to international players	Wikipedia (summary)
1928	Squash	Squash Rackets Association founded in England (no primary source read)	Wikipedia
5 July 1934	Badminton	International Badminton Federation founded, nine members (London per BWF summaries; Cheltenham per Wikipedia); the Badminton Association becomes the Badminton Association of England	BWF (summary); Badminton Museum
1936	Badminton	American Badminton Association founded in Brookline, Massachusetts	USA Badminton
1949	Badminton	First Thomas Cup	Adams
1950 to 1953	Badminton	William Carlton's moulded-shuttle patents	worldbadminton.com patents
1954	Badminton (related game)	Ball Badminton Federation of India founded	Badminton Museum
1956/57	Badminton	First Uber Cup, won by the United States	Adams

1960 to 1989

Date	Sport	Event	Source
1965 (1963 and 1966 also given)	Pickleball	Game invented on Bainbridge Island by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum	HistoryLink
1965 (1953 in an ITF document)	Tennis	Lacoste steel racket patent (Wikipedia, in a summary, dates the first steel racket patent of any kind to 1957)	Tennis Hall of Fame; ITF and Wikipedia (summaries)
1966	Badminton	Carlton 3.9, the first mass-produced lightweight steel racket	Badminton Museum
1966, 1967 or 1968	Squash	International Squash Rackets Federation formed (London meeting 1966; first meeting 5 January 1967)	Wikipedia; summaries
1967	Pickleball	First permanent court paved on Bainbridge Island	HistoryLink
1967	Tennis	Wilson's T-2000 steel racket	Tennis Hall of Fame
13 February 1968	Pickleball	Pickle Ball Inc. articles of incorporation filed (most accounts give 1972 for the company)	HistoryLink
1968	Tennis	ILTF approves open tennis (30 March per a Racquet magazine summary); first open tournament, Bournemouth, April	Tennis Hall of Fame
1968 or 1969	Padel	Enrique Corcuera's court at Acapulco (FIP and LTA say 1969; Aspetar 2023 says 1968)	FIP; Aspetar
23 September 1970	Tennis	The Original 9 sign professional contracts in Houston	Tennis Hall of Fame
1972	Tennis	ATP founded; Davis Cup Challenge Round abolished; optic yellow balls permitted (Wikipedia)	ATP; Davis Cup; Wikipedia (summary)
1972	Badminton	Demonstration sport at the Munich Olympics	NBC Olympics; BWF (summary)
1972	Pickleball	Pickle Ball Inc. business under way (first annual report filed 3 August)	HistoryLink
21 June 1973	Tennis	WTA founded at the Gloucester Hotel, London	WTA
23 August 1973	Tennis	First ATP computer ranking; Ilie Nastase No. 1	ATP
21 February 1974	Squash	International Squash Players Association founded	PSA
Early 1970s or 1974	Padel	First courts in Spain, Marbella Club (FIP: early 1970s; LTA and Aspetar: 1974)	FIP; LTA; Aspetar
Early 1970s, 1975 or mid-1970s	Padel	Padel reaches Argentina	FIP; LTA; Aspetar
3 November 1975	Tennis	Chris Evert becomes the first official WTA No. 1	WTA
1976	Pickleball	First known tournament, Tukwila, Washington	HistoryLink
1976	Squash	First World Open, won by Heather McKay and Geoff Hunt	PSA
1976	Tennis	Howard Head's US patent for the oversized Prince Classic	Tennis Hall of Fame
1976	Wheelchair tennis	Wheelchair tennis begins in California (IPC, summary only, unconfirmed)	IPC (summary)
1977	Tennis	ILTF becomes the ITF; ITF temporarily bans double-strung rackets from 3 October	Sportcal; Wikipedia (summary)
24 February 1978	Badminton	Rival World Badminton Federation formed (summaries only)	BWF and Wikipedia (summaries)
1978 or 1979	Tennis	First ITF racket specification (unresolved)	Summaries of an Applied Sciences paper and an ITF document
1980	Squash	Amateur status abolished	PSA
26 May 1981	Badminton	IBF and the rival federation sign a Deed of Unification, Tokyo (summaries only)	BWF and Wikipedia (summaries)
1983	Tennis	Last major singles titles won with wooden rackets, per a Wikipedia summary	Wikipedia (summary)
1983 or 1984 (1979 in one Wikipedia article)	Squash	Women's players' association (WISPA) agreed at Perth in 1983, first meeting in Belfast in 1984 (PSA); founded February 1984 in Belfast (Squash Ireland, summary); formed by Angela Smith in 1979 (one Wikipedia article, summary)	PSA; Squash Ireland and Wikipedia (summaries)
1984	Pickleball	First official rulebook (March 1984); national association formed	USA Pickleball rulebook; HistoryLink
5 June 1985	Badminton	IOC votes to include badminton at Barcelona 1992	BWF (summary); Adams
1985	Squash	US Open relaunched as a softball event	Zug
1986	Tennis	Wimbledon adopts yellow balls (summaries only)	Wikipedia (summary)
1987	Tennis	Last use of a wooden racket in Wimbledon championship play	Tennis Hall of Fame
1987 or 1988	Padel	First national padel body (APPTAS 1987 per Aspetar; Asociacion Padel Argentino 1988 per FIP)	Aspetar; FIP
January 1988	Padel	First international competition, Spain against Argentina, Mar del Plata	FIP
1988	Tennis	Tennis returns as an Olympic medal sport, Seoul	Olympics.com (summary)
1989	Padel	First transportable glass court, the Crystal Palace, Mar del Plata	FIP

