Free post: Wimbledon

Free post: The Championships, Wimbledon

Presentation: 

The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and is regarded by many as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, which is widely considered as the classic tennis court.

    

Central Court

Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open (in Melbourne), the French Open (known as Roland Garros, in Paris) and the US Open (in New York City). Wimbledon traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors and royal patronage. The tournament is also notable for the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts, with the exception of Rolex, which provides timekeeping technology during matches.

Beginning: 

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded on 23 July 1868, originally as "The All England Croquet Club". 

In 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, as an outdoor version of real tennis, was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed "The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club" and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. 

The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held. It was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.

 Spencer Gore, the winner of the inaugural Wimbledon Championship

Ladies Championship, 1884. First prize, awarded to Maud Watson, was a silver flower-basket worth 20 guineas.

Current circumstances: 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the All England Club announced on 1 April that the entire grass-court season was cancelled, marking the first time a Wimbledon tournament would not be played since World War II and for the first time in the Open Era every major tennis event cancelled. 

Prior to the start of the 2003 tournament, the club began paying an annual insurance premium of £1.61m ($2 million) to cover losses from cancellation of Wimbledon in the event of a worldwide pandemic as a result of the SARS outbreak; it would receive a payment of £114 million ($141 million) for the 2020 cancellation on expected losses of around £250 million ($312 million). 

Champions and records:

Roger Federer holds the record of most Gentlemen's Singles titles: he won 8 Wimbledon between 2003 and 2017. He also won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, an historic record for a male player. 

Martina Navratilova won 9 Wimbledon, the female record. Navratilova is 

the second most successful player in the history of women's tennis, singles and doubles, behind Australian champion Margaret Smith Court, and she is considered as 

one of the best female tennis players of all time.

Others players as Serena Williams (7 Wimbledon and 20 Grand Slam titles), and Novak Djokovic (5 Wimbledon and 17 Grand Slam titles), are also inscribed in Wimbledon's History.