Whitehall

Wimbledon Wimbledon All England Tennis Championship Tournament

Full Index Of London’s Attractions & Sights

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Whitehall

Whitehall which runs from the southside of Trafalgar Square into Parliament Street and then Parliament Square is the symbol of British Government. All the buidings on the east side of Whitehall are the higher echelons of various Government instituitions including the Ministry of Defence , the Department of the Enviroment , the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office and the Department of Health. The Old War Office building is also on this side of Whitehall (opposite Horseguards parade) and as the predecessor of the Ministry of Defence it was the headquarters of British Military Operation from the heyday of the British Empire in the mid 19th century, during the Crimea War and the two world wars in the 20th Centrury. Its importance became was always publically understated until ww2. The former nerve centre of Britains war with Hitler was closed in the 1960s, Today the building is owned and occupied by the Ministry of Defence and not open to the public. More information on the Old War Office is available here.

In the centre of the the main road is the Cenotaph – the prinicipal war memorial to those killed whilst fighting for Britain since World War 1. Annually, in November, it is main focus of attention of commerative ceremonies on Rembrance Sunday. To the north of this is the Monument to the Women of World War Two which acknowledges the role of women in keep Britain functioning whilst most men were on the frontline.

White Hall
Between Parliament Square SW1
and Trafalgar Square

Wimbledon all England Lawn Tennis Club

The Wimbledon tennis tournament and is one of the four grand slam tournaments in the tennis calendar and the only played on a grass surface. Though arguable some people believe it to be the most prestigious of the quartet. it takes place annually for two weeks in starting on a Monday in the second half of June.

The club itself was established in 1868 in Worple Rd when it was known as the ;All England Croquet Club’. In 1877 it was renamed the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. The same year the new club hosted it’s firs tournament the ‘Gentleman’s Singles’ which was won by Spencer Gore out of twenty two entrants. .By 1882 the club’s activities were confined to lawn tennis and the word croquet was removed from its name – however it was reinstated for nostalgic reasons in 1899 and legally the club’s full name today still includes ‘croquet’.

1884 saw the introduction of the ‘Ladies singles which were won by Maud Watson from a field of thirteen. The Gentleman Doubles began the same year. As the popularity of the tournament increased the temporary stands were replaced by more permanent stands. Gradually the tournaments attracted player from beyond British shores and in 1905 the May Sutton from the USA became the first overseas champion at the tournament when she won the Ladies singles.

Though the grounds at Worple Road were expanded several times the ever increasing profile of the tournament warranted a move to larger premises to the clubs present site in Church Rd in 1922..The layout of the new premises mirrored the previous set with the primary court the centre court being surrounded by other courts. In 1937 the tournament was for the first time shown on BBC1.

Though the tournament was and still is quintessentially English the first and only British men’s champion was the legendary Fred Perry who won the men’s singles for three years starting in 1934. The only English winner of the Ladies singles was Virginia Wade in 1977.

The longest time taken to play a match was in 2010 when John Isner played Nicolas for 11 hours 5 minutes. The same match holds the record for the most number of games played in one mach – 183. William Renshaw (in the 1880s) and Pete Sampras (in the 1990s) share the record for winning the most men’s singles with 7 a piece. Martina Navratolova holds the record for winning the most Ladies singles – 9 times between 1978 and 1990.

Tennis aside the tournament has it’s memorable years though few will surpass 1996. On one day when rain stopped play ithere was an impromptu 20 minute live vocal performance from Cliff Richard with backing from Virginia Wade and Martina Navaritilova. Most of the Centre Court crowd then joined in. Then during final between Richard Kraijeck and Malivai Washington play was stopped briefly when a young female streaker ran onto the court.

Information Wimbledon Tennis Museum

Church Road
Wimbledon
London SW19 5AE
Tel: 0208 467 3264

Website