The Wimbledon Club became a Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club in 1890 - both ladies and gentlemen took advantage of the new tennis courts by the lake. The sport was in its infancy and the only surface was grass, the first tournament taking place in July with the Surrey Independent commenting on the high quality of the courts and unwelcome interference of the rain! The popularity of lawn tennis was growing at a spectacular pace and by 1902 there were 20 tennis fixtures, including Club and American tournaments. There were days of great popularity for the game of tennis and the Club's tournaments were heavily subscribed, with 400 entry forms printed each year. In these early years the tennis season lasted just 3 months, from May to July, but by 1911 it was fielding teams to compete in 32 fixtures and as the sport grew the committee elected to extend play and introduce hard courts to provide surface variety, as well as a ladies’ doubles tournament to ‘encourage volleying’. In 1921 the entry fee for each of the Club's ten tournaments was two shillings, with a total of £26 set aside for prize money, in the form of vouchers redeemable only at Harrods. 

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In 1928 the Club appointed its first tennis coach, W. H. T. Cooke, who also became official coach to the Surrey County Lawn Tennis Association. Over the decades that followed, the Club established itself as one of the friendliest in Surrey and became as much a social hub for tennis players and their families in Merton as a centre of sporting excellence.

 

In 1961 a 15 year-old Virginia Wade won the ladies’ singles title,

16 years before she would return to lift the trophy at the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club across the road,

and under the direction of Pam Rugg it developed a junior

programme to rival any in the country. In 1967 nine juniors

competed in the national junior championships, with John

de Mendoza beating J. P. R. Williams (later of Welsh rugby fame)

in the final.

 

Over the past 40 years the tennis section’s membership has risen steadily and now over 3000 members, adult and junior, enjoy the club’s outstanding facilities. With a variety of modern surfaces including acrylic and synthetic clay courts, and the erection of a temporary winter air dome allowing optimal conditions for play for the full 12 months of the year.

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