Wimbledon

The world-renowned British tennis tournament, Wimbledon, has become more than tradition, according to British journalist and author John Barrett: more than "just the world's most important and historic tennis tournament," having come to symbolize "all that is best about sport, royal patronage, and social occasion that the British do so well, a subtle blend that the rest of the world finds irresistible." Held in late June and early July, Wimbledon is the only one of four Grand Slam tennis events still played on natural grass.

The event started in 1877 as an amateur tournament called the Lawn Tennis Championships hosted at the England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (later renamed the All England Lawn Tennis Club). The only event was men's singles. Twenty-two players participated, and Spencer Gore won the final match, which spectators paid one shilling to watch. The women's singles event was instituted in 1884. Maud Watson claimed victory over a field of thirteen. Previously played at Oxford, the men's doubles event was brought to Wimbledon in 1883. Over the years, Wimbledon's popularity continued to grow steadily. By the mid-1880s, permanent stands were in place for the crowds who were part of what Wimbledon historians refer to as the "Renshaw Rush," coming to see the British twins Ernest and William Renshaw win 13 titles between them in both singles and doubles between 1881 and 1889.

By the turn of the century, Wimbledon had become an international tournament. American May Sutton won the women's singles title in 1905 to become Wimbledon's first overseas champion. About this time, the royal family began its long association with Wimbledon when the Prince of Wales and Princess Mary attended the 1907 tournament, and the Prince was named president of the club. In 1969, the Duke of Kent assumed the duty of presenting the winning trophy.

Play at Wimbledon was suspended during World War I, but the club survived on private donations. Tournament play resumed in 1919, with Suzanne Lenglen winning the women's and Gerald Patterson the men's titles. In 1920, the club purchased property on Church Road and built a 14,000-capacity stadium, which Wimbledon historians credit with playing a critical role in popularizing the event. World War II suspended play again, but the club remained open to serve various war-related functions such as a decontamination unit and fire and ambulance services. In 1940, a bomb struck Centre Court, demolishing 1,200 seats. Although the tournament's grounds were not fully restored until 1949, play resumed in 1946, producing men's champion Yvon Petra and women's champion Pauline Betz.

The expansion of air travel in the 1950s brought even more international players to Wimbledon. This period also saw the domination of American players at the tournament, with such champions as Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Tony Trabert, Louise Brough, Maureen Connolly, and Althea Gibson (the first African-American winner). Australian players Lew Hoad, Neale Fraser, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, and John Newcombe then dominated the men's singles title from 1956 through the early 1970s.

In 1959, the club began considering a change in its amateur-only policy in light of the increasing number of players receiving financial assistance in excess of the limits set by the International Tennis Federation. It was not until 1967, however, that the Lawn Tennis Association voted to officially open the championship to both professionals and amateurs. At the first open tournament in 1968, Rod Laver and Billie Jean King won the men's and women's singles titles, respectively.

In 1977, Wimbledon celebrated its centenary anniversary. In honor of the occasion, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum was opened at Wimbledon. 1984 marked the centenary of the women's singles event. The tournament now has five main events: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. It also sponsors four events for juniors (18 and under) and invitation events for former players. Each of the five main championships has a special trophy. The women's singles trophy, first presented by the All England Club in 1886, is a silver parcel gilt tray made by Elkington and Company in 1864. The men's singles trophy is a silver gilt cup and cover inscribed "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World," and was first presented by the All England Club in 1887. The men's doubles trophy is a silver challenge cup, first presented in 1884. The women's doubles trophy is a silver cup and cover, known as "The Duchess of Kent Challenge Cup," and was first presented in 1949 by Her Royal Highness the Princess Marina, then president of the All England Club.

Roughly 500 players currently compete at Wimbledon. To participate, players have to submit an entry six weeks prior to the tournament. A Committee of Management and a referee rank the entries and place players into three categories: accepted, need to qualify, and rejected. The committee then decides which "wild cards" to include in the draw. Wild cards are players who do not have a high enough international ranking to make the draw, but are included by the committee on the basis of past performance at Wimbledon or popularity with British spectators. A qualifying tournament takes place a week before the championships at the Bank of England Sports Club in Roehampton, and the winners in the finals of this tournament qualify to play at Wimbledon. An exception is players who, although they lose in the final round of the qualifying tournament, are still selected to play. Dubbed the "lucky losers" by tournament organizers, these players are chosen in order of their international ranking to fill any vacancies that occur after the first round of the draw.

To date, the youngest-ever male champion is Boris Becker of Germany. In 1985, the 17-year-old won the men's singles championship. In 1996, Swedish player Martina Hingis became the youngest ever female champion at age 15. Other notable records include American Martina Navratilova's unprecedented six-year reign on Centre Court as women's singles champion, and her overall all-time record of nine singles titles. Two men have won the men's singles tournament five consecutive times, although a century apart: Bjorn Borg of Sweden (1976-1980), and William Renshaw (1881-1886) of Britain.

—Courtney Bennett

Further Reading:

Little, A. "The History of the Championships." http://www.wimbledon.com/news.nsf/allstatichtml/history.html. December 1998.

Medlycott, James. 100 Years of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. London and New York, Hamlyn, 1977.

Robertson, Max. Wimbledon, Centre Court of the Game. London, British Broadcasting Corporation, 1981.

Wade, Virginia, with Jean Rafferty. Ladies of the Court: A Century of Women at Wimbledon. New York, Atheneum, 1984.