Wimbledon is an important tennis Grand Slam event held annually in the month of July. The event has been in existence for 152 years and has some interesting stories over the years
The All England Club was set up in 1869 for the sport of Croquet. The club was set up on four acres of land on Worple Road in Wimbledon. But Lawn tennis was the popular pastime in those days. The Club therefore extended its facilities to include Lawn tennis on popular demand. It was also renamed the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.
The Beginning and the 19th Century
The first tournament was held in 9 July 1877 and was open to all amateurs; male only. There were 22 male participants at the first Championship. They brought their own rackets and shoes. Balls were provided by the club. Interestingly the first Championship at Wimbledon allowed service underarm. Over 200 spectators attended the event even though the seating capacity at the Club was for 30 people.
With the Men’s Singles Championship being a runaway success, the Men’s Doubles and the Ladies Singles were introduced in 1884. The first ever Ladies Singles had 13 entries but it was the sisters, Maud and Lilian Watson who were the finalists. 19 year old Maud Watson won the finals in three sets and also went on to win in the following year.
Charlotte “Lottie” Dod, burst onto the scene in 1887 to become the Ladies Singles Champion at the age of 15 years and 285 days. She remains the youngest champion even in 2022. Lottie Dod won four Championships at Wimbledon between 1888 and 1893. Her mastery of the sport is reflected in the fact that she dropped only one set in those five years of play.
It was the Renshaw twins, William and Ernest, who drew a large number of spectators in 1889, with numbers swelling beyond 3,000. The main attraction was the style in which the twins played tennis. In effect they were the pioneers of modern tennis relying on the hard service, the smash shot and aggressive volleys. William Renshaw went on to win seven Men’s Singles Championships at Wimbledon, six of which were in consecutive years.
The Doherty brothers, Reggie and Laurie, dominated the Wimbledon Championships between 1887 and 1906. Between them, the brothers won nine of ten Wimbledon Men’s Singles titles in this period. Together they won eight Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Championships in these years.
The World Wars and the 20th century
The start of the twentieth Century saw a number of foreign players join the Wimbledon Championships. Mary Sutton, an American became the first ever foreigner to win a Wimbledon Championship in 1905. She won the Ladies Singles Championship again in 1907. The same year Norman Brookes, an Australian, became the first foreigner to win the Men’s Singles Championship.
The 1908 Olympics included tennis as a full Olympic Sport. Since the Olympics that year were hosted in London, the grass court tennis event was hosted at Wimbledon. That year the Olympic Games were held over a period of six months. There were two tennis events – indoor and outdoor. British players won the Gold medal in both the Men’s Singles and Ladies Singles events.
Even though the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles were played at Wimbledon as non-championship events, they were included in the Championships in 1913.
The First World War suspended the Championships from 1915 to 1918. Anthony Wilding from New Zealand won the Men’s Singles in three straight years from 1910 to 1913. He joined the Royal Marines at the outbreak of the war and was killed on the Western Front in 1915.
The 1920s was an eventful decade at Wimbledon. The Club moved to larger grounds at Church Road in 1922, where the Wimbledon Championships are held to this day. The 1922 Championship was held at Church Road with a capacity to seat 13,500 spectators. The opening ceremony was held on 26 June followed by two weeks to heavy rains.
In the same year it was also decided to do away with the Champions Round, where the defending champion did not have to compete until the very end. Even though efforts had been made earlier the Champions Round could not be abolished for want of popular support. After the War, the decision to abolish the Champions Round was made with considerable support from the players.
In 1924, the No.1 Court was inaugurated as a show Court with a seating capacity of 3,500 spectators. It was initially intended to be a hard court, but ended up being the second main grass court. Its capacity was increased to 7,500 over the years. This Court played a key role at the Wimbledon Championships till it was replaced by a new No. 1 Court in 1996 with a seating capacity of 11,500 spectators.
Suzanne Lenglen is considered the first superstar in Women’s tennis, with an astounding record of 15 titles; 6 Ladies Singles, 6 Ladies Doubles and 3 Mixed Doubles. She achieved “trebles” (i.e. winning in the Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles) in 1920, 1922 and 1925. However, an unfortunate mix up in 1926 saw the last of her at the Wimbledon. A scheduling mix up followed by not informing her properly resulted in her arriving late for a match at which Queen Mary was present and waiting. She was booed the next day while playing a mixed double match. The French lady promptly withdrew from the Championships and did not return ever.
1926 was the Jubilee Year for the Wimbledon Championships. Commemorative medals were given by King George V and Queen Mary to the Champions at Wimbledon. Their son, the Duke of York, later King George VI, competed in the Men’s Double event. King George VI remains the only member of the Royal Family to have ever competed at the Wimbledon Championships.
