2. 2001 - Goran Ivanisevic | RealClearSports Posted on 05.07.12 9:47 PM UTC 2. 2001 - Goran Ivanisevic Only four men have ever won a Grand Slam event as an unseeded player - Mark Edmondson (1976 Australian Open), Boris Becker (1985 Wimbledon), Richard Krajicek (1996 Wimbledon) and Goran Ivanisevic (2001 Wimbledon), but to this day, Ivanisevic remains the only one to ever claim a Grand Slam title as a wild card. Ivanisevic certainly was not an unknown in 2001, having already played and lost in three Wimbledon finals, but instead was in the twilight of his career. About to turn 30 and plagued by a shoulder injury, Ivanisevic's world ranking had plummeted to No. 125 and was not even initially included in the singles draw. But given his history that included hard-fought losses to Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in past finals, the tournament extended him a wild card. He made the most of it.

Ivanisevic surely didn't have a cakewalk to the final, having to defeat former and future world No. 1s Carlos Moyá, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin and Britain's own Tim Henman in the semifinal. But he did catch one break - four-time defending champion Pete Sampras was upset in the fourth round by a 19-year-old named Roger Federer, who lost his subsequent match to Henman. In the final, Ivanisevic used his overpowering serve to defeat Pat Rafter, the previous year's runner-up, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. It was Ivanisevic's first Grand Slam and his 22nd singles title - and also his last. He played sparingly in the next couple of years before retiring for good in 2004. His pre-tournament ranking of 125 is still the lowest of anyone - men or women - who's ever won a Grand Slam singles title.

Reliving Wimbledon 2001: The Wildcard’s Wimbledon Reliving Wimbledon 2001: The Wildcard’s Wimbledon Tweet The Wimbledon 2001 story is perhaps one of the greatest Wimbledon story in recent past. A lot happened in Wimbledon that year: Goran Ivanišević became the first and only wildcard entry to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. Ivanišević became the lowest-ranked player ever to win the Wimbledon. Pete Sampras and Roger Federer played against each other for the first and last time. Both the semi-finals and the finals went down to the wire, lasting the full length of 5 sets each. First, let’s take a look at the 16th greatest event in the history of sports; Ivanišević winning the Wimbledon. “Ivanisevic rises above the pain”, read the Telegraph’s headlines on July 9, 2001. A few weeks back Ivanisevic, ranked 125th was given entry into Wimbledon by the organising All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. But little did anyone know that he would go on to win the title.

Ivanisevic was a major force in Tennis in the early and mid 90’s. He had reached the Wimbledon finals thrice before, in 1992, 1994 and in 1998, but had failed to convert them into titles. In 1992, Ivanisevic played and lost from Andre Agassi and in the 1994 and 1998 matches Pete Sampras prevailed. Since then Ivanisevic, struck by shoulder injuries, had slipped down to number 125 in world rankings. A wildcard is awarded by tournament organisers to players who have not qualified to participate in the tournament, but still hold the potential. Ivanisevic, three time runner up, was just that. Ivanisevic started his Wimbledon campaign by winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 against Jonsson from Sweden. In the second round, he went on to win against the Spaniard Moya (ranked 20th) after dropping the first set 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

He then beat Roddick in a four set (7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3) in the third round. In the fourth round, Ivanisevic played and beat Rusedski of the United Kingdom in straight sets. In the quarters, Ivanisevic played against Safin (rank 4) in a four set game (7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6), qualifying for semi-finals with Henman (rank 6). Ivanisevic played a fantastic five set semi-finals against Henman beating the Brit (7-5, 6-7, 0-6, 7-6, 6-3). The former showed some extreme mental stamina, coming back from being a set behind and losing the third set 6-0, to win the game, three sets to two. All his mental stamina was to be tested once again in the finals. Covering the finals, the Telegraph wrote , “There comes a point when sport ceases to be fun, and turns into one long struggle against the imploding mind, the twisted gut. Sport as colic.

This was such a match, as Ivanisevic and Rafter headed into a fifth set that took an hour and 16 games to resolve. Ivanisevic finally won it to complete his first victory in a Grand Slam event, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. The codeine champion, he served 27 aces yesterday to take his total for the tournament to 213. But no statistic can begin to describe the emotional furnace that was stoked at 8-7 in the final set as Ivanisevic served groggily and painfully for the match.” Ivanisevic had finally won. In other news, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer played against each other for the first and last time. Abhinav Sharma Ranking the Greatest Champions in Wimbledon History | Bleacher Report Ranking the Greatest Champions in Wimbledon History By Jake Curtis , Featured Columnist Jul 1, 2015 Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow Pool/Getty Images Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Rod Laver 12.9K 47 Comments Roger Federer is shooting for his eighth Wimbledon title this year.

