Two-time Wimbledon champion Katie Godfrey had mixed feelings about the old  lawn tennis courts: “It was a very friendly atmosphere, but during the Championships  you hoped you weren't playing on the four back courts that were in close proximity from the railway tracks. When the train rumbled past, you not only felt the vibration of the ground, but sometimes soot from the smoke got into your eyes and onto your clothes. Soon train drivers learned about tennis and when they passed by during the game, they sounded the locomotive whistle. They thought it was fun..."

       In April 1877  the All English Croquet Club was renamed the  All English Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.  In June of the same year, it was decided to hold the   first  lawn tennis championship.  22 people signed up for the tournament, which took place in July 1877, although one player did not show up for his match on the first day. On July 19, 1877, after four days of the tournament, the final took place, in which Spencer Gore and William Marshall.            About 200 spectators gathered for the final game, providing the tournament organizers with a profit of 10 pounds. In the final, due to his brave play at the net, the victory was won by local Wimbledon resident and shop owner Spencer Gore, who at the age of 27 became the first winner of the lawn tennis championship.  

       By the time of the first championship of the All English Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, its organizers made fundamental changes to  the original lawn tennis rules proposed by Major  Wingfield. The shape of the court, tapering towards the net, became rectangular, and the height of the net was reduced (its further reduction would occur in 1878, 1880 and 1882). The chief referee of the first tournament, Dr. Henry Jones, compiled statistical tables at the end of the tournament showing that out of 601 games played, the servers won 376, that is, about five out of every eight, and in the case of “equal pairs,” nine out of every fourteen. To give the servers a greater advantage, the court was then shortened slightly and the top edge of the net was lowered three inches (7.5cm).

       Since 1881, the courts of the All English Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club have been dominated by  William Renshaw, who was the winner of the Wimbledon tennis tournament seven times. His brother Ernest won the championship only once.