Wimbledon

The first tennis championships took place here in 1877 at the All England Club.  This is one of the four major tennis tournaments in the world every year and the only one played on grass.  This year, it started on June 27th.  As of today, all the quarter finals have been played for the men and the women.  Swiss Roger Federer will play Canadian Milos Raonic and Scotsman Andy Murray will play Czech Tomas Berdych in the semi final men’s event.  American Serena Williams will play Russian Elena Vesnina and Venus Williams will play German Angelique Kerber in the women’s semi finals in the next few days.

The Gentlemen’s singles was the only event at the beginning of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Ladies singles and Gentlemen’s doubles were added in 1884.  Ladies doubles and mixed doubles were added in 1913.

Over the years, tennis clothing has changed greatly.  In 1884, women played in long dresses and stiff petticoats.  A few years later, a 15 yr old girl was allowed to wear a dress that only went to half calf as she was a school girl.  In 1905 a woman caused a stir because she rolled up the cuffs of the sleeves of her dress. In 1926 French player Suzanne Lenglen wore a flimsy dress and shocked everyone by not wearing a corset.  By 1933, a pleated skirt and white blouse was worn by an American player and by 1937 another American woman player wore pleated shorts and a golf type t-shirt.  In the 1980’s and 1990’s, breathable fabrics became the norm. More recently, outfits have focussed on looks and style. All white was traditional but the Williams sisters have introduced colour to the courts in recent years.  Men started out playing in white flannel trousers but an English player got tired of playing in those in 1932 and switched then to shorts and a t-shirt.  Not much has changed since other than the fabrics used.

There are still a few more days to watch this tournament this year.  It will be all over on Sunday, July 10th which will be the men’s final.  The women’s final will take place on Saturday July 9th, 2016.