Serena Williams is going for her sixth. With those credentials, they belong in the discussion regarding the greatest Wimbledon champions. But does either rank at the very top? In our ranking of the greatest champions in Wimbledon history, we considered only players who won Wimbledon titles in the Open Era (since 1968). However, we included two players who won Wimbledon titles in both the pre-Open Era and the Open Era. This excludes pre-Open Era stars such as Helen Wills (eight Wimbledon singles titles), Suzanne Lenglen (who never lost a completed Wimbledon singles match) and Bill Tilden (who won his last Wimbledon title at age 37). The rankings are based primarily on the number of Wimbledon singles titles won, although consideration also was given to the quality of the opposition, the dominance the player demonstrated at Wimbledon and the player's overall fame as measured by the Tennis Channel's 2012 rankings of the 100 greatest players of all time. In some cases, factors that made a player's accomplishment special were included in the evaluation. We pared the candidates down to a dozen then ranked the 12 greatest champions in Wimbledon history.

Getty Images/Getty Images Wimbledon titles: Three (1974, 1976, 1981) Chris Evert was almost unbeatable on clay during her prime years, but she had the misfortune of playing in an era occupied by perhaps the best women's grass-court player in history, Martina Navratilova. Evert reached the Wimbledon final 10 times but won only three titles, losing to Navratilova all five times the two met in the tournament's climax. However, Evert did beat Navratilova in the 1976 semifinals before taking out Evonne Goolagong Cawley in the final for her second Wimbledon crown. Evert was only 21 at the time, but she would win Wimbledon on just one more occasion. Evert's run through the 1981 tournament was by far her most impressive. She did not lose a set during the tournament and lost no more than four games in any of her final four matches. She took apart Hana Mandlikova 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Mandlikova had already done Evert a favor by beating Navratilova in the semifinals.

Although grass was Evert's least favorite surface, she was able to challenge for the title virtually every year, and she was clearly among tennis' all-time greats. She was placed No. 9 on the Tennis Channel's rankings of the top 100 players in history. DAVE CAULKIN/Associated Press Wimbledon titles: Three (1985, 1986, 1989) Boris Becker won two Wimbledon titles before he reached his 19th birthday, suggesting he might rule the All England Club like nobody in history. His powerful serve, excellent volley and ability to dive and bounce around the grass court made it appear he would dominate Wimbledon for years to come. He won his third Wimbledon title in 1989, still at the tender age of 21, but never won it again. Becker's most dramatic Wimbledon title was his first, when, at age 17, he became the youngest male to win Wimbledon and the first unseeded player to do it. He did it with a flamboyant style that made him a spectator's delight. His second and third Wimbledon titles were more impressive from a tennis standpoint. Becker knocked off No.

1-seeded Ivan Lendl in straight sets in the 1986 final and defeated No. 1-seeded Lendl and No. 2-seeded Stefan Edberg in his final two matches in 1989, the latter in straight sets. Becker's flair was nearly as important as his results in earning him a spot on this list. Adam Stoltman/Associated Press Wimbledon titles: Three (1981, 1983, 1984) Considering the way John McEnroe dominated the 1984 Wimbledon tournament at the age of 25, it's hard to believe he never won the event again. In fact, McEnroe never won any Grand Slam tournament after the age of 25 even though he had one of the most dominating seasons in men's tennis history in 1984. McEnroe's epic five-set loss to Bjorn Borg in the 1980 final simply set the stage for his victory over Borg in the 1981 final at the age of 22. After losing to Jimmy Connors in the 1982 Wimbledon final, McEnroe responded with magnificent performances the next two years.

He lost only one set in his run through the 1983 Wimbledon, beating overmatched Chris Lewis in the final 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. The next year he again lost only one set on his way to the title, thrashing Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in the final in perhaps the most impressive exhibition of grass-court tennis in history. ''That's the best I've ever played,'' said McEnroe after that match, according to the New York Times. McEnroe would win the U.S. Open later that year, giving him two titles and a runner-up finish in the three majors he played during that season. But he would never win another Grand Slam singles title, getting to the final of only one more, the 1987 U.S. Open. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Wimbledon titles: Five (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008) Venus Williams' five Wimbledon women's singles titles are tied for the third most in the Open Era, behind only Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf.

