At the end of June and the beginning of July, the oldest tournament in tennis history is held in the British capital, which today is officially called the English Open, but is better known as the Wimbledon tournament. This is one of the four annual Grand Slam competitions, the most prestigious tour among the strongest tennis players on the planet.
In 1868, a private club of amateurs appeared in London of a completely different game, which was very popular in those years - croquet. In the modern form of tennis (lawn tennis) members of the club began to play eight years later. As the legend says, the father of one of the outdoor game lovers, in exchange for a lifetime membership of his daughter, presented the club with a not cheap unit at that time - a lawn mower. Its failure was the reason for the holding of the first Wimbledon tournament in 1877 - the club members hoped to help everyone out of the paid participation in it, enough to purchase a new apparatus. 22 gentlemen responded to the ad in the newspaper, and each of them contributed an entry fee of one guinea. The first final attracted two hundred spectators, who paid one more shilling at the box office. The financial result exceeded all expectations, and the tournament began to be held regularly.
Almost everything has changed since then. The lawn is no longer cut, it is specially grown for the competition in Yorkshire, and then delivered in rolls and laid on the courts. The location of the tennis courts themselves has also changed, although it remained in the northwest of London - the first tournament was held in Wimbledon on the lawn on Worple Road, now the complex of fields is located on Church Road. If the first winner received 35 guineas as an award, then in 2012 the champions in the men's and women's singles will be waiting for 1, 15 million pounds. Over the past 135 years, the tournament has developed its own traditions - for example, all participants are required to perform in white uniforms, and strawberries and cream are the signature treat for the audience. It remains a tradition to hold a tournament under the auspices of all that private tennis club - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (“All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club”). However, today the patron of the club is Queen Elizabeth II, the president is the Duke of Kent Edward, and each winner of the tournament automatically becomes an honorary member.
