Wimbledon tournament begins 1877
On July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club
begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, then an
outer-suburb of London. Twenty-one amateurs showed up to compete in the
Gentlemen’s Singles tournament, the only event at the first Wimbledon.
The winner was to take home a 25-guinea trophy.
Tennis has its origins in a 13th-century French handball game called jeu de paume, or “game of the palm,” from which developed an indoor racket-and-ball game called real,
or “royal,” tennis. Real tennis grew into lawn tennis, which was played
outside on grass and enjoyed a surge of popularity in the late 19th
century.
In 1868, the All England Club was established on four acres of
meadowland outside London. The club was originally founded to promote
croquet, another lawn sport, but the growing popularity of tennis led it
to incorporate tennis lawns into its facilities. In 1877, the All
England Club published an announcement in the weekly sporting magazine The Field
that read: “The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon,
propose [sic] to hold a lawn tennis meeting open to all amateurs, on
Monday, July 9, and following days. Entrance fee, one pound, one
shilling.”
The All English Club purchased a 25-guinea trophy and drew up formal
rules for tennis. It decided on a rectangular court 78 feet long by 27
feet wide; adapted the real tennis method of scoring based on a clock
face—i.e., 15, 30, 40, game; established that the first to win six games
wins a set; and allowed the server one fault. These decisions, largely
the work of club member Dr. Henry Jones, remain part of the modern
rules.
Twenty-two men registered for the tournament, but only 21 showed up
on July 9 for its first day. The 11 survivors were reduced to six the
next day, and then to three. Semifinals were held on July 12, but then
the tournament was suspended to leave the London sporting scene free for
the Eton vs. Harrow cricket match played on Friday and Saturday. The
final was scheduled for Monday, July 16, but, in what would become a
common occurrence in future Wimbledon tournaments, the match was rained
out.
It was rescheduled for July 19, and on that day some 200 spectators
paid a shilling each to see William Marshall, a Cambridge tennis “Blue,”
battle W. Spencer Gore, an Old Harrovian racket player. In a final that
lasted only 48 minutes, the 27-year-old Gore dominated with his strong
volleying game, crushing Marshall, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. At the second
Wimbledon in 1878, however, Gore lost his title when his net-heavy game
fell prey to a innovative stroke developed by challenger Frank Hadow:
the lob.
In 1884, the Lady’s Singles was introduced at Wimbledon, and Maud
Watson won the first championship. That year, the national men’s doubles
championship was also played at Wimbledon for the first time after
several years at Oxford. Mixed doubles and women’s doubles were
inaugurated in 1913. By the early 1900s, Wimbledon had graduated from
all-England to all-world status, and in 1922 the All England Lawn Tennis
and Croquet Club, as it was then known, moved to a large stadium on
Church Road. In the 1950s, many tennis stars turned professional while
Wimbledon struggled to remain an amateur tournament. However, in 1968
Wimbledon welcomed the pros and quickly regained its status as the
world’s top tennis tournament.
The Wimbledon Championships, the only major tennis event still played on grass, is held annually in late June and early July.
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