Williams made a habit of playing her best tennis at the All England Club. She was not the top seed in any of her five Wimbledon title runs and was among the top four seeds in only one. Williams knocked off the Nos. 1 and 2 players in the world en route to her first title, beating Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport in 2000. However, Williams' championship mettle was best displayed while winning her third and fourth Wimbledon crowns. She had lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the third round of the French Open when she entered the 2005 Wimbledon event ranked No. 16 and seeded 14th. Williams proceeded to roll through Wimbledon, beating No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova in the semifinals and No. 1 Davenport in the final. In 2007, after two-injury plagued seasons, Williams came into Wimbledon ranked 31st and seeded No. 23. She struggled in the tournament's first week against little-known opponents. But she dominated in the second week, winning her final four matches in straight sets—three of which were against players ranked in the top six. Williams became the lowest seeded player to win a Wimbledon title.

Five of Williams' seven Grand Slam titles were achieved at Wimbledon. Although she was not as proficient as sister Serena on all surfaces, Venus Williams was and is capable of beating anyone on the grass at Wimbledon. Getty Images/Getty Images Wimbledon titles: Four (1961, 1962, 1968, 1969) There is no telling how many Wimbledons Rod Laver would have won if pros had been allowed to play the tournament in the mid-1960s. Laver won four consecutive Wimbledons in which he participated. He won the event during his final two years as an amateur then captured the first two Wimbledons in the Open Era, in 1968 and 1969. His best years, between 1963 and 1967, were spent dominating the pro circuit, a period that covered five Wimbledons he was excluded from playing. His 1968 title run was historically important because it was the first Open Wimbledon, as Laver knocked off Arthur Ashe and Tony Roche in the final two matches without the loss of a set.

His 1962 and 1969 Wimbledon crowns were particularly significant because they were part of his Grand Slam years. He is still the only person to sweep all four major tournaments in the same calendar year twice. In 1969, Laver had to get past Stan Smith, Cliff Drysdale, Ashe and John Newcombe to claim his final Wimbledon title at the age of 30. By virtually any measure, Laver ranks as one of tennis' all-time greats. He is No. 2 in the Tennis Channel's 2012 rankings of the top 100 players in history. Associated Press Wimbledon singles titles: Five (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980) Bjorn Borg won five straight Wimbledon titles, a men's record for consecutive crowns at the All England Club, later matched by Roger Federer. (The record does not include consecutive titles won before 1923, when the defending champion had to win only one match to claim the title.) Borg was a mediocre grass-court player when he first played Wimbledon but developed his game to excel on the fast surface.

At a time when serve-and-volley players ruled on grass, Borg proved you could win at Wimbledon with outstanding groundstrokes and a serviceable serve and volley. He had already won two French Opens by the time he won his first Wimbledon title in 1976, a month past his 20th birthday. Interestingly, that first Wimbledon crown came just a few weeks after his most disappointing French Open performance, when he lost in the quarterfinals. Borg won his first Wimbledon title in 1976 without the loss of a set, and no man has done that since. The next year he had to win three five-set matches to take the title, including a marathon victory over Jimmy Connors in the final. However, his most memorable Wimbledon title was his last one, in 1980. His riveting 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6 victory over John McEnroe was remarkable not only for the level of play, but for Borg's ability to rebound from the epic 18-16 tiebreaker loss in the fourth set to capture the deciding set.

Getty Images/Getty Images Wimbledon titles: Six (1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975) Two of Billie Jean King's six Wimbledon titles came in the pre-Open Era. However, that is less of a factor in women's tennis because there was no pro circuit for women before 1968. All the best women's players were amateurs before tennis became open to the pros. King played her best tennis on the grass at Wimbledon. Half of her Grand Slam singles titles were achieved at Wimbledon, and 11 of her 12 major crowns were captured on grass. King's serve-and-volley game was perfectly suited to the fast grass surface. King was 22 when she defeated Margaret Court (then Margaret Smith) and Maria Bueno in consecutive matches to win her first Wimbledon title in 1966, and she lost only one set while capturing the Wimbledon crown the next two years as well. King beat Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong Cawley in succession to win the 1972 title and beat the same two in consecutive matches to win Wimbledon the next year.

