The 130th edition of Wimbledon kicks off at the All England Lawn Club in London on Monday, ushering in another hotly anticipated two weeks of the tournament.
The entire tennis fraternity will point towards London’s SW19 postcode as the whites, strawberry and cream, drilled movement of ball kids and the historic Royal Box take centre stage.
Here, Sport360 looks back at Wimbledon’s illustrious history, taking in all the numbers and stats from the men’s side of the most prestigious tournament in tennis’ history.
1877 – The first edition of The Championships is played on the outdoor grass-courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in the Wimbledon suburb of London, UK. The gentlemen’s singles was the first, comprising of a field of 22 players. In an all British final, Spencer Gore defeated William Marshall (6-1, 6-2, 6-4) in a final that lasted only 48 minutes.
2009 – A Retractable roof was installed and activated during the 2009 Championships. Brit Andy Murray and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis played out the latest finish at Wimbledon in 2012 under the roof, finishing up at 11:02PM BST.
Amateur Era – William Renshaw (1881–1886, 1889) holds the record for most titles in the amateur era with seven victories. Renshaw also holds the record for most consecutive titles with six from (1881 to 1886). It is the all-time record.
Federer’s seven wins.
7 – American Great Pete Sampras (1993-95, 1997-00) and Swiss Legend Roger Federer (2003-07, 2009, 2012) are the most decorated Wimbledon champions in the Open-Era with seven titles each.
10 – Roger Federer holds the all-time record for the most appearances in Wimbledon finals (2003-2009, 2012, 2014-15). He owns a 7-3 record in SW19 finals.
7 – Consecutive Wimbledon finals for Roger Federer (2003-09), the all-time record.
84 – Matches won by Jimmy Connors (84-18), the most match wins at Wimbledon. Federer owns second place with 79 (79-10).
92.7% – Swedish Legend Bjorn Borg owns the best match winning % at Wimbledon (92.7%). Sampras (90%) and Federer (88.8%) are next in line for those players with a minimum 50 wins.
5 – Borg (1976-80) and Federer (2003-07) both hold the record for the most consecutive championship wins in the open era with five.
41 – Consecutive wins for Borg (1976-81), is the most in the tournament’s history, John McEnroe ending his run in 1981 final. Federer (2003-08) owned a 40 match winning streak before losing to Rafael Nadal in 2008 in what is arguably the Greatest match in the history of the sport.
34 – Consecutive sets won by Roger Federer (2005-06), the best streak at Wimbledon. McEnroe won 31 consecutive sets in 1984-85.
0 – Bjorn Borg is the only player in the Open-Era to win the Championships without dropping a set, doing so in 1976 when the Swede won his first Wimbledon. American Don Budge was the first man to achieve this feat at Wimbledon in 1938, while Federer was the last man to reach the final without dropping a set (2006 and 2008).
7-0 – Pete Sampras was undefeated in the 7 Wimbledon finals he played in (1993-95, 1996-00), the best record in finals by any player.
CHANNEL SLAM – Novak Djokovic will attempt to join Laver (1969), Borg (1978-80), Nadal (2008, 2010) and Federer (2009) to have completed the French-Wimbledon Double or the “Channel Slam” in the open era.
4 – Runners-up finishes for Boris Becker (3-4 in Finals) and Jimmy Connors (2-4 in Finals), the most in the open era.
NATIONAL RIVALRY – The Last Wimbledon final to feature players from the same nation was back in 1999 when American Pete Sampras defeated compatriot Andre Agassi.
ALL FIRST-TIMER FINAL – The Last Wimbledon final to feature Grand Slam Final debutants was in 1996 when Dutch Richard Krajicek got the better of American MaliVai Washington.
ARTHUR ASHE – The American Legend is the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon in 1975 when he dethroned compatriot Jimmy Connors.
20 – In the 48 Editions of Wimbledon in the open era, the top seed has triumphed on 20 occasions.
1R Exit – In 2003, Aussie Lleyton Hewitt became the first defending Wimbledon men’s champion in the open era to lose in the first round when he was bundled out by qualifier Ivo Karlovic.
GREAT GORAN – In 2001, Croat Goran Ivanisevic became the lowest-ranked player to ever win Wimbledon and the only wildcard entrant to win a Grand Slam. He was also the lowest ranked finalist at Wimbledon in the Open-Era. He also and served a record 212 aces during his championship run in 2001, the all-time record.
NEW BALLS PLEASE – For the 100th edition in 1986, white balls were replaced by yellow ones for the first time.
ALL LEFTY CLUB – The 1984 Wimbledon final was the last played by two left-handers at the All England Club. American John McEnroe defeated his compatriot Jimmy Connors.
48 – Prior to the 2001 Wimbledon, Ivanisevic had played in 47 slams before converting his first title.
WINNING A SLAM FINAL SAVING MATCH POINTS
1948 – Bob Falkenburg d. John Bromwich 75 06 62 36 75 — Saved three match points.
1927 – Henri Cochet d. Jean Borotra 46 46 63 64 75 — Saved six match points.
17y 7m 15d – German Boris Becker (1985) is the youngest winner, youngest finalist and semi-finalist at Wimbledon. He also managed to defend his title in 1986 (at 18y 7m 14d), becoming the youngest player to defend a Grand Slam title in the open era.
20 – Wimbledon Editions played by Jimmy Connors, the most in the open era.
41y 5m 19d – In 1909, British Arthur Gore is the oldest player to date to hold the singles title.
31y 11m 25d – Arthur Ashe (1975) is the oldest Wimbledon champion in the open era. Ken Rosewall is the oldest Wimbledon finalist during that time, making the final in 1974 at 39y 8m 4d.
MULTIPLE MEETINGS IN WIMBLEDON FINALS
LONGEST MATCH – American John Isner defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon 2010 in an 11-hour and five minute first round marathon match played over three days. Isner also set the record for aces in a match with 113 and Mahut is second with 103. The contest holds the record for the longest tennis match both in time and games played.
LONGEST FINAL (TIME) – The 2008 classic between Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer is the longest final played at 4 hours and 48 minutes.
LONGEST FINAL (GAMES) – The 2009 epic between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick is the longest final played in terms of games at 77. The final set (16-14) is the longest of its kind at a Grand Slam.
£28.10 million – Total prize money for the 2016 edition, a 5% increase from 2015.
£2 million – Prize money for the singles champion, an increase of £0.12 million from last year.
484,391 – Total attendance for the 13 days of the 2015 Championships.
