<P> 1913 also saw twelve national tennis associations agree at a Paris conference to form the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), which was renamed in 1977 as the current International Tennis Federation (ITF). The rules the association promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing ninety years, the one major change being the addition of the tie - break system designed by James Van Alen . </P> <P> That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games but returned 60 years later as a 21 - and - under demonstration event in 1984 . This reinstatement was credited by the efforts by the then ITF President Philippe Chatrier, ITF General Secretary David Gray and ITF Vice President Pablo Llorens, and support from IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch . The success of the event was overwhelming and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988 . </P> <P> The idea of a Davis Cup - style tournament for national women's teams is surprisingly old--it was first proposed in 1919 by Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman . After she was turned down, she donated a trophy in 1923 that would be known as the Wightman Cup, awarded in an annual match between the two strongest women's tennis nations of the time, the United States and Great Britain . </P> <P> Wightman's original idea for a worldwide women's team tournament would bear fruit more than 40 years later in 1962, when Nell Hopman persuaded the ITF to begin sponsoring such an event . The first Federation Cup was played in 1963 as part of the ITF's 50th anniversary celebrations; it involved 16 countries and was played over one week . By the 1990s, over 70 nations competed each year, and regional qualifiers were introduced in 1992 . In 1995, the ITF introduced a new Davis Cup - style format for the competition and rechristened it the Fed Cup . </P>

Where was the first game of tennis played