However, her defining Wimbledon was in 1975, when King was 31 years old. She trailed Evert 3-0, 40-15 on Evert's serve in the third set before rallying to win that semifinal match, then she dominated Goolagong 6-0, 6-1 in the most lopsided Wimbledon final ever. King had proclaimed earlier that the 1975 Wimbledon would be her last major singles tournament, and she did not play singles in any of the next eight majors. However, she would play Wimbledon singles six more times after that, getting as far as the semifinals in her last appearance in 1983 at the age of 39. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Wimbledon titles: Five (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012) The final chapter of Serena Williams' story has yet to be written, and she could rise several spots in the ranking of Wimbledon champions before she is through. Her five Wimbledon titles over a span of 10 years speak to her longevity and her ability to maintain a high level of play over an extended period.

She won her first Wimbledon crown at the age of 20 and her fifth at the age of 30. At age 33, she came into this year's Wimbledon as the favorite to win her sixth Wimbledon crown. If Williams wins it, she would become the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, being several days older than Martina Navratilova was when she won the 1990 Wimbledon crown. A Wimbledon victory would give Williams the first three legs of a calendar-year Grand Slam that she could complete with a win at the U.S. Open. Winning Wimbledon would also give Williams her 21st Grand Slam singles title, leaving her one behind Steffi Graf (the Open Era record-holder) and three behind Margaret Court (who owns the all-time mark). Williams has been particularly effective in Grand Slam finals, owning a 20-4 record in title matches, including 5-2 at Wimbledon. Williams has given no hints that a decline is imminent. She is still ranked No. 1 by a wide margin, and there is reason to believe she will be the Wimbledon favorite in 2016 and 2017 if she chooses to continue playing.

DAVE CAULKIN/Associated Press Wimbledon titles: Seven (1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996) Steffi Graf's seven Wimbledon singles championships are the second most among women in the Open Era (behind Martina Navratilova's nine) and the third most overall (also behind Helen Wills' eight). Graf's first Wimbledon title, achieved three weeks after her 19th birthday, was the most significant because it was part of Graf's calendar-year Grand Slam in 1988. No one has won all four majors in the same year since. In 1988 and 1989, Graf had to beat Martina Navratilova, perhaps the best grass-court player of all time, in the final to claim the titles. Graf's most impressive performance came at the 1992 Wimbledon, when she beat No. 3-ranked Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals and dominated No. 1-ranked Monica Seles 6-2, 6-1 in the final.

Seles had won the first two majors of 1992 but was no match for Graf at the All England Club that day. "I think I am playing here the best tennis of my career," Graf said after the match, according to the New York Times. Her Wimbledon victories in 1995 and 1996 came during years she won all three Grand Slam events in which she participated. (She forfeited opportunities to complete Grand Slams those years by not playing in the first major of the year, the Australian Open.) Graf played in the Wimbledon final nine times, winning all but two. She lost in her first Wimbledon final to Navratilova when Graf was 18 years old, and a 30-year-old Graf was beaten by Lindsay Davenport in the final of her last appearance in a Grand Slam singles event in 1999.

JYTTE NIELSEN/Associated Press Wimbledon titles: Seven (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) Pete Sampras was not the all-court player that Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are today. Sampras never made it to the final of the French Open. However, his big serve-and-volley game was effective on hard courts and perfect for grass. Pete Sampras won seven Wimbledon titles in a span of eight years, his only failure in that stretch being a quarterfinal loss to Richard Krajicek in 1996. Sampras won his first Wimbledon title in 1993 by beating Andre Agassi, Boris Becker and Jim Courier in succession. All three victims were ranked No. 1 at one time, and each won at least four Grand Slam singles titles. That led Sampras on a streak of 25 consecutive match wins at the All England Club that ended with the loss to Krajicek.

Sampras then won 32 straight Wimbledon matches before he lost to Roger Federer in the round of 16 in 2001. Between his 1992 semifinal loss to Goran Ivanisevic and his fourth-round loss to Federer in 2001, Sampras won 56 of 57 matches at Wimbledon. Perhaps more indicative of Sampras' championship quality is the fact that he never lost a Wimbledon final, going 7-0 in title-deciding matches. ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS/Associated Press Wimbledon titles: Seven (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012) Roger Federer's seven men's Wimbledon singles titles are tied for the most in history, and he was named the greatest player ever in the Tennis Channel's 2012 rankings of the greatest players in history. Those two facts alone earn him a place at or near the top of our rankings of the greatest Wimbledon champions.