1990 to 2028

Date	Sport	Event	Source
1990	Tennis	ATP Tour begins	Wikipedia; ATP (summary)
1990	Pickleball	Courts in all 50 US states	HistoryLink
12 July 1991	Padel	FIP founded in Madrid	FIP
1992	Badminton	Olympic debut at Barcelona, four events	NBC Olympics
1992	Wheelchair tennis	Paralympic medal sport from Barcelona 1992 (a demonstration in 1988 per one IPC summary)	IPC (summaries)
1992	Padel	First World Padel Championships, Spain (Madrid and Seville per FIP; Seville per Wikipedia)	FIP
1992	Squash	ISRF renamed World Squash Federation; Professional Squash Association incorporated 11 September	Wikipedia; Zug
1 January 1993	Squash	PSA takes over from ISPA and the WPSA; softball becomes the leading US form	Zug
1995	Tennis	WTA Tour formed	WTA
1996	Badminton	Mixed doubles added at Atlanta	NBC Olympics
1997	Padel	Spain and Argentina unify the rules and the name, Barcelona	FIP
2004	Wheelchair tennis	Quad events join the Paralympics, Athens (summary only)	IPC (summary)
2005	Padel	Padel Pro Tour launched	FIP
2005	Squash	Squash misses the London 2012 programme, Singapore (summaries only)	Yorkshire Post (summary)
24 September 2006	Badminton	IBF renamed Badminton World Federation	Wikipedia
2012 (2011 per Wikipedia)	Squash	WISPA renamed the Women's Squash Association	PSA
2013	Padel	World Padel Tour begins (to 2023)	FIP
September 2013	Squash	Squash gets 22 of 95 votes for 2020; wrestling chosen	Reuters
2015 (merger announced November 2014 per Wikipedia)	Squash	PSA and WSA merge	PSA
2018	Pickleball	World Pickleball Federation started	The Dink
2019	Tennis	First Davis Cup Finals, Madrid	Davis Cup
2021	Tennis	Original 9 inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame	Tennis Hall of Fame
2021	Para badminton	Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, held in 2021	UK Sport; IPC (summary)
2022	Padel	Premier Padel launched under the FIP	FIP
16 March 2022	Tennis	Grand Slam Board announces the final-set tie-break trial	Tennis.com
28 March 2022	Pickleball	Pickleball made Washington's official state sport	Washington Senate Democrats
April and November 2023	Pickleball	IPF revived (April); Global Pickleball Federation founded (November)	The Dink
24 August 2023	Padel	World Padel Tour acquisition agreed; tours to unify as Premier Padel from 2024	FIP
16 October 2023	Squash	IOC approves squash for LA28, Mumbai	Al Jazeera
Early 2024	Pickleball	PPA Tour and MLP merge under one parent (29 February per a summarised report)	Sportcal; Sports Video Group (summary)
16 May 2024	Pickleball	The UPA announces the UPA-A to replace USA Pickleball for its events	The Dink
28 January 2025	Squash	World Squash Federation announces its rebrand as World Squash	The Squash Site
June 2025	Pickleball	IPF and WPF merge	The Dink
2025	Tennis	Davis Cup two-stage qualifying and Finals in Italy; 157 nations entered	Davis Cup
1 January 2026	Tennis	ITF begins trading as World Tennis (its 2026 rule book still says ITF Limited)	Sportcal
25 April 2026	Badminton	3x15 scoring adopted, taking effect on 4 January 2027	USA Badminton
4 August 2026	Pickleball	International unification still not complete	European Pickleball Federation
20 October 2026	Padel	FIP renews its call for Brisbane 2032 as it declares 20 October World Padel Day	FIP
LA28 Games, 14 to 30 July 2028 (upcoming)	Squash	Olympic debut, men's and women's singles	NBC Sports; Al Jazeera

The stories behind these rows are on the History pages listed on the History section page. This year's competitions are in Events.

Sources

Keep reading

Real tennis and the roots

The palm game of medieval France, the first recorded courts at Poitiers and the Louvre, the 1592 rules, the arrival of the racket, Hampton Court, and why the old game came to be called real tennis.

Badminton origins

The museum's account against the popular Poona story, the 1873 rules printed in The Field, the Southsea meeting of 1893, the first All England Championships, the IBF of 1934, the rival federation of 1978 and the 1981 unification.

The Olympic story

Tennis from 1896 to 1924 and back in 1988, badminton's 1985 vote and 1992 debut, squash's failed bids and its 2023 approval for LA28, padel's Brisbane 2032 campaign, pickleball's split world bodies, and wheelchair tennis and para badminton.