Wimbledon Championships History

The Wimbledon Championships are an annual tournament held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The club was founded back in 1868 and christened "The All England Croquet Club."

Eight years later, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield put forward an idea for an outdoor version of court tennis. Soon, the game was officially added to the list of activities of the club.

In 1877, the club was renamed "The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club." With this change debuted the Lawn Tennis Championship.

Earlier, the club used to follow the rules put drafted by the Marylebone Cricket Club. However, when the Lawn Tennis Championship was born, a new set of rules were introduced. These rules are in force even today. Admittedly, the rules are not the same as the ones drawn in 1877, as minor changes have been made over the years.

The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship kicked off on July 9, with the Gentlemen's Singles being the sole event. Spencer Gore won it after defeating 22 competitors.

In 1882, the word 'croquet' was dropped after lawn tennis became the sole activity at the club. However, the name was back on the plaque in 1899, owing to sentimentality.

In 1884, the Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles competitions were added to the roster. Nearly two decades later, the Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles events would follow.

In a similar vein with the other three Majors or Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players. During that time, professional players were prohibited from participating.

However, when the Open era arrived in 1968, the rules changed once again. Thought-provokingly, until Fred Perry in 1936 and Andy Murray in 2013, no British man has ever won at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, on the Ladies' front, until Virginia Wade in 1977, no British woman has ever triumphed. However, Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won the Girls' Championship in 1984 and 2008, respectively.

Past 16 years Winners

ATP

WTA

Records

At the Wimbledon Championships 2019, several records were set and broken. Prior to the Open era, William Renshaw won the most titles, with seven. However, Roger Federer now owns the record with eight titles.

Renshaw also has the most consecutive titles, with six to his name, while Roger Federer is tied with Bjorn Borg on five.

Coming to the Ladies' segment, Helena Willis has the most pre-Open era Wimbledon titles, with eight. However, Martina Navratilova clinched nine titles in the Open era. Also in the pre-Open era, Suzanne Lenglen had the record for the most consecutive titles with 5, she was overtaken by Navratilova on six championships.

Additional records include the longest Gentlemen's Singles' final, belonging to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, with 4hrs 58mins. The longest ever tennis match was between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, lasting 11 hours and 5 minutes.

Wimbledon 2020

The Wimbledon 2020 edition was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first time Since World War II that the event was called off.

Wimbledon 2021 plans

The Wimbledon Championships announced they plan to host the event in 2021. The event will be held next year, be it at full capacity, lesser capacity, or behind closed doors.

Wimbledon Championships LIVE Streaming:

Australia?Fox Sports

United States ? Tennis Channel?

United Kingdom ? Eurosport

Europe ? Eurosport

Canada ??CTV &?TSN

Pan-Asia region ??Fox Asia

Indian Subcontinent ??Star India

Southern Africa ??SuperSport

Current Prize Money	$2.4 million (men and women)
Number of Entries (Main Draw)	128
Number of Entries (Qualifying)	16
Number of Seeds	32
Court Type	Grass