1877 Wimbledon Championship 1877 Wimbledon Championship The 1877 Wimbledon Championship was a men's tennis tournament held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (AEC & LTC) in Wimbledon, London. It was the world's first official lawn tennis tournament, and was later recognised as the first Grand Slam tournament or "Major". The AEC & LTC had been founded in July 1868, as the All England Croquet Club; lawn tennis was introduced in February 1875 to compensate for the waning interest in croquet. In June 1877 the club decided to organise a tennis tournament to pay for the repair of its pony roller,
Mike Davies (tennis) first Players Association (IPTPA) was the forerunner of what is now the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), of which Davies was to become executive director in 1982. In 1961 Davies published two books: one a teaching book, and the other a biography called "Tennis Rebel" (Stanley Paul, London). Davies retired in 1967, one year before Wimbledon finally allowed professionals to play. However, he did come out of retirement to play in the first Open at Wimbledon. He had missed 28 Grand Slam events during the ban. In 1967 Lamar Hunt co-founded World Championship Tennis (WCT) with his nephew, Al G.