Federer virtually owned the All England Club through the 2000s, winning five straight Wimbledon crowns from 2003 through 2007, tying a men's record for consecutive titles set by Bjorn Borg. His five-year run began after an embarrassing loss, as the No. 7-seeded Federer was beaten in straight sets in the first round of the 2002 Wimbledon by qualifier Mario Ancic, who was ranked No. 154 in the world. However, Federer did not lose at the All England Club again until Rafael Nadal defeated him in their epic, five-set 2008 final. That 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 loss ended Federer's 40-match winning streak at Wimbledon and his 65-match winning streak on grass. Federer's all-court skills—which combined powerful groundstrokes off both wings with excellent net play, a consistent serve and deft touch—made him almost unbeatable on grass for nearly a decade. His Wimbledon dominance began in 2003, when he ran through his final four opponents without the loss of a set.

Federer knocked off Andy Roddick in the final the next two years, and the only set Federer lost in the 2006 Wimbledon was a third-set tiebreaker against Nadal in the final. Federer beat Nadal again in the 2007 final before Nadal turned the tables in 2008, ending the streak. Federer's most impressive Wimbledon performance may have been the one that produced his most recent Wimbledon title, as Federer beat Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the final two rounds to win the 2012 tournament. Getty Images/Getty Images Wimbledon singles titles: Nine (1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990) Martina Navratilova won more Wimbledon singles crowns than any person in history, Open Era or pre-Open Era, men or women.

To put Navratilova's accomplishment in perspective, she claimed as many Wimbledon singles titles as John McEnroe, Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors and Novak Djokovic combined. Navratilova won her first Wimbledon singles title as a 21-year-old Czech and her last one as a 33-year-old American. In between, her groundbreaking announcement in 1981 in which she came out as lesbian became a factor in social change. She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles but no more than four at any major other than Wimbledon, where she was close to unbeatable for more than a decade. Navratilova was raised on slow clay courts in Czechoslovakia yet became perhaps the best women's grass-court player ever. She dominated during a period that featured some of the best women's players in history, winning six Wimbledon titles in a row from 1982 through 1987. She beat Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and Evonne Goolagong to win her first Wimbledon title and defeated both Austin and Evert to win her second.

Navratilova did not lose more than four games in any of her final four Wimbledon matches in 1983 and breezed to the 1984 and 1986 titles without the loss of a set. Navratilova beat Evert and Steffi Graf in succession to capture the 1987 crown, and her closest match on her way to the 1990 title was a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Gabriela Sabatini in the semifinals. To add some icing on her Wimbledon championship cake, Navratilova won seven women's doubles titles and four mixed doubles crowns at the All England Club. croatia tennis champions goran ivanišević marin čilić - YouTube croatia tennis champions goran ivanišević marin čilić Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Sep 9, 2014 Goran Ivanišević born 13 September 1971) is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He is the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Before the 2001 tournament he was ranked 125th and after the win he was 16th. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 2 (behind Pete Sampras) in 1994. He is the current coach of Marin Čilić. By the summer of 2001, Ivanišević was ranked the World No. 125. This was not sufficient to earn him an automatic place in the main draw at Wimbledon but, given his past record as a three-time runner-up, he was awarded a wildcard for entry into the singles draw.

He defeated former and future World #1 players Carlos Moyá, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin to reach the semi-final, beating home favourite Tim Henman in a five set, rain-affected semi-final, setting-up a match with the previous year's runner-up and former US Open champion Patrick Rafter. It was Ivanišević's first singles final since 1998. In a match lasting just over three hours, Ivanišević defeated Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7.[6] Two months shy of his 30th birthday, Ivanišević became the lowest-ranked player and the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon.To date, he is the only male entrant to have won a Grand Slam as a wildcard. His Wimbledon success was rated sixteenth at the list of 100 Greatest Sporting Moments by a British television programme. Marin Čilić (born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He is the reigning US Open champion.

