Centre Court at Wimbledon’s First Day – June 26, 1922

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

June 26, 1922 is one of the most sacred dates in tennis history.

It’s when Centre Court at Wimbledon, the most famous and fabled tennis court and venue in tennis, was christened.

Due to the increased popularity of tennis and The Championships – due largely to the amount of attention and fascination that the public had with Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen – the tournament saw the need to create a bigger stadium and facility to accommodate more fans. As it has been said, “Centre Court At Wimbledon, Built By A Frenchwoman.”

It was dubbed “The New Wimbledon” by Bernard Darwin in “Country Life of London” who wrote of the move of the tournament from its beginnings on Worple Road in Wimbledon Village to its current location, “The New Wimbledon lies in a wonderfully pretty and peaceful spot close to the lake and the golf course of Wimbledon Park with but a very few houses in sight.”

It was dubbed “The New Wimbledon” by Bernard Darwin in “Country Life of London” who wrote of the move of the tournament from its beginnings on Worple Road in Wimbledon Village to its current location, “The New Wimbledon lies in a wonderfully pretty and peaceful spot close to the lake and the golf course of Wimbledon Park with but a very few houses in sight.”

Wrote Bud Collins in The Bud Collins History of Tennis of the grand opening on June 26, 1922, “Showers delayed the debut of architect Stanley Peach’s magnificent dodecagon, Centre Court, by an hour on the opening day. However, with the usual stiffened upper lip of nobility, King George struck a gong thrice at 3:45 p.m. and the Big W was on its frequently wet way into the future, and Centre Court, to its destiny as perhaps the planet’s most renowned playpen.”

The historic first match was played between two British players, Algernon Kingscote and Leslie Godfree, with Kingscote winning by a decisive 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 decision. Godfree was the one who served the first ball of the match and when Kingscote hit the serve return into the net, Godfree ran after the ball and pocketed it a souvenir.

The second match ever on Centre Court was actually a doubles match. American Andrew Asthalter paired with Britain’s Walter Crowley against two aging British tennis legends, 54-year-old Arthur Gore and 44-year-old Frank Riseley. Not only did Asthalter register the first win by an American on Centre Court (he and Crowley won 6-2, 6-2, 6-4), but created a New York Times headline and another slice of history by smashing a ball into the new “Royal Box” where King George and Queen Mary sat. “Although the American is a terrific volleyer, no casualty resulted,” wrote the New York Times.