100 Years of Centre Court

2022 marks the 100^th anniversary of Centre Court at its current location in the heart of the Wimbledon Grounds on Church Road, and the 135^th edition of The Championships.

To celebrate the momentous occasion, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum is welcoming the public to their new exhibition that is dedicated to Centre Court, called ‘100 Years of Change’, which is now available for visitors to see in the heart of the Wimbledon Grounds. 

A special ceremony will be held during The Championships on Sunday 3 July, the Middle Sunday in the tournament, to celebrate this momentous occasion which will be a focus throughout The Championships in 2022 and throughout Wimbledon’s 2022 campaign. 

The History of Centre Court

The Championships, Wimbledon were originally located at the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s site off Worple Road in Wimbledon. The court was formed in 1881 by merging two existing courts to allow for more spectators and was located in the centre of all the other tennis courts. The club relocated to its current site at Church Road in 1922 and it was not until 1980 when a further four courts were added that its location in the Wimbledon grounds reflected its name once again. 

During World War II, Centre Court was damaged by five 500lb bombs in an air attack in 1940. A total of 1,200 seats were destroyed in the stadium, but the court wasn’t fully repaired until 1949 despite play still occurring in the years between.

The original roof has been adapted since it was built in 1922 and was eventually raised by one metre to increase capacity. Further capacity was generated in 1992 which also allowed for an improved view from 3,601 seats. The fully retractable roof was built on Centre Court in 2009, increasing capacity to 15,000 by adding only 6 rows of seats to the upper tier. This allowed for play to continue despite heavy downpours, with only a ten-minute delay to close the roof, suspending play. Scoreboards, new media facilities and commentary boxes were built to replace their old position in the upper tier and new wider seats were installed to make the experience more comfortable for spectators.

100 years of Centre Court, countless stand-out Wimbledon moments

Every year The Championships provides more unmissable and historic moments that will be remembered for years to come. There have been so many highlights of Wimbledon over the years, many occurring on Centre Court itself, but here are our top 5…

You Cannot Be Serious! 

John McEnroe gave us one of the most famous catchphrases in sport in 1981 during his first-round match of the tournament. His serve was called out by the umpire, but he did not agree and was adamant it was on the line. McEnroe was an entertaining player to watch at the best of times, but this outburst has to take the top spot. Take a look at the moment below...

The Fan’s Favourite Final

One of the greatest Wimbledon finals of all time is arguably when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal came head-to-head in 2008 on Centre Court. Ranked as two of the world’s best players at the time, the Spanish second seed was hoping to put an end to Federer’s five-year Wimbledon reign after being defeated in the previous two finals. The match lasted nearly seven hours (partly due to rain delays as the new roof had not been built) and a young 22-year-old Nadal dethroned the reigning champion and collapsed to the ground in utter relief and elation to a roaring Centre Court crowd.

The Marathon Match

The longest recorded match in Wimbledon history lasted a jaw dropping 11 hours and 5 minutes. The two players who didn’t drop their dedication for one moment during the first-round match in 2010 were John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. The match began on Court 18 on Tuesday 22 June and ended two whole days later, resulting in a final score of 3 sets to 2 to Isner, with the final set being an impressive 70-68 game battle. 200 aces were hit, 980 points and 183 games were played over the course of the match, which is unlikely to ever be witnessed again.

The 76 Year Wait

1938 was the last time a British tennis player had won Wimbledon when Bunny Austin claimed the title. When Andy Murray reached the final in 2012, hopes of history being made were high. However, he was defeated by the great Roger Federer. Murray returned to Centre Court one year later after winning at The Queen’s Club a week before to face Novak Djokovic in the final. The world number one was beaten by mighty Murray in three straight sets lasting over three hours, making him the first British man to win at Wimbledon in 76 years, sending the home crowd in a roar of celebration.

Wade’s Royal Win

British tennis player Virginia Wade won the women’s singles final on Centre Court in 1977 after defeating Betty Stöve. The Brit received her winning trophy from the Queen, who was celebrating her Silver Jubilee and had not attended Wimbledon since 1962…some say it was meant to be! Wade remains the last British female to have won the Wimbledon Championships.

Centre Court is now considered to be the world’s most famous tennis court. It has seen the biggest tennis stars in the world compete for the trophy and some of the most famous Wimbledon moments in history. We are excited to celebrate this centenary and we look forward to seeing what the next 100 years has in store for Centre Court and the future generations of tennis stars to lift the trophies.

We’re keeping our eyes peeled to see who will return to Centre Court in 2022 to battle it out for the title, and who will make their Centre Court debut.

Experience history making moments with your own eyes and discover our official hospitality experiences for The Championships, Wimbledon to make your day even more special and memorable.