To date, Čilić has won 12 ATP singles titles, his career-high singles ranking is world No. 9, achieved on 22 February 2010. Čilić first came to international prominence by defeating then world No. 2 Andy Murray in the fourth round of the 2009 US Open. He followed this by reaching the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open. Čilić was also a quarterfinalist at 2014 Wimbledon. Čilić developed his career at a young age; his potential was realized by local hometown coaches who saw him play and encouraged his move to Zagreb for further training.He was soon befriended by his fellow countryman Goran Ivanišević who introduced him to coach Bob Brett. He turned professional in 2005. Category h2g2 - Tennis - the Men's Singles Final, Wimbledon 2001 - Edited Entry Wimbledon 2001 came to a thrilling end on a third Monday with the Men's Singles Final. Already being hailed as one of the most recent 'classic' matches, it was played out between two players who had never won Wimbledon before.

The Players The Good, the Bad, and the Emergency Goran Ivanisevic , aged 29 (unseeded, ranked 125th in the world, from Croatia), was already a veteran of three Wimbledon finals; those in 1992, 1994 and 1998. He is generally regarded as one of the last great personalities of the tennis world, admired for his audacity and shirt-removing victory celebrations 1 , and was already known as 'the best tennis player in the world who has never won a Grand Slam title'. His tennis style is most suited to Wimbledon's grass. He has a rhythmical left-handed serve that makes grown men weep at the baseline, and has been criticised for that fact. John McEnroe 2 had reportedly said in the BBC commentary box that Ivanisevic was a 'one-shot wonder', insinuating that the only real aspect of his game was his serve. Ivanisevic returned (no pun intended) by saying that McEnroe had been 'bulls***ting' many other players via his commentary, and if he was indeed that, he would have to be a genius to reach the final with only one shot.

McEnroe denies ever saying any words to that effect, but did say while commentating this final, 'I don't think it's earth shattering news that his serve is his biggest weapon'. A Jekyll and Hyde player, Ivanisevic can show Bjorn Borg -like coolness in delivering aces and amazing shots, and yet throw tantrums of unbelievable passion which rival McEnroe's, all in one match. In one such match - the first round of the Samsung Open in Brighton, 2000 - he smashed up three of his racquets. He then had to default from not only the match, but also the whole tournament as he had no racquets left. Inconsistently brilliant, he mixes up clever volleying 3 and whippy passing shots with exhibitionist shots, sloppy returns and rushed serves. Despite being 'nasty/nice/emergency 4 Goran' on court, he is a well-humoured, self-deprecating person, and very amusing in interview. He also claims to watch the Teletubbies to calm his nerves before a match. In this tournament, he had been offered a wild-card 5 .

He was not really expected to get very far, and was surprised to get as far as the third round. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Patrick Rafter, aged 28 (seeded 3rd, ranked 6th in the world, from Australia), had already won two Grand Slams; the 1997 and 1998 US Opens. John McEnroe had described Rafter as being a 'one-Slam wonder' after his 1997 US Open win, to which Rafter replied by retaining the title in 1998. He was the runner-up to Pete Sampras ' Champion in 2000, in a final that ran to four sets in rapidly fading light. Vowing to come back to win the title in 2001, he entered the match as favourite by a small margin. With a distinctive right-handed kick serve, he too serves up his fair share of aces. He is also regarded as being the most athletic serve-volleyer in the game. The more consistent of the finalists, he is able to keep a level head throughout a match, and hold his nerve. Despite this, his serving action has been his only main problem.

He tosses the ball back over his head, causing him to bend his upper body far back and swing it whole into the serve. Although this gives him much of the devastating power in his serve, it has also given him many back, wrist and shoulder problems. In 1999, he had to have surgery on his right shoulder. This may have played a part in his surprising declaration that he would give up tennis after this Wimbledon. He is, in British eyes, a typical Australian male; loved by the ladies for his rugged good looks and generosity; admired by the blokes for his dedication to his sport and his profanity-spattered talking. He is well humoured yet viciously cutting in interview; for instance, he describes fellow countryman Lleyton Hewitt 6 as 'that little b*****d' in normal conversation, and 'that little b****r' when he is pleased with Lleyton's play. When asked what his family would be thinking after his semi-final win against Agassi, he replied 'They couldn't give a s**t'.