In the decade of the 1920’s the Wimbledon was dominated by French players: Suzanne Lenglen, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, Rene Lacoste and Jacques Brugnon.
Helen Wills Moody, a Californian, won eight Wimbledon titles and surpassed Suzanne Lenglen’s achievement. This record remained unbroken until Martina Navratilova made her presence felt.
The very first live coverage of a sports event was that of the first round match of the 1937 Championships between Bunny Austin and George Rogers. BBC covered the match with two cameras on Centre Court and a limited transmission time of 30 minutes.
In 1939 the Second World War broke out. Games were suspended and the grounds were used for fire and ambulance services, a decontamination unit, by the British Home Guard and as drill grounds for soldiers stationed in the vicinity. In the six years of the world war, miraculously, only one 50 pound German bomb fell on the Centre Court on 11 October 1940. The bomb fell on one corner of the stands and destroyed a seating capacity of 1200 spectators.
It was decided to hold the 1946 championship even though the seats could not be repaired until the following year. Players from 23 countries participated. There were no qualification rounds and players were selected on the basis of merit. The popularity of the Wimbledon championship was quickly re-established.
In 1952 and 1953, Maureen ‘Little Mo” Connolly won the treble, the first teenager to do so. The American teenager, looked to dominate the Wimbledon but a broken leg in a riding accident ended her short but illustrious career in tennis. The 1953, Men’s singles match was the first epic marathon match of 93 games that was played till 9.15 pm. Jaroslav Drobny fought hard to beat Budge Patty and ultimately win the title.
Althea Gibson, was the first Afro- American and the ninth American lady to win the Women’s Singles and the Women’s Doubles titles in 1957. Together with Neale Fraser, she was the runner up in the Mixed Doubles Championship. Althea, also won the French and American Championships that year. In 1956, she had won the Women’s Doubles title and reached the quarter finals in the Women’s Singles at Wimbledon.
Angela Mortimer and Christine Truman broke the jinx 1961 and became the all-British finalists in the Women’s Singles Championship after a lull of 47 years. Mortimer won the title in a hard fought and emotional battle at the nets.
The first ever Open Wimbledon Championship was held in 1968. It was a huge success with many of the tennis Greats coming back to play the Open’s. The Men’s singles was an all-Australian all-left hand affair between, Rod Laver and Tony Roche. Laver won. Billie jean King claimed the Ladies Singles title, John Newcombe and Tony Roche won the Gentlemen's Doubles, Rosemary Casals and Billie Jean King won the Ladies' Doubles and Ken Fletcher and Margaret Court won the Mixed Doubles.
The longest first round match was played between Pancho Gonzalez, an American, then 41 years of age, and Charlie Pasarell, then 25 years of age. The match lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes, over two days in which 112 games were played, setting a record. Play was stopped due to poor light at 8pm on the first day. Pancho Gonzalez defeated his younger opponent.
Colour television arrived on the scene in the 1970’s. Wimbledon Championships viewed on colour television was spectacular and a new audience was added to the games. The Ladies Singles match between Billie Jean King and Margaret Court is counted among the best and it was televised in colour.
Evonne Goolagong beat Margaret Court in 1971 to become the first Australian Aboriginal champion at Wimbledon. At 19 years of age she also became the fourth teenager to win the Ladies Singles title since the War.
Rain played spoilsport in the 1972 Men’s Single Championship and the match was washed out. For the first time in the history of the Championships, breaking with tradition, the Men’s Singles was played on a Sunday.
Nikki Pilic, the Yugoslav number one in 1973, was suspended by his national tennis association for refusing to play in a Davis Cup tie. His suspension was supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), which meant that Pilic could not participate in the Wimbledon Championship. The newly set up players union, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) supported Pilic. In the face off, 79 players including 13 of the 16 seeded players withdrew from the Wimbledon Championship that year.
Arthur Ashe faced the popular Jimmy Connors in the 1975 Gentlemen’s Singles Championship. He exploited Jimmy Connors weakness, the low forehand, to his advantage. Ashe also hooked his serves wide to the right of his opponent, making it difficult for Connors to return the serve without errors. Arthur Ashe became the first African-American to win the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship in 1975.
The Wimbledon’s centenary year was celebrated in 1977. Virginia Wade, a 31 year old British player was not the favourite in comparison to the likes of Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Sue Baker. However, Wade defeated Chris Evert in the Semi-Finals and went on to win the Ladies Singles title. As a British player, her moment of pride was to have won the Championship before the Queen in the centenary year of the Wimbledon.
