By cy.Reporter, 1 July, 2022
One of the oldest and most important tournaments in the history of tennis, it is held these days every year in Great Britain. The "Wimbledon" tournament is rightly considered one of the most important tennis tournaments, as its history dates back to the 19th century, with cybetNews "looking back" to the first years of the tournament, and covers a journey of 135 years until today!
The creation of the oldest tennis tournament in the world took place in the distant 1877! The founders of the event were the members of the Pan-English Tennis Club who actually created the first tournament in the history of the sport! The matches took place in a venue next to Wimbledon's Warple Street and the tournament was held for 10 days from July 9 to 19. 22 male athletes participated and the winner was Spencer Gore who prevailed 3-0 in the sets of William Maral. in a match where it lasted less than 60 minutes and -as it is said- it was watched by hundreds of people who went up to the nearest floor to watch the match as best as possible!
In the following years - and specifically in 1884 - women athletes competed for the first time, the men's and women's doubles were added and in 1913 the mixed doubles. In 1905 the Wimbledon tournament became an international tournament and from 1922 until today the facilities are located in the same place where over the years they grew and improved.
With the evolution of the sport, the tournament also evolved and now every year 128 athletes compete. The main court can hold about 15,000 spectators, while there are a total of 19 tennis courts. The surface is that of the grass and multi-faceted of the institution is the Swiss tennis legend with eight conquests Roger Fender and in women Martina Navratilova with nine conquests. The paradox of the tournament is that since the distant 1936 and the conquest of the tournament by Fred Perry, the next Briton to celebrate winning the trophy was Andy Murray in 2013.
In terms of the cash prize that the winners have won since 1968 and the first participation of professions, it has reached over 25 million pounds! The winner of the men's singles receives the silver cup which first appeared in 1887 and bears the words: "All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World", while the equivalent for women is the silver Venus Rosewater Dish , first introduced in 1886.
However, there are many traditions British people love to follow. So, the tournament calls the men's tournament as Gentlemen and the women's tournament as Ladies. In addition, another tradition is costume, as one can easily observe, both male athletes and women wear white clothes.
More male conquests:
Roger Federer (Switzerland) 8 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017
William Renshaw (Great Britain) 7 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1889
Pete Sampras (USA) 7 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Lawrence Doherty (Great Britain) 5 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906
Bjorn Borg (Sweden) 5 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
More women conquests:
Martina Navratilova (USA) 9 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990
Ellen Wills (USA) 8 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1938
Dorothea Douglas (Great Britain) 7 1903, 1904, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914
Steffi Graf (Germany) 7 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996
Serena Williams (USA) 7 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016
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