Both men desperately wanted to win, Ivanisevic having said in interview that 'I already have three plates 7 , I don't want another one...' and Rafter having said that he would retire. Both men were closely matched in ability and game style. No one could possibly have said for certain who would win the match. The Match This entry only considers the more memorable aspects of this match. For a more detailed, game-by-game synopsis, read the BBC's analysis: Gamewatch: Ivanisevic v Rafter . The Crowd The All-England Club do not give refunds on rain-delayed matches. As a result, all seats (including corporate-reserved hospitality seats) bought originally for the Sunday scheduled Men's Final were invalid on the Monday, and all the seats for the rescheduled Monday Men's Final were open to the queuing public. Hence, this became 'People's Monday', and was in part responsible for the football-like atmosphere. There were quite a few Australian people there, including the whole of the Australian cricket team. The Croatian support base was, in number, slightly smaller, but made up for it in voice. Otherwise, the crowd resembled a Davis Cup tie, in that it was split 50-50.

The crowd did seem to prove decisive, as the electric atmosphere that they created lifted the players to play truly cliffhanger tennis. The tense atmosphere created did seem to get to the players occasionally, and was in part responsible for 'The Incident' (see below). Regardless, without a crowd like this, the match would not have been nearly as exciting. These were vociferous supporters, but ones who were also well behaved. The honking of horns and energetic cheering was markedly contrasted by the pin-dropping silence when players went up to serve. Anyone who rudely interrupted the players whilst in their serve action were not only told quite frankly by the other 13,999 people in the Centre Court crowd to be quiet, they were also glared down by the recipient of the serve. Supporters of both camps cheered not only their own when a point was won, but the other player with just as much enthusiasm; something, admittedly, which would not have happened had the British player, Tim Henman, qualified instead of Ivanisevic. Sets One, Two and Three Ivanisevic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Rafter Unusually for a final, none of these sets reaches the tie-break stage.

Instead, they are totally symmetrical, in that whoever serves first takes the set. It is also about this time when both the crowd and the players realise that this is a far from straightforward match, with anyone getting so much as a toe in the other player's service game being in with a chance. Set Four at Ivanisevic 1-2 Rafter... Ivanisevic is up two sets to one, and either gets bored or feels crazy, because he plays a crowd pleasing between the legs shot. Suffice to say, he is 40-Love up, and despite losing that point, wins that game. The tension is now audibly and visibly escalating. ... and at Ivanisevic 2-4 Rafter, 'The Incident': Not only that, in serving for his third game at advantage Rafter, Ivanisevic makes his first foot-fault of the tournament, and then his second serve down the middle goes wide. Enter 'Nasty' Goran, who makes his first appearance of the match.

He now completely loses it, throws his racquet down, kicks the net, launches into a tirade of swearing, pleads to the umpire to overrule, appears to spit at the lineswoman who made the call for foot-fault, and looking as if he would hit a ball at the linesman who made the call on his second serve. All this while the crowd is booing him. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't pick himself up to break back in that set, and Rafter, the much cooler of the two, wins the set 2-6. Set Five... Both players are two sets apiece. The crowd is so tense that many cannot bear to watch. This set is scene to some truly sublime, nail-biting tennis, Ivanisevic picking himself up after that foot-fault incident. ... at 5-6: Rafter, coolly, plays two unbelievable drop volleys reminiscent of McEnroe in his prime 8 , and with some fantastic serving, wins the game. ... at 8-7: However, both hold serve magnificently in the very tense atmosphere and all are square at seven games all, with Rafter to serve.

With so little between them, it is, at this point, impossible to say who would come out the winner. Rafter serves, faults, and then serves a slower second serve in, which Ivanisevic tears into with a cross-court forehand, breaking his serve. Ivanisevic goes into his next service game serving for the match. ... and at 9-7, 'The Game': Far from straightforward, Ivanisevic seems to be rushing at his serves, eager to get it over and done with. On the other side of the net, Rafter seems slightly down-heartened, yet still determined to break back to square all again. As a result, the game reaches deuce. Ivanisevic then serves ace, then double-faults, and then an ace, creating an insurmountable tension in Centre Court. Rafter then finally manages to make a great return, Ivanisevic replies with a fantastic volley, and then Rafter creates an even better lob that sails over Ivanisevic's head to land in, returning the game to deuce.

