by James Kent

Created on: May 14, 2010   Last Updated: May 18, 2010

As many people know Wimbledon is staged at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, a private club founded in 1868. Originally known as The All England Croquet Club and the first ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon. In 1875, lawn tennis was added to the activities of the club and 1877 it was renamed to its current title. In that year the only event to be held was the Gentlemen’s Singles. Spencer Gore was the winner out of the 22 competitors and 200 spectators watched the final, each paying a one shilling admission fee. The lawns of the ground were arranged in such a way that the principal court was located in the middle and the other courts around it. Nowadays of course that court in the middle is known as Centre Court. In 1980, there were dour new courts erected and then in 1997 the No. 1 Court opened.

These days there is no actual croquet played at the club, but it remains part of the title for sentimental reasons. In 1884, ladies’ singles and gentlemen’s doubles were added and in 1913 ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles were also included. Up until 1922 the current champion only had to compete in the final. The champion would play whoever progressed through the rounds to the final. Wimbledon along with the three other Grand Slams was contested by the top ranked amateur players up until 1968. After that the open era came in and professional tennis players were born. There has not been a male British winner in a singles event since Fred Perry in 1936 and no singles female winner since Virginia Wade won in 1977. Annabel Croft and Laura Robson have both won the girls championship.

There is currently an on-going process to improve the quality of the Wimbledon experience for spectators, players, officials and neighbours. The first stage of the process was completed in time for the 1997 championships. It comprises of the building of the new No. 1 Court, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel built under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road. Stage two of the process was the removal of the old No.1 Court complex. It was replaced with the new Millennium Building. The building comprises of extensive facilities for players, press, officials and members. Stage three also included the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court, which increased capacity by 728 seats.

Stage three has also been completed. It includes the construction of an entrance building, housing club staff, museum, bank and ticket office. The process continued with the 2009 building of a roof over Centre Court. This meant that when the roof was closed play could continue under all weather conditions. Also in 2009 there was the completion of a new No. 2 Court with a capacity of 4000 seats. An on-going project is a building of a new 2000 seat No. 3 Court.

 Source:

www.wimbledon.org

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