1877 Wimbledon Championship
The 1877 Wimbledon Championship was a men’s tennis tournament held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London. It was the world’s first official lawn tennis tournament, and was later recognised as the first Grand Slam tournament. Spencer Gore, a 27-year-old rackets player from Wandsworth, became the first Wimbledon champion by defeating William Marshall in three straight sets.
About 1877 Wimbledon Championship in brief
The 1877 Wimbledon Championship was a men’s tennis tournament held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London. It was the world’s first official lawn tennis tournament, and was later recognised as the first Grand Slam tournament. The Gentlemen’s Singles competition, the only event of the championship, was contested on grass courts by 22 players who each paid one guinea to participate. Spencer Gore, a 27-year-old rackets player from Wandsworth, became the first Wimbledon champion by defeating William Marshall in three straight sets in a final that lasted 48 minutes. The origin of tennis lies in the monastic cloisters in 12th-century France, where the ball was struck with the palm of the hand in a game called jeu de paume. The prominence of the game declined in the 17th and 18th centuries, although there are sporadic mentions of a long tennis or field tennis version in the second half of the 18th century. Between 1858 and 1873 several people in Victorian England experimented with a lawn version of tennis. Major Harry Gem and Augurio Perera demonstrated their game of Pelota and in 1872 created the world’s first lawn tennis club at Leamington Spa. In February 1875 it decided to introduce lawn tennis at Wimbledon to capitalise on the growing interest in this new sport and generate revenue. The club’s committee decided on 24 September 1869 to lease the ground and paid £50 rental for the first year, a fee which increased to £75 and £100, respectively, over the following two years.
At a cost of £25, one croquet court was converted to a tennis court; after its completion in 1876 four more lawns were handed over to the club to increase its address to the address of the Wimbledon address. In November 1874 Major Clopton Wingfield introduced his version of lawn tennis, called Sphairistikè; on his patent application, he described it as a “New and Improved Court for Playing the Ancient Game of Tennis”, and its rules were published in an eight-page booklet. Wingfield is widely credited with popularising the new game through his energetic promotional efforts. The tournament made a profit of £10 and the pony roller remained in use. An analysis made after the tournament led to some modifications of the rules regarding the court dimensions. The winner received 12 guineas in prize money and a silver challenge cup, valued at 25 guinea, donated by the sports magazine The Field. The final – delayed for three days by rain – was played on 19 July in front of a crowd of about 200 people who eachpaid an entry fee of one shilling. After a yearlong search a suitable ground of four acres of meadowland was located between the London and South Western Railway and Worple Road, then an outer suburb of London. The AEC & LTC was founded on 23 July 1868 by six gentlemen at the offices of The Field, a weekly country and sports magazine.
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