Ivanisevic then faults again, and sends a relatively slow second serve to Rafter, who may perhaps be letting the tension get to him, returns down the line, but sends it just wide. Ivanisevic then looks up, maybe for some divine intervention, and prays on the spot where the ball went wide and returns to serve yet another double-fault. By this time, Centre Court, and several million television viewers really cannot bear to watch, many covering their faces, others still shouting encouragement. Ivanisevic serves, faults, and sends a slower second serve over, to which Rafter returns too low, and puts it in the net. Ivanisevic looks to the heavens again, and serves, putting it in the net. The second serve lands in, and Rafter returns, again, too low, and unfortunately for him, puts it in the net. Arguably, these are the longest four minutes of the match. The Result Match Statistics taken from The Times Sports Supplement , 10 July 2001: Match time: 3 hours, 1 minute. Not Impossible, Just Very Improbable When they opened the gates last Monday something was shining... something special happened.

I don't know what it was but I wish it happened every week. - Goran Ivanisevic attempts to explain his spectacular return to form. ... it was a good final and an amazing atmosphere... I don't know if Wimbledon has ever seen anything like it and I don't think it will again - it was electric. That's what we play for and it was so much fun. - Pat Rafter, on the crowd and the atmosphere in Centre Court. Tight down to the line, the match could have gone either way, and it was unfortunate that there had to be only one winner, as both played the match of their lives. Both had also dispelled the myth that so called 'power players' 9 of the post wooden-racquet era can't play delicate, exciting tennis, with wonderfully crafted volleys, and gentle, trickling taps over the net. No one could have really predicted the outcome; this Researcher thought when Ivanisevic lost his rag that he had lost his nerve and the match as a result. He surprised all by being a player who, ranked outside the top hundred, could come to Wimbledon and become the first wild-card entrant to win a Grand Slam title.

You have to feel for Rafter, though, who in thanking on Centre Court all those who had helped him get so far, audibly choked back the tears. It would be sad to think that that was the last time that we would see him playing on Centre Court, but it is looking unlikely that he will ever come back to have another go. When in interview, told that he was now part of history, he replied, 'I'm sick of making bloody history' 10 . Both, however, in their determination to win, have created probably the best Men's Singles Final of recent memory. Additional Bits of Trivia Ivanisevic had beaten the tournament record for the most aces served in Wimbledon - 213 in his race to the final, compared to 206, his previous record in 1992. The nearest rival to this record is Pete Sampras, who served up 94 aces in this tournament. Unusually for a final, all the sets, except for Set Five, took the same time to complete; about 30 minutes each.

Looking at the match statistics, Rafter outperforms Ivanisevic on every aspect of tennis except in three respects - total points won, speed of serve and aces served. Rafter had cut his trademark 'surfer dude' hair for this tournament, revealing a small, yet quite noticeable white patch. This has earned him the nickname of 'Skunk' among his fans. Ivanisevic has a tattoo of a cross entwined with a rose and a shark on his back. In his own words, 'The cross is a Cross, the rose is for love, and the shark is a mean, mean animal. Altogether, that's me.' Rafter was in the top ten Sexy Men in America's People magazine, November 1997. Ivanisevic dedicated his win to a friend of his, Drazen Petrovic, a basketball player in the Jersey Nets, who died in a car crash in 1993. 1 See post-Rusedski and post-Safin matches in this tournament. This didn't happen after the Henman match or in this Final as he was running out of shirts.

2 The man who has probably defined the tennis tantrum with the four words, 'You cannot be serious!', joined the BBC's tennis commentary team in 2000, and has lent his brutally honest comments to the commentary box. As expected, like his antics on-court, it was not without controversy. 3 For definitions of the tennis terms used in this entry, see this Tennis Glossary . 4 This is the Goran when at Love-30 down and in real trouble, starts hammering down the aces. 5 The wild-card system has been in place since 1977. The All-England Club invites players to apply for a wild card, that enables the players to bypass the qualifying system. They may or may not get one at the discretion of the Club, based on past performance and British interest. 6 A young rising Australian tennis star most famous for beating Sampras at the Final of Queens, 2000, and widely considered to be the next Aussie, after Pat Rafter, with the best chances of winning Wimbledon. 7 The runner-up's trophy is an inscribed silver plate.

8 Pat Cash, the last Australian to win the Men's Title, said in the BBC's post-match analysis, Today at Wimbledon, that to play those shots in a Grand Slam Final you would have to be either 'completely insane or brilliant'. Then turned to McEnroe and said 'I know why you did it; it's because you're insane.' 9 Those who reduce the sport to its crudest elements; the powerful serve, the punch volley and aggressive groundstrokes. The result is the current crass tedium of the modern game. Such a protagonist is Pