We are now at the end of the first week of Wimbledon or just ‘The Championships’. It brings back happy memories of school trips for me. We spent most of the time star spotting. I managed to get John Newcombe’s autograph one year (that’s showing my age!) It is much more popular now and it is far too much like hard work to get in, unless you are lucky enough to get a Centre Court or Court 1 ticket via the open ballot.
I am not going to talk abut the results as no doubt you are following if you are interested in tennis. In 1877 the All England Croquet Club became The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and started the first Lawn Tennis Championship. The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen’s Singles which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.
A new code of laws was drawn up for the meeting. These have stood the test of time and today’s rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.
Extracted from the official Wimbledon site
