Founded in 1868 as the All England Croquet Club, this prestigious venue first hosted a tennis championship in 1877 (won by Spencer Gore) and is now world-renowned for staging the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam event still played on grass—held annually since then except during the World Wars and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. As an exclusive private members' club with just 375 full members and about 100 temporary players, admission requires letters of support from existing members, though all champions are invited to join, granting them the right to purchase tickets for every day of the tournament. Its current royal patron is Catherine, Princess of Wales, who took over the role from Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in 2021 after first becoming patron in 2016. The club relocated from its original Worple Road ground to its current Church Road site in 1922—a move driven largely by the immense popularity of French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen—where the iconic Centre Court has been continuously upgraded, most notably with a sliding roof added in 2009. Even during World War II, the club remained open despite a 1940 German bombing that destroyed 1,200 seats, and although croquet was initially dropped from its name in 1882, it was reinstated in 1899 for sentimental reasons, reflecting its unique evolution from a croquet haven to the ultimate pinnacle of lawn tennis.