First Grand Slam champion

Spencer Gore (UK, 1850-1906) was the winner of the first-ever Grand Slam tennis tournament, held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (aka the All England Club) in Wimbledon, London, UK, on 9-19 July 1877. The 27-year-old, who had also played first-class county cricket for Surrey, was one of 21 all-British players who lined up in a three-section draw for the right to be crowned gentlemen’s singles champion at SW19. Gore defeated Henry T Gillson, Montague Hankey, Francis Langham and Charles Heathcote on the way to a final that was delayed by the annual Eton College vs. Harrow School cricket match at Lord’s and then by inclement weather. When the championship match did finally get underway, watched by a 200-strong crowd who had each paid a shilling, Gore (the volleyer) prevailed 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in just 48 minutes against architect William Marshall (the baseliner). His prize? Twelve guineas and a silver cup (the “Field Cup”) valued at 25 guineas.

The tournament was promoted by the monthly magazine The Field, who announced in their June 1877 edition that a lawn tennis meeting was to be held for amateurs at the All England Club. “A total of 22 men [one failed to turn up] - no women were permitted at that stage - stumped up the £1 1 shilling entrance fee, being warned to bring their own rackets and “shoes without heels” but that balls would be provided by the club gardener,” reported wimbledon.com. It was hoped that the meeting would raise enough money to fund repairs to the roller that had been used to maintain the lawns at the All England Club; in this respect the competition was considered a success, generating a profit of 10 guineas for the necessary repairs and the continued use of the roller.

The first US Open (the “US National Championships”) was staged in 1881 with competitions for men’s singles (won by American Richard Sears) and men’s doubles. The French Open (the “Championnat de France”) followed in 1891 (men’s singles won by British player H. Briggs) before the inauguration of the Australian Open (the “Australasian Championships”) in 1905, with men’s singles (won by Australia’s Rodney Heath) and men’s doubles. The first women’s singles took place at Wimbledon in 1884 (won by Britain’s Maud Watson), with women’s doubles making its debut at the US Open in 1889 - 24 years before it was first staged at another Grand Slam (Wimbledon) in 1913.