On this day in 1877, Spencer Gore beat fellow Brit William Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to become the first ever Wimbledon men’s singles champion. On this auspicious occasion, we let you in on some interesting facts about the biggest event in tennis
The All England Lawn and Tennis Club in Wimbledon
On this day in 1877, Spencer Gore beat fellow Brit William Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to become the first ever Wimbledon men’s singles champion. On this auspicious occasion, we let you in on some interesting facts about the biggest event in tennis.
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The All England Lawn and Tennis Club in Wimbledon. Pic/ AFP
>> The 1877 Wimbledon was the first official lawn tennis tournament held in July. It was also the first Grand Slam event to be held.
>> The first Wimbledon edition has just 200 spectators and the tickets for the final were sold at 1 shilling each.
>> The first women’s singles champion was Maud Watson.
>> The recent 2015 Wimbledon championships was the 129th edition of the event.
>> Wimbledon has been interrupted on twice – during the First and Second World War.
>> Wimbledon remains the only major tournament to be played on grass. These courts were used at the Australian Open until 1987 and the US Open until 1974.
>> Over 500,000 people attend the Wimbledon tournament every year making it the biggest tennis tournament on grass.
>> France’s Jean Borota clinched his first title in 1924 and 40 years later he still competed in the tournament. He went on to play at the Wimbledon veterans in 1977 at the age of 78.
>> In 1905, May Sutton of the United States became the first overseas winner.
>> In 1907, in the men’s singles, Norman Brookes of Australia became the first overseas champion.
>> At age 15 years and 282 days, Martina Hingis became the youngest player to win a Wimbledon title.
>> Miss C.G Hoahing is the shortest person to compete at Wimbledon with a height of 4 feet 9 inches.
>> Over 200 ball boys and ball girls are selected for Wimbledon. There is an eight-hour-per-week training spanning for four months before the tournament begins.
>> Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and William Renshaw have won the most Wimbledon men’s singles with 7 titles each.
>> Martina Navratilova has won the most Wimbledon women’s singles with 9 titles to her name.
>> The longest tennis match in history was played between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut during the Wimbledon 2010. The match lasted 11 hrs and 5 min. Isner went on to win the match.
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