The centenary year Gentlemen’s Singles was a match between Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors in which the opponents battled it out on a fast grass court from their respective baselines. The closely contested match lasted three hours and fourteen minutes and was finally won by Borg. Jimmy Connors had beaten John McEnroe to reach the finals and Borg had beaten his friend and practice partner, Vitas Gerulaitis in the semi-finals.
The Wimbledon Museum and its associated Lord Ritchie Library, was officially opened on 20th May, 1977 by HRH, The Duke of Kent. Over the years, has become an important tourist attraction in London. The Museum covers all aspects of tennis from its origin and includes the developments to the present day. Visitors are attracted to various exhibitions such as Tennis fashion.
Billie Jean King won her 20th title in 1979. Since 1975, she had shared the record of 19 titles with Elizabeth Ryan. Hours before Billie won her twentieth title, Elizabeth passed away. According to Billie it was as if Elizabeth did not want to see her record broken. But Elizabeth had confided to Billie that she wished that if anyone broke her record it would be Billie.
The 1980s saw epic battles at the Wimbledon between great tennis stars such as Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker in the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship. It was the likes of Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova. Pat Cash became the eleventh Australian to win the men’s title in 1987, beating John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl on the way. Steffi Graf shook up women’s tennis by becoming the fourth player to win the Grand Slam of Majors in 1988. That year she became the only player in tennis history to add an Olympic Gold to the Grand Slam, when she beat Gabriela Martini in the Seoul Olympics. She was only 19.
Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras dominated the Courts in the 1990’s. But it was Martina Navratilova who beat Helen Wills Moody’s record when she won her ninth Singles title at Wimbledon. Martina was defeated by Conchita Martinez of Spain in 1994. Martinez remains the only Spaniard to win the Ladies Singles Championship to this date.
Jeff Tarango, an American player, was losing his match in 1995, and became increasing frustrated with the Chair Umpire. In the Court he screamed at the Umpire accusing him of being corrupt. He walked off the Court when his request to have the Umpire removed was denied. Later Tarango’s wife slapped the Umpire when they crossed each other in a corridor. Tarango was fined USD 63,000 and banned from two Grand Slam tournaments.
During a rain delay in 1996, Sir Cliff Richard was invited to give an impromptu concert at the Centre Court. His rendition of “Singing in the Rain” was backed up by a choir of Virginia Wade, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernandez and Conchita Martinez. The crowds loved and showed their appreciation by joining in song.
After a 20 year hiatus, a British tennis champion, Tim Henman won the Gentleman’s Singles match in 1997. The crowds backed Tim to the hilt, applauding his every winning stroke. Tim himself acknowledges that he did not find such euphoric support from the spectators in the subsequent ten years of play. The spectators were so enthusiastic about the match that they camped all night to buy one of 14,000 tickets that cost GBP 15. The same year Martina Hingis at 16, became the youngest Ladies Singles Champion since 1887.
The Duke of Kent inaugurated the New No.1 Court at Wimbledon. Tennis greats such as Rod Laver, John Newcombe, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Louise Brough, Maria Bueno, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were invited to the opening ceremony.
The new No.1 Court adds 4,500 seats to increase the capacity to 11,000 seats. The building houses a food village, a merchandising shop, hospitality suites and a debenture holders' lounge overlooking courts 14-17. A broadcast centre, and new courts 18 and 19 have been added. The original No.1 Court has been demolished and a new Millennium Building stands there today.
The biggest upset in 1999 was when 16 year old Jelena Dokic from Australia defeated No.1 Martina Hingis in a first round match. Hingis and Dokic were friends and practice partners, who went on a family holiday together. Excitement in 1999 continued in the Ladies Singles quarter finals where 19 year old Venus Willams clashed with seven time champion, Steffi Graf. Both ladies produced some of their best tennis with hard hitting shots placed at every corner of the court. Steffi Graf was exhilarated to have won the Quarter final match.
The recent 22 years
The Willams sisters, Venus and Serena, dominated women’s tennis is the first decade of the 21st century, often battling against each other on the Centre Court. They go down in tennis history as the first sisters to win Grand Slam title. They are also known to have made an impact on Centre Court with their rather fashionable and often unconventional attire. Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Pat Rafter, Goran Ivanisevic, and Tim Henman are some of the great names featuring in the Gentleman’s Singles of the first decade of this century.
