Paddle tennis, rebranded as POP Tennis in 2015, is a century-old racquet sport adapted from tennis, featuring a smaller court, a lower net, a solid perforated paddle, and a slower ball that creates a fast, reaction-based game emphasizing net play. Invented in 1898 by Frank Peer Beal in Michigan and spread to Manhattan for children, the sport was modernized decades later by Murray Geller, who enlarged the court and introduced the underhand serve to appeal to adults. The governing body rebranded the sport to "POP Tennis" in 2015, renaming itself the International POP Tennis Association (IPTA) to distinguish it from similar paddle sports like Padel, with the name echoing the "pop" sound of the paddle striking the ball. Played as both singles and doubles on a court measuring 50 by 20 feet with a 31-inch-high net, it uses a simplified service rule—typically one underhand serve per point—while retaining standard tennis scoring (15, 30, 40, Advantage). The sport boasts notable history, having been played in nearly 500 American cities by 1941, and champions like Scott Freedman, who won the World Men's Singles title 19 times, underscore its competitive depth.