Twenty-two men entered the first Wimbledon tournament in 1877.
The inaugural competition was held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, later known as the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. It featured only the Gentlemen’s Singles event, unlike the modern Championships with numerous singles, doubles, mixed, junior, and wheelchair competitions.
Each entrant paid one guinea to compete, and the draw was made on 7 July 1877. The tournament began on 9 July at the club’s original Worple Road site in Wimbledon. Rain interrupted the schedule, but the field eventually produced Spencer Gore as the first champion.
The number 22 refers to entrants, not the number of players in a modern 32- or 64-player draw. One player reportedly failed to appear, which can cause confusion in historical accounts, but contemporary tournament records commonly describe the competition as having 22 entries. There were no women’s events in the first tournament; the Ladies’ Singles was introduced in 1884.