The first Semi Final Match in 2001 was played between Tim Henman and Goran Ivanisevic. The match saw some fine tennis play between both the popular players. Continuous disruptions due to rain meant the match was played over 3 consecutive days and ended 45 hours and 9 minutes after it started. Goran Ivanisevic won the match and moved to the finals to meet Pat Rafter. That match ran into 5 sets and was played over 3 hours and 1 minute. Goran became the well-deserved winner of Gentleman’s Singles Championship in 2001.
Roger Federer won his first Wimbledon title in 2001 when he beat Pete Sampras, the seven time champion since 1996. Federer was then just 19 years of age. They would meet again at the 2009 championships which was again won by Federer to bag his fifteenth Grand Slam win on Centre Court. Pete Sampras was an unannounced spectator at that match who watched Federer defeat Andy Roddick in a 5 set match that lasted four hours and sixteen minutes to equal his record. Pete Sampras retired in 2002.
Martina Navratilova had her most glorious year in tennis in 2003. She won her 20th Wimbledon title, having won the Mixed Doubles alongside Leader Paes. With this she equalled the record of Billie Jean King. Six months earlier she has won the “boxed set” having won the Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles in all four Grand Slam Tournaments. Only Doris Hart and Margret Court had done so before her. A great feat indeed!
Maria Sharapova, the 17 year Russian who stood six feet tall, opened more than a few eyes when she beat Serena Williams to win the 2004 Ladies title. Adding to the style in ladies tennis, she also seemed to open the gates for Russian women in the international sport of tennis.
In a nail biting finals match in 2005, Venus Williams won her third title beating Lindsay Davenport in a match that lasted two hours and forty five minutes. This match is recorded as the longest match in women’s singles tennis at Wimbledon.
Andre Agassi played his last Men’s Singles Wimbledon match in 2006 against Rafael Nadal, who was then 20 years younger than Agassi. Steffi Graf and Agassi went on to partner in the Mixed Doubles matches in International tennis. Rafael Nadal has not looked back since then and continues to dominate men’s tennis especially of the clay courts.
2007 was an important year for Wimbledon. It was the year women earned an equal prize money as men across all levels and formats. It was also the year in which Centre Court and Court No.1 got the “Hawk Eye”, an electronic line-calling technology, which replaced the infra-red system, Cyclops.
The Centre Court got its much awaited “roof” on 17 May 2009. It took nine years to plan the roof and another three years to install it. But it was worth the wait since rain does not disrupt play on the Centre Court anymore. It takes a good 8 minutes for the roof to roll out to cover or uncover the Court but play is not disrupted in this time. 8 minutes is probably justified too as the roof weighs a whopping 3,000 tons.
Her Majesty the Queen returned to the Wimbledon Championships in 2010 after 33 years of her last visit. Accompanied by the Duke of Kent, she walked around the ground and stopped at Court 14 where youngsters of the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative were busy in practice. She then greeted the top seeded players for the year.
That year, John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut in a first round match that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes and was a mammoth battle between the two in the final set which ended with a score of 70-68 in favour of Isner.
Novaj Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in 2011, the 125th year of the Wimbledon Championships. The 24 year old Serbian was watched by the President of his country as he broke Nadals winning streak of twenty matches. That year Djokovic had a win-loss ratio of 70:6 and won three Grand Slam titles.
In 2012, Yaroslava Shvedova won a “Golden Set” – she won 24 straight games and took merely 15 minutes to achieve this feat. This was a first in Wimbledon and the very first in women’s tennis since 1968 when professional women’s tennis started.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal exited the Championships early in surprise loses. After 77 years, Andy Murray made England proud by beating Novak Djokovic in the Gentleman’s Singles Championship in 2013. It was a day all of United Kingdom cheered for Andy Murray, at Wimbledon and beyond. He won the title again in 2016.
The 2020 Wimbledon Championships were cancelled due to the Pandemic. The last time the Championships were cancelled was during World War II. The All England Club exercised a GBP 100 million insurance policy that covered infectious diseases. Of this amount GBP 10 million was distributed to 620 players. The 2020 Wimbledon Championship would have been the 134th edition but this was rescheduled to 2021. Novak Djokovic won the Gentlemen’s Singles title both in 2021 and 2022 while in the Ladies Singles Championship, Ashleigh Barty of Australia won in 2021 and Elena Rybakina, the first woman in tennis from Khazakstan, won the title in 2022.
Wimbledon continues to attract large crowds and fans look forward to the matches played by their favourite players. Technological advancements improve the equipment being used, help umpires make better decisions, broadcast the matches to an ever increasing number of viewers. But the grit, guts and stamina of players that enable them to play an 11 hour match and truly make all the excitement at Wimbledon.