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Tennis has grown into one of the major professional sports of the modern era. Although we invented a game called Real Tennis, the type of tennis we play today originated in France. Today there are hundreds of tournaments every year including the four major Grand Slam Tournaments of which Wimbledon is one.

Over 300 pupils from local schools compete annually for the prestige of being one of the 200 ball boys at The Championships. Ball boys were drawn solely from local schools from 1967 and 1977, respectively. From 1977 Girls made their first appearance

Webmaster note: we used to do the same job with half the workforce! and half the wages.

There are more than 200 ball boys and ball girls used to fetch tennis balls during Wimbledon
New balls are supplied after every 7 to 9 games. 1,250 dozen balls are used during the tournament!

The first Wimbledon took place in 1877 solely as an amateur competition. Men's singles was the only event that took place. There were 22 competitors and the championship was won by Spencer Gore. A few hundred spectators were in attendance.

Women's singles and men's doubles events began seven years later, in 1884.

May Sutton of the United States became the first non-European champion in 1905 when she captured the women's singles title.

Charlotte (Lottie) Dod became the youngest player ever to win a Wimbledon singles event when, in 1887, she won at the age of 15 years, 285 days. In 1996 Martina Hingis became a Wimbledon doubles champion at 15 years, 282 days. And by the way, Dod was also a silver medalist in archery at the 1908 Olympics, a member of the British national field hockey team in 1899, and the British Amateur golf champ in 1904.

During World War II, a bomb ripped through Centre Court at the All England Club and 1,200 seats were lost. Fortunately, they weren't filled at the time. Play finally resumed in 1946 but it wasn't until 1949 that the area was back in top shape.

American Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Wimbledon singles championship when she captured the title in 1957. She successfully defended her title a year later. She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in both years.

In 1985, Boris Becker accomplished three feats: he became the youngest male singles champ (17 years, 227 days old), the first German champ, and the first unseeded champ.

There are currently 20 grass courts available for play at the Wimbledon complex. The Number 1 Court now comes complete with large fans at either end to dry out the court in case of rain. There are also five red shale courts, four clay courts, and five indoor courts for club members.

The last married woman to win the women's singles championship was Chris Evert Lloyd in 1981.

A wooden racket was last used at Wimbledon in 1987.

The men's singles winner receives £575,000, while the women's winner gets £535,000. In 1968, the year of the first "open" championships, the prize money was £2,000 and £750, respectively. In 2007 for the first time at Wimbledon women received the same prize money as the men.

Aside from cash, the women's champ also receives a silver gilt salver (a round, disk-like platter) that was made in 1864. The men's winner receives a silver gilt cup from 1887. Both are actually displayed at the Wimbledon museum for most of the year.

No towels at the back of the court. Do you agree that it is demeaning to the ball boys and girls to be responsible for a sweat towel? Think about what's in it! The players should carry their own towels like Wimbledon players of the past did, tucked neatly and nicely in the belt.

Note from webmaster: I remember that the sweatbands were the best money maker in my day and would come off the player straight onto your wrist and if you had a real sweaty one from a high ranked player it could be sold for more money.

Did you know?

1977 - is the date that Ball Girls were first introduced.
1980 - saw the first mixed teams of Ball Boys and Girls.
1986 - then the last hurdle Ball Girls seen on Centre Court for the first time.
 

Goldings Boys were doing this from 1946 to 1966