What a Wimbledon for British tennis! In the presence of King George V and Queen Mary, and in front of a packed Centre Court crowd, Fred Perry won the first of his three consecutive, long-treasured gentlemen’s singles titles on 9 July 1934.
And, under the same blazing sun that day, Dorothy Round won the ladies’ singles title, beating the American star Helen Jacobs over three thrilling sets.
An archive report describes a scene of jubilation: ‘The crowd rose as one and cheered and cheered, and the King and Queen clapped their delight.’
Spectators had queued all night to witness Perry and Round as prices were affordable and a Grounds pass entitled the first 2,000 fans to a place in the free standing area on Centre Court.
The faithful were well rewarded for their efforts. Fred and Dorothy's rousing victories meant that for the first time since 1909 British players had won both singles titles.
And of course, the double hasn’t happened again since...
The home success was a huge tonic for the nation. Ninety years ago, Britain, like the rest of the world, was trying to find a way out of the slump of economic hardship brought on by The Great Depression.
The Championships at Wimbledon – ‘strenuous struggles’, as Pathé newsreel flagged the sport of lawn tennis to its viewers – could be relied on to provide distraction and cheer.
But in this same year of the Perry-Round triumph, the tournament was struck by a mysterious virus that spread through the locker rooms faster than stock prices had tumbled in the Wall Street Crash.
The Referee’s Office was thrown into mayhem acknowledging withdrawals as numerous players dropped out with ‘Wimbledon Throat’, a painful condition causing ‘biliousness, headache, high temperature and general weakness, with symptoms of influenza’.
In Manchester, Australian cricketers who had visited Wimbledon for a day out prior to the third Test at Old Trafford also fell sick, including Don Bradman, Arthur Chipperfield and Alan Kippax.
Under the front-page headline, ‘Cricketers’ Misfortune’, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on the lurgy: ‘It is characteristic of the Wimbledon Throat that the condition suddenly changes. The heatwave aggravated the ailment, which is infectious, and is leading to fears that it may spread throughout the team.’
In a happy coincidence for sore throats, Robinson’s Lemon Barley Water was handed out to players and umpires on Centre and No.1 Courts for the first time. Concocted by Eric Smedley Hodgson specifically to hydrate and refresh players at Wimbledon, it was made of British barley, lemon juice and sugar.
(In case you'd wondered, barley water is made by boiling pearl barley in water. The result is a liquid with numerous health benefits: a source of fibre, good for balancing gut bacteria and lowering cholesterol.)
So popular was the drink – which was placed in players’ dressing rooms – its inventor was invited back and in 1935, Robinson's Barley Water went into commercial production, becoming a household staple and the official soft drink provider to The Championships, visible by the umpire’s chair on every court, until 2022.
One man’s light-bulb moment and semi-guerrilla marketing tactics led to a long-running sponsorship deal that was surpassed only by Wimbledon’s 120-year link with Slazenger, the official ball supplier.
Somehow, among all this excitement and intrigue, another British competitor caused a great kerfuffle. Eileen Fearnley Whittingstall, twice a Wimbledon singles quarter-finalist and a doubles finalist in 1928 – became the first woman to dare to bare her knees on Centre Court.
Walking confidently on to court in a pair of shorts for her match against Betty Nuthall on the first Tuesday, she caused a Mexican wave of dropping jaws accompanied by sharp intakes of breath.
Technically, the garment she debuted was an above-the-knee culotte-style divided skirt – complete with pleats, a fabric belt and side buttons – which she described as the lower half of a one-piece suit.
Whatever you want to call it, the shorts started a fashion that was quick to catch on.
