The Centre Court at Wimbledon, the most famous tennis arena in the world, reaches its 80th Birthday during the 2002 Championships. The milestone simply adds another story to the house of legends which this unique grass court has become since its opening in 1922. "It is like a cathedral out there," says John Newcombe, three times singles champion.

The countdown to the 80th birthday includes two particularly special years in the life of Wimbledon. In 2000, Pete Sampras of the United States won his seventh singles title in a finish so late on the Centre Court that the light was fading fast as Sampras eventually overhauled his Australian opponent Pat Rafter in four sets.

A year later the men's final was played in its entirety on the third Monday of The Championships before a crowd which had the opportunity to buy tickets on the day. They were rewarded with a magnificent contest between the new champion Goran Ivanisevic, who was a wild card entry into The Championships, and Rafter. Emotions ran high between supporters of the two finalists and there was an astonishing, noisy atmosphere throughout.

Back in 1921, when it became clear that The Championships should be moved from their first home at Worple Road to what is now Church Road in Wimbledon in time for the 1922 tournament, there was an expectant atmosphere as the new headquarters took shape. The Centre Court, like all the others, was surfaced with Cumberland turf and the demand to provide more spectator accommodation than Worple Road meant an initial provision of 9989 seats. There was standing room for 3600 spectators, divided equally on either side of the court, an arrangement which continued until 1990 when seats were introduced on safety grounds.

The attention to detail for the spectator was considerable and carefully thought out. Nearly all spectators would have such a clear view that they would be able to see a tiny piece of paper on the grass, no matter where they were. Potential patrons were reminded that in shooting it was possible to distinguish between differing game birds in flight and none of those moved as fast as a tennis ball. "No sportsman with average eyesight has the slightest difficulty in distinguishing birds at this distance and therefore the general public should be able to see all the niceties of the game," said a memorandum. In addition, no shadow would appear on the court until 7 p.m.

It may seem entirely appropriate to those who have followed Wimbledon's relationship with bad weather over the years that the momentous first day of the Centre Court was affected by rain. Play was due to start at 2.45 pm but the covers stayed on after a wet morning. King George V and Queen Mary appeared briefly but it was 3.30 pm before the King struck a gong three times to signal the opening of the grounds - and 15 minutes later play began. It rained on every day of The Championships and the tournament was completed on the third Wednesday. The champions were Gerald Patterson of Australia and Suzanne Lenglen of France who were the first players to take the titles after the abolition of the Challenge Round.

The King and Queen were regular visitors to the 1922 tournament, thus setting a pattern of Royal visits which has been maintained ever since. All players on Centre Court bow to royalty in the box and Rod Laver, four times champion, describes the feeling: "It was an ordeal. . . . . it's something I worried about. . . . the main thing is not to bend too far because you might fall flat on your face which would be a bad show. "

Attendances proved that Wimbledon's new home was as popular as anticipated and the Centre Court crowds who occupied the three miles of seating, with 21 miles of wooden slats providing "comfortable backs", were the forerunners of the millions of spectators who have followed in their footsteps. It was six times champion Bjorn Borg who said it was not an unusual sight to see four thousand people standing outside the Centre Court waiting for nothing in particular to happen but that kind of congestion is a thing of the past thanks to the various methods to help spectators to move around the grounds. But the chance to see famous players of yesterday and today in and around the Centre Court remains a fascination for many visitors.

Naturally the Centre Court has established many landmarks over the years. In 1931, a player wearing glasses appeared on the Centre Court for the first time and in the same year a lady played without wearing stockings. A male player in shorts first appeared in 1933.

By 1949 the trophies were presented on Centre Court for the first time, the first lady umpire to officiate on the Centre Court was in 1981, and the first lady to take a final was Georgina Clark who umpired the last match in the ladies' centenary championship. A year later some spectators took the chance to swim in one of the passageways under the court after an immense storm produced one and half inches of rain in 20 minutes. Nine years later a temperature of 115F was recorded on the court on the final day of The Championships.

The Centre Court was re-roofed in 1992 and has four support pillars instead of the original 22. It had to take a back seat for a while when the new No. 1 Court was opened in 1997 but there has never been any loss of stature for the famous old place. It has housed tennis of quality, of character, and of style in its unique pathway to becoming the only Grand Slam Championship to still be played on the game's original surface.