On 14 April 1877, the committee of the All England Croquet Club at Worple Road, Wimbledon, took the historic decision to change its name to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, in recognition of the growing popularity of the ‘new’ game of lawn tennis. Just two months later, chairman John Walsh proposed setting up a lawn tennis competition to raise money for the club. His proposal was adopted, a set of rules drawn up, and the first-ever championship opened on 10 July that year.

Unlike today, with its multitude of singles, doubles, veteran and junior events, the inaugural championship had only one event, the Gentlemen’s Singles, which attracted 22 entrants. In a rain-delayed final, it took Harrow-educated Spencer Gore just forty-eight minutes to beat William Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in front of 200 spectators, who had each paid a shilling for the privilege. Gore’s prize was a silver Challenge Cup presented by The Field newspaper, of which John Walsh was editor.

Nobody involved in that first event could have realised that they were creating history, and that the championship would go on to become one of the greatest sporting events in the world.

Origins of lawn tennis
Lawn tennis is a descendant of several ball games that date back hundreds of years. The earliest was jeu de paume, which involved hitting the ball across a net with the palm of the hand and was popular in French monasteries in the 12th century. By the 16th century this had evolved into ‘real tennis’, which was widely played in religious and courtly circles and involved the use of simple wooden rackets.

Meanwhile, the game of rackets – the forerunner of squash – developed, rather curiously, both in London debtors’ prisons and at Harrow School, while badminton, a descendant of the ancient game of battledore (or shuttlecock), became popular among the Victorian gentry.

By the mid-19th century, one of the most popular summer sports was croquet. This led to the formation of the All England Croquet Club in July 1868 in the offices of The Field newspaper, with editor John Walsh in the chair. A year later, the club took up residence at Worple Road.

The world’s first lawn tennis club was at Manor House Hotel in Leamington Spa, set up in 1872 by Birmingham solicitor Major Harry Gem and his Spanish friend, Argurio Perera. Two years later, retired army officer Major Walter Clopton Wingfield patented a game that he called ‘Sphairistikè’ or ‘lawn tennis’.

The game quickly caught on, with lawn tennis becoming one of the most popular pastimes of late Victorian England. All over the country skating rinks, croquet lawns and archery ranges were converted into lawn tennis courts, tournaments sprang up, and tennis parties were an important part of the social scene.

In 1877, the All England Croquet Club committee approved the suggestion of one of its members, Dr Henry Jones, to turn one of their croquet lawns into a grass tennis court, which in turn led to the change of name and the first lawn tennis tournament.

The Worple Road years
After the success of the first Championship it became an annual fixture, which quickly grew in popularity. Within two years, the number of spectators for the Gentlemen’s Singles final had escalated to 1100. The first Ladies’ Singles championship was held in 1884 and was won by 19-year-old Maud Watson, who beat her elder sister Lilian 6–8, 6–3, 6–3. A Gentlemen’s Doubles event was established the same year.

In the early days, winners and runners-up were awarded prizes but financial reward was still some years away. The outcome of the championship was decided by the Challenge Round, which was played between the winner of the All-Comers Singles and the defending champion, who only had to play this one match. The Challenge Round was discontinued after the 1921 championships.

The early champions helped establish tennis as a spectator sport. People flocked to Worple Road to see their heroes in action, with players such as the Renshaw twins, William and Ernest, dominating Wimbledon during the 1880s and attracting admiration as much for their looks as for their prowess on the court. William, the younger by 15 minutes, won the singles title seven times (six of those consecutively), and also scooped five doubles titles with his twin.

The ladies’ game was dominated by six-time winner Blanche Bingley-Hillyard and the precocious Charlotte Dod, whose record of winning the title at the age of 15 has yet to be beaten. She won a total of five times between 1887 and 1893.

The turn of the century ushered in a new crop of home-grown stars, including the formidable Dorothea Douglass/Chambers, who won the title seven times between 1903 and 1914, the three-time winner Arthur Gore and the ‘gentlemen of the court’ Reggie and Laurie Doherty, whose graceful play and courtesy were legendary.

Around this time international players began to arrive on the Wimbledon stage. The first overseas winner of the ladies’ singles title was 18-year-old American May Sutton, who won in 1905 and 1907.

