Recently, many tennis lovers in the United States got curious as to what was the Tennis Court Oath about. Going literally by the term, it was an oath taken on a tennis court that was constructed in 1686 at the Palace of Versailles. Back in his time, Louis X was said to be unhappy with playing tennis outdoors, which is why he wanted a court to be built indoors.
Coming more particularly to France, the Tennis Court Oath was taken, making it one of the causes of the famous French Revolution. And the oath was the first major event to have taken place in the first-ever indoor tennis court built in France, making it also the origin for the ongoing Paris Masters Indoors tournament.
Interestingly, Versailles was also the place where Germany had to sign a treaty to concede defeat in World War I years later to the likes of France and England. The small city is just 19 kms away from Paris.
The Tennis Court Oath was apparently taken on June 20, 1789 by a group of people comprising of commoners who were from all backgrounds of society, whether they were rich businesspersons or poor peasants. The idea behind this act of fearless solidarity was to assert that real power in society, administration and decisions related to those, lied in the hands of the people of the country and their representatives. And not the monarchy led by the Emperor, Louis XVI at the time.
Those group of people apparently represented 97% of the country’s population. Louis XVI and his predecessors were ruling France by dividing the population into three estates, with these group of people coming in the third one, which was considered the lowest of them all. The other 3% comprised of the royal family and so-called important religious leaders.
At the time, France was going through a long agricultural and financial crisis that threatened its existence. The ‘Third Estate’ of people began calling itself the ‘National Assembly’ of the country and took the oath in protest. This was to continue until there was a proper French Constitution formed, much on the lines of the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence and its preamble. It was France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
The oath ensured that the voting power went more in the hands of the public as majority had to be considered rather than the power of people in royalty and religion. It also inspired the beginning of the French Revolution, which also forced the administration to bring about sweeping changes in different walks of society and life. Louis XVI did try his best to negate the National Assembly’s impact but with increasing rebellion, he failed to do so.
The Tennis Court Oath also helped get feudalism abolished in France, giving way to a democratic society for future generations to live in. In 1989, that indoors tennis court was renovated to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the event. Here is what the Tennis Court Oath was in English –
The National Assembly,
Considering that it has been called to establish the constitution of the realm, to bring about the regeneration of public order, and to maintain the true principles of monarchy; nothing may prevent it from continuing its deliberations in any place it is forced to establish itself; and, finally, the National Assembly exists wherever its members are gathered.
Decrees that all members of this Assembly immediately take a solemn oath never to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require until the constitution of the realm is established and fixed upon solid foundations; and that said oath having been sworn, all members and each one individually confirms this unwavering resolution with his signature.
We swear never to separate ourselves from the National Assembly, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require until the constitution of the realm is drawn up and fixed upon solid foundations.
The Tennis Court Oath venue helped in forming the Paris Masters: Tournament and its past champions
At the Paris Masters 2023, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune are widely being considered as the favourites to win the competition. Rune is the defending champion. On the other hand, the likes of Djokovic and before him, Roger Federer have won the tournament on multiple occasions.
The winner of the Paris Masters 2023 is set to take home an impressive $947,000 and 1000 points. On the other hand, the finalist will bag $517,000 and 500 points. The indoors, hard court tournament normally takes place towards the end of the tennis season, just before the season-concluding ATP Finals. As a result, its outcome for players is extremely valuable when it comes to rankings.
