1881 Wimbledon Championship John Hartley, 6–0, 6–1, 6–1 William Renshaw defeated Richard Richardson, 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 Richard Richardson defeated Herbert Lawford, 6–3, 4–6, 6–1, 3–6, 7–5 1881 Wimbledon Championship The 1881 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 2 July until 13 July. It was the 5th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the first Grand Slam tennis event of 1881. The defending champion John Hartley lost in straight sets in the final to challenger William Renshaw, who defeated Hartley in 37 minutes,
The Championships, Wimbledon no longer survives, however, the Gentlemen's Final of that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first Gentlemen's Final transmitted in colour. Since 2007, Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in high-definition, originally on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HD, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlights show "Today at Wimbledon". Coverage is now shown on BBC One and Two's HD feeds. Beginning 2018, all centre court matches are televised in 4K ultra-high-definition. The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by