1880 Wimbledon Championship 1880 Wimbledon Championship The 1880 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 5 July until 15 July. It was the 4th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the first Grand Slam tennis event of 1880. There were a total of 60 competitors who entered the tournament a record until the 1904 draw. The admission charge remained at a shilling for the first four days, then raised to half a crown for the latter half of the draw. The final was
Henry Jones (writer) for playing lawn tennis, which proved to be a significant step. In 1877, Club Secretary John Walsh proposed that a lawn tennis championship be held, and "Wimbledon" was born. Jones and two other prominent men, Julian Marshall and John Moyer Heathcote, formed a sub-committee to frame the rules, many of which survive today, and Jones was referee at The Championships from 1877 to 1885. The only tournament of the inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship was the Gentlemen's Singles, which was won from a field of 22 competitors by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player. The final attracted a crowd of