The successful London Olympic bid for the 2012 Games means that in 2012 the Olympic tennis tournament will be held at Wimbledon.

London has hosted the Olympics twice before in 1908 and 1948, with tennis being played at Wimbledon at the ’08 games. In those early days Britons dominated the sport and a great part of the British medal tally consisted of those won on the tennis courts, indoors and outdoors – Queen’s Club providing the indoor ones in ‘08. Unfortunately, the tennis authorities decided to part company with the Olympic movement after the 1924 Paris Games, so the sport didn’t feature the next time it came around in 1948 for the Olympiad at the White City.

Tennis made its return into the Olympic movement during the eighties, firstly as a demonstration sport before being welcomed back as a full Olympic sport at the Seoul Games of 1988.

Unlike modern Olympiads, which are held over a condensed period lasting a little over a fortnight, the 1908 Games were held over six months between April and October that year. The two tennis events (indoor and outdoor tennis) were split either side of Wimbledon.

The indoor tournament in 1908 only involved players from Britain and Sweden, as representatives from New Zealand and Australia failed to turn up. Arthur Gore, who went on to win the Wimbledon title a few weeks later, took the gold medal with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over fellow Briton, George Caridia. The women’s final was also an all-British affair with Gladys Eastlake-Smith eventually overcoming Alice Greene 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 to claim gold.

That all proved to be an interesting entrée for the outdoor event after that year’s Championships, as the Games at the AELTC – at the old Worple Road ground - attracted entrants from a much wider field, including countries which ordinarily would not have then been associated with tennis. In fact, there were more nations represented at the tennis Games of ’08 than there had been contesting The Championships the few weeks before.

The men’s event saw Germany’s Otto Froitzheim snatch the spotlight as he stormed through the field to reach the final for the loss of just two sets. However, it was Britain’s Josiah Ritchie who won the gold medal that year after defeating Froitzheim in the final, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

The report at the time insinuated that Froitzheim had played a bad tactical match. “Had Froitzheim applied more power of stroke he would have been more successful, for, even as it was, he ran the first and last sets very close” the Lawn Tennis report of the day declared. “It was by no means an exhilarating match, and it was a positive relief sometimes to see Ritchie desert the back of the court and bring off a smart cross volley, an occurrence, however, which was none too frequent.”

The ladies’ event was rather unsuccessful with withdrawals causing problems leaving the two British finalists arriving for the deciding match via very contrasting routes. Mrs. Dorothea Lambert Chambers won three matches for a chance at the Gold whereas Miss Dora Boothby arrived there without striking a ball courtesy of a bye and two scratchings.

Boothby’s lack of match play may well have played some part in her defeat in a match which saw Lambert Chambers at her best. Her Gold came via a 6-1, 7-5 victory to complete a run of four matches without losing a set.

Written by Henry Wancke