Sports History On This Day: July 9

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July 9, 1877 – The First-ever Wimbledon tennis championship tournament began. It was truly a watershed moment as Wimbledon was the first official lawn tennis tournament anywhere. The creators were the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club as they decided to hold a lawn tennis tournament for men’s singles only that 21 amateurs showed up to participate in the London suburbs.

The club was originally centered around croquet, another lawn sport, but the growing popularity of tennis led it to incorporate tennis lawns into their expansive 4 acres of grounds purchased in 1868. The entrance fee of one pound for each participant could earn them the title of Wimbledon champion and a 25-guinea trophy. 

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1910 All-comers' Singles tennis match at Wimbledon, London, England, featuring Anthony Wilding and Beals Wright
The photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Public Domain Photo of Final of the 1910 All-comers' Singles tennis match at Wimbledon, London, England, featuring Anthony Wilding and Beals Wright. From - Anthony Frederick Wilding, On the court and off (London: Methuen, 1912). Special thanks to the resources of Newspapers.com, History.com, and OnThisDay.com for the information obtained.

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