Australian Norman Brookes became the first non-British man to win the singles title in 1907, and he was also the first winning left-hander. New Zealand heartthrob Anthony Wilding won four consecutive singles titles between 1910 and 1913, before tragically losing his life in the First World War.

In the immediate post-war years the ladies’ game was dominated by the glamorous Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen, who won six titles between 1919 and 1925. In 1920, ‘Big Bill’ Tinden became the first American player to win the men’s singles titles, going on to win a further two in 1921 and 1930 and becoming known for his powerful serve.

By this time it was clear that the tournament was outgrowing the Worple Road site. It was becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate the growing numbers of spectators, who arrived by the trainload as well as by road. There was no room for expansion, so the search began for a larger ground.

A new ground
In 1920, fundraising began to buy a new site just off Church Road in Wimbledon. The new ground was ready in time for the 1922 championships, which saw Suzanne Lenglen capture her fourth singles title and Australian Gerald Patterson triumphing for the first time in the men’s singles.

Leading international players during the 1920s and 30s included the powerful American Don Budge, a trio of Frenchmen – Jean Borotra, Rene Lacoste and Henri Cochet – and American ladies Helen Wills/Moody, Helen Jacobs and Alice Marble.

Briton Fred Perry became a national hero when he won three consecutive titles from 1934-6, and remained the only British men’s singles winner until Andy Murray’s first triumph in 2013. British ladies’ winners included Kitty Godfree, who won the title in 1924 and 1936, and Dorothy Round, winner in 1934 and 1937.

In 1926, the Duke of York – later King George VI – became the only member of the Royal family to compete at Wimbledon when he played in the men’s doubles.

Wartime Wimbledon

Just two months after the 1939 tournament, the All-England Club became the headquarters for the Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance, with the Fire Service, ARP squads and Civil Defence moving in soon afterwards. The main concourse became a parade ground for the London Irish and 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards, and the car parks were dug up and used for growing vegetables and for creating a farmyard.

The ground was bombed five times during the war, including a direct hit on the perimeter roof of Centre Court on the night of 11th October 1940, destroying 1200 seats. The bomb damage was still visible when the championships resumed in 1946, and seating capacity at the ground was limited.

Over the next two decades the tournament was lit up with stars such as Americans Jack Kramer and Tony Trabert, and Australians Frank Sedgman, Lew Hoad, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe, all great champions of their day.

The ladies’ singles saw the arrival of Maureen ‘Little Mo’ Connolly, six-time winner Billie Jean King, the graceful Brazilian player Maria Bueno, and American Althea Gibson, who became the first black player to win at Wimbledon in 1957.

British triumphs included Angela Mortimer’s win against her compatriot Christine Truman in 1961, and Ann Jones’ defeat of Billie Jean King in the 1969 final.

The ‘open’ era
In December 1967, British tennis officials took the momentous decision to stage ‘open’ tournaments in which professional and amateur players could compete alongside each other. This was largely in response to the growing practice of ‘shamateurism’, which saw players receive unofficial payments in amateur tournaments.

“The shamateur was kicked out yesterday,“ declared the Daily Express on 15 December 1967 under the headline ‘It’s all open now’.

The paper went on: “Three hundred legislators, representing tennis clubs throughout the country, voted overwhelmingly to abolish the distinction between amateur and professional. Only five delegates voted against the proposal.”

The first Wimbledon Championships of the open era saw Rod Laver and Billie Jean King triumph in the singles finals, each claiming their third singles title.

Since then, the tournament has being increasingly competitive, with huge sums of money at stake. Gone are the days of slow, genteel play; nowadays, players are more powerful, more athletic and equipped with more technologically advanced rackets and balls.

Memorable moments of the open era include Britain’s Virginia Wade beating Betty Stove in the 1977 ladies’ single final to clinch the title in Wimbledon’s centenary year, and Andy Murray becoming the men’s singles champion in 2013 after a 77-year wait.

But mostly the last five decades have brought the very best players in the world to Wimbledon, putting on awe-inspiring shows of skill, strength and determination, and providing as much drama as any theatre.