The recent success of several undergraduates in the Tuxedo Park Court Tennis Tournament probably raises the question in many uninformed minds, "If this is a sport, just what kind is it?"

Actually, court tennis is a sport of kings, or so one is told by the Encyclopedia Brittanica, and consequently few play if in the United States. It is rumored that Louis X of France died from a chill received while on the court, and indeed the literary-minded individual will find reference to this venerable sport in Shakespeare's Henry V.

The court, divided in the middle by a not, is 96 feet by 31 feet 8 inches, with a 7-foot "penthouse" surrounding three-quarters of it. The height of the play line above which the ball cannot go is 18 feet at the sides and 23 feet at the ends.

One half of the court is called the service side; the other the hazard side, for reasons seen to become obvious. The "dedans," the "grille," and the "winning gallery" are three exotic names for holes which harass the unfortunate on the hazard side. If the server hits the 2 1/4-inch cloth spheroid with which the game is played into any of those holes, he wins the point.

The "tambour," a 1 1/2-foot projection in the far corner of the hazard side, is another device used to belabor the defender.

Cubicles are marked off along the penthouse by posts which serve also to support the penthouse. The far gallery on the hazard side is the fateful "winning gallery."

The cement playing floor has lines painted on it called "chase lines." If the player cannot return the ball, the referee calls out "chase 4, 3, etc.," depending on which line the ball hits. The opponent then has a chance to "lay down" a better chase. If he fails, he loses the point.

There are two service lines forming a rectangle on the hazard side, and the server hits his serve off the penthouse and into this rectangle. The ball must be returned before the second bounce. The return may not hit the roof or rafters or above the play line and must go over the net in the air.

The sets are best of 11 games and each game is scored as in lawn tennis.

If the reader is confused, he should remember that this is a sport of kings, and doubtlessly their divinely inspired minds have no trouble coping with its many complexities.