No. 1 Court is a tennis court at the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

. Opened in 1997, it is used primarily for the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

. It also occasionally plays host to Great Britain's Davis Cup home ties, as

Centre Court Centre Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (also known as the All England Club) and is the main court used in The Championships at Wimbledon, the third annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is co ...

is reserved for the Grand Slam tournament, with the one exception of the 2012 Olympic Games. With a capacity of 12,345, it replaced the original, now-demolished No. 1 Court, which had stood on the west side of Centre Court since 1924, with a spectator capacity of 7,328. The old court was replaced by the Millennium Building, the media centre and facilities for players, members, and officials.

History

Former No. 1 Court

The original No. 1 Court was built in 1924 and was attached to the west side of

. Originally it had a capacity of about 3,250 (2,500 seats and approximately 750 standing) which was increased over the years to 7,328 It was smaller than the current No. 1 Court and was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere, making it a favourite of many players. The

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate ...

, an annual team tennis competition for women contested between teams from the United States and Great Britain was held on Court No 1 from 1946 to 1972. The old court was replaced in 1997 by the current No. 1 Court situated to the north of Centre Court in Aorangi Park. The old No. 1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The site of the old court is now occupied by the Millennium Building, the media centre, and facilities for players, members, and officials.

Current No. 1 Court

cmglee_London_Wimbledon_Championships_venue_aerial

The current No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park was built in 1997, with a spectator capacity of 11,432. It was opened on 23 June 1997 and as part of the opening ceremony a salver was presented to 10 former champions who had won at least three singles titles. The first match played on the new court was between

Tim Henman Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in th ...

and Daniel Nestor.

Retractable roof

In April 2013, the All England Club confirmed its intention to build a retractable roof over No. 1 Court. As well as a retractable roof, the seating capacity of the court was increased by approximately 1,000 to seat 12,345 people. The roof was completed in time for the 2019 Championships, with it being unveiled at a celebratory event attended by legendary former players in May 2019. The roof was closed for the first time in a competitive match on 3 July 2019 when

Coco Gauff Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff (born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in singles, reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022. Gauff won h ...

played

Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a retired Slovak tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and br ...

, the match being moved from an outside court. The roof was closed again on 4 July 2019 during the Men's Doubles first round match featuring Andy Murray and

Pierre-Hugues Herbert Pierre-Hugues Herbert (; born 18 March 1991) is a French professional tennis player. In doubles, he has completed the Career Grand Slam with titles at the 2015 US Open, the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, the 2018 French Open, the 2021 French Op ...

Notes

References

Sources *

External links

No. 1 Court tour and informationPhoto of the pre-1997 No.1 Court
{{Grand Slam Tournaments Venues Sports venues completed in 1997 Tennis venues in London Wimbledon Championships Outdoor arenas Retractable-roof stadiums in Europe