Duration 19 July – 9 October Tournaments 3 | Edition 1st | |
 | ||
Categories Important (1)
County/Regular (2) Most tournament titles Spencer Gore (1)
Ireland Richard Manders (1)
Ireland Vere St. Leger Goold (1) Most tournament finals Spencer Gore (1)
Ireland Richard Manders(1)
Ireland Vere St. Leger Goold (1) | ||
The inaugural 1877 Men's tennis season composed of 3 tournaments for the first edition pre-open era tour. Before the birth of Open Era (tennis), most tournaments were reserved for amateur athletes. In 1874 the British Major Walter Clopton Wingfield he patent the House of London Crafts the invention of a new game, which consists of a shaped field hourglass, divided in the middle by a net suspended. The game was packaged in a box containing some balls, four paddles, the network and the signs to mark the field. The game was based on the rules of the old real tennis and, at the suggestion of Arthur Balfour, was called lawn-tennis. The official date of birth of the court would be February 23, 1874. In 1877 all were amateur tournaments, among them was the first 1877 Wimbledon Championship, the inaugural event was held from the 9 to 19 July and saw as the inaugural winner Spencer Gore, the tournament would remain for a period of 35 years the sole major tennis tournament in the world until the International Lawn Tennis Federation introduces its three World championship series events in 1913 that continue until 1923, however the later U.S. Lawn Tennis Association (f. 1881) only agrees to join the ILTF in 1923 on the basis of two compromises: the title 'World Championships' would be abolished and wording would be 'for ever in the English language'. Wimbledon would still retain its historical status and become one of the four Grand Slam tennis events from 1924
Contents
Whilst Wimbledon was the most prestigious event of this inaugural new sport season in Ireland two other tournaments were also staged one took place in Waterford and the other was University of Dublin Lawn Tennis Championships.
Calendar
Notes 1: Challenge Round: the final round of a tournament, in which the winner of a single-elimination phase faces the previous year's champion, who plays only that one match. The challenge round was used in the early history of tennis (from 1877 through 1921), in some tournaments not all.
Notes 2:Tournaments in italics were events that were staged only once that season
January to June
No events
August
No events
November to December
No events
List of tournament winners
Important tournament in bold
Rankings
Source: The Concise History of Tennis