The Lower Bucks Times reports that the 2022 National Public Parks Tennis (NPPT) Championships is coming to Doylestown this summer.

The competition celebrates tennis’ beginnings, which were directly influenced in the 1830s by the invention of the lawn mower in Great Britain. The pushed clippers enabled grass to be trimmed short enough to enable a ball, struck by a racket, to bounce and be returned.

A century later the sport had caught on in America, where it remains popular to this day.

The surface for tennis, however, shifted over time, leaving its grassy beginnings behind for clay, concrete, asphalt, and now acrylic. But despite technological advances in courts, the unpredictability of a public park setting — with various distractions and changeable weather — makes this match a unique challenge.

The NPPT championship revives this mass-appeal approach to the game not only for historic accuracy but also to promote what can seem to be an exclusive sport to a wider array of competitors.

According to the NPPT, the event was in Bucks County in 2018, but the only time prior that it was held locally was 1923.

The weekend event (July 22–24); local players are eligible to participate, with registrations accepted online. A junior classic is also being held, with separate boys and girls divisions for competitors 14–18 years old.

Announcing the event in May was designed to time it for National Tennis Month.

More on this public park tennis event is at the Lower Bucks Times.