Wimbledon is one of the biggest sporting events in the world that attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators and gets lots of attention from the media, celebrities, other athletes, and audiences from around the world. Dating back to the 1870s, Wimbledon (also referred to as The Championships) is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments along with the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Fans of the sport usually tune in regularly throughout the year to keep up to date on the latest tennis news and tournament updates.
The Wimbledon season typically starts at the end of June or early July and wraps up mid-July during which time hundreds of tennis players compete on beautiful grass courts while sporting all-white attire. When watching Wimbledon matches, there are usually a lot of tennis fans taking part in sports betting to bet on top players such as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. As one of the most coveted titles in tennis, it is no surprise that Wimbledon has hosted many famous tennis stars. While there are many events during The Championships, including mixed doubles and boys and girls singles and doubles, the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles are often the most anticipated games.
Although Wimbledon has been cancelled this year and the ATP and WTA has been postponed, there are still plenty of matches to look forward to in the future. While fans wait to see when the next tennis matches will air, here is just some interesting tennis information on some of the best players who have played at Wimbledon.
Wimbledon Fast Facts
Fastest serve of all time:
– Gentlemen: Taylor Dent (USA) in 2010 with 148mph
– Ladies: Venus Williams (USA) in 2008 with 129mph
Most aces of all time:
– John Isner (USA) with 214 aces: achieved in 2018
– Serena Williams (USA) with 102 aces: achieved in 2012
Longest match:
– 11 hours, 5 minutes played over 3 days between John Isner (USA) and Nicolas Mahut (France) in 2010
Top Gentlemen’s Singles Stars
– William Renshaw (7 titles from 1881 – 86 & 1889) and Laurence Doherty (5 titles from 1902-6) are two historical Wimbledon players as they dominated in the early and amateur era of The Championships.
– Björn Borg, a Swedish-born player, is tied with Roger Federer for the most consecutive Wimbledon titles with five, which is also his total Wimbledon wins overall (1976-80).
– American Pete Sampras has seven total Wimbledon wins (1993-5, 1997-9 & 2000), born 1971, nicknamed ‘Pistol Pete’ for his powerful serve, inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.
– Roger Federer, from Switzerland, has the most Wimbledon titles with eight (2003-7, 2009, 2012 & 2017), and he is currently ranked #4 in the world. Federer also holds the title for the most Grand Slam singles men titles with 20. @rogerfederer also currently has over 7.5 million followers on Instagram.
– Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, is the current men’s singles champion. He defeated Roger Federer during the 2019 Championship. Djokovic has won five Wimbledon titles (2011, 2014-15, 2018-19) and he is ranked #1 in the world.
Top Ladies’ Singles Stars
– Two of the top winners from the amateur era are Helen Wills Moody (USA) with eight total wins (1927-30, 1932-33, 1935 & 1938) and Dorothea Lambert Chambers (UK) with seven total wins (1903-04, 1906, 1910-11, 1913-14).
– Martina Navratilova is originally from Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia), and she became an American citizen in 1981. She has won nine Wimbledon titles overall (1978-79, 1982-87 & 1990), and she is considered one of the best female tennis players of all time.
– Steffi Graf, from Germany, has won Wimbledon seven times (1988-89, 1991-93, 1995-96). She also holds another significant title: the only player to win all Grand Slams at least four times.
– American-born player Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) has won seven Wimbledon titles
(2002-3, 2009-10, 2012, 2015-16). She also has 23 Grand Slam titles, which is the most by any player since the Open Era started in 1968.
– Simona Halep is the current Wimbledon champion. She defeated all-star Serena Williams in 2019. Born in Romania in 1991, Halep is ranked #2 in the world as of February 24, 2020.
