Wimbledon Championship History

Where it all started..
The club that is responsible for the top tennis tournament in the world if known as the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. They were founded in 1868 and were originally known as The All England Croquet Club. The first ground used for the tournament was actually situated off Worple Road in Wimbledon.

Lawn Tennis was actually introduced by a major Walter Clopton Wingfield In 1874. It was known then by the name of 'Sphairistike'. In 1877 the Club was renamed 'The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club'. It was at this stage that the rules of the game were defined such as the height of the tennis net and posts and such details as the distance of the service line from the net.

The Centre Court is no new idea as the lawns at the ground were arranged so that the main tennis court was situated in the centre with the others courts arranged around it. In 1922 the club moved to the present site.

In 1882 activity at the club was mostly based on grass, this year also saw the word croquet being dropped from the title. This was however put back into the title in 1899! and has remained ever since.

It took until 1884 for the first Ladies to enter the competition and the grand total of ladies to enter was 13. The winner of the ladies competition was Maud Watson. In the same year the men's doubles were started.

By the end of the century Wimbledon was truly an international competition and in 1905, May Sutton of the United States became the first Champion from overseas when she won the Ladies' Singles. Since that year, only two players from Great Britain, Arthur Gore and the infamous Fred Perry have managed to win the Men's Singles.

Before the 1st World War the site at Worple Road was expanded to meet the growing demand from the public. A move to much larger premises was then planned. This was achieved in 1922 when the current Wimbledon ground was set up in Church Road and was opened by King George V.