125 years of Wimbledon: Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Wimbledon which began its journey way back in 1877 as a garden-party tournament is now world’s oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament. In its 125th year let us have a look at its history and how it all began.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is responsible for staging the world's leading tennis tournament, is a private Club founded in 1868, originally as 'The All England Croquet Club'. Its first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon.

In 1875 lawn tennis, a game introduced by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally called Sphairistike, was added to the activities of the Club.

For the first time Wimbledon Tennis Tournament was played in 1877 as a garden-party tournament later on it became a Grand Slam Tournament. Men’s single was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22.  About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.

By this time the women had not stepped into the game and it was till 1884 when women for the first time played the tournament.

By 1882 activity at the Club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word 'croquet' was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons, it was restored in 1899 and the club has been known as 'The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club' ever since.

Entry of Women

In 1884 the Ladies' Singles was inaugurated and, from an entry of 13 players, Maud Watson became the first champion. That same year, the Gentlemen's Doubles was started, with the trophy donated by the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club after the end of their doubles championship, played from 1879 to 1883.

Slowly the popularity of the game increased. More and more spectators became aware and thus spectator stands were now made up of concrete rather than temporary adjustments. By the mid-1880s crowds were flocking to see the prowess of British twins Ernest and William Renshaw who, separately and as doubles partners, won 13 titles between 1881 and 1889. The boom in popularity of the game in this period became known as the 'Renshaw Rush'.

Overseas Champion

By 1905 the game went overseas and assumed an international character, May Sutton of the United States became the first Champion from overseas when she won the Ladies' Singles. She repeated her success in 1907, the year when Norman Brookes of Australia became the first Gentlemen's Singles champion from overseas. Since that year, only two players from Great Britain, Arthur Gore and Fred Perry, have managed to win the Men's Singles while there have been five British Ladies' Champions since Wimbledon moved to Church Road — Kitty McKane Godfree, Dorothy Round, Angela Mortimer, Ann Jones and Virginia Wade.

New ground

A move to larger premises was planned. This was not achieved until 1922 when the present ground in Church Road was opened by King George V. The foresight of building the present stadium, designed to hold 14,000 people, did more to popularize the game worldwide than anything that has happened to date. The new ground, which many thought would turn out to be a 'white elephant', was financed partly from the accumulated reserves of the Club and partly by the issue of Debentures. Misgivings about the future popularity of The Championships were dispelled when applications for tickets in the first year were such that they had to be issued by a ballot — a system that has been adopted for every Championship since. The move to Church Road coincided with a break in tradition, whereby the Challenge Round was abolished in favour of the holder playing through each round.

World War II effects

During the Second World War the Club premises were used for a variety of civil defence and military functions such as fire and ambulance services, Home Guard and a decontamination unit. Troops stationed within the vicinity were allowed to use the main concourse for drilling.

In October 1940 a 'stick' of five 500lb bombs struck Centre Court, resulting in the loss of 1,200 seats. Early in 1946 the decision was taken to resume The Championships that summer. The monumental task of organising the meeting in so short a time was entrusted to Lt. Col. Duncan Macaulay, the newly appointed Secretary.

Much of the war damage was cleared and repairs carried out in an attempt to get the ground back to normal — a situation not achieved until 1949 when building restrictions were eased.

Wimbledon Today

Wimbledon is acknowledged to be the premier tennis tournament in the world and the priority of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts The Championships, is to maintain its leadership into the twenty-first century. To that end a Long Term Plan was unveiled in 1993, to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.