Wimbledon Opens: Birth of Championship Tennis
Spencer Gore won the first Wimbledon championship on July 9, 1877, defeating 21 other competitors in a tournament organized by the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club to raise money for a broken roller. The entry fee was one guinea and the prize was a silver cup worth 25 guineas. Gore, a racquets player who found lawn tennis rather dull, won by rushing the net before anyone else thought of the strategy. He never defended his title, calling the sport "monotonous." The tournament he dismissed has since become the most prestigious event in tennis, and the grass courts he played on still host the championship 150 years later.
July 9, 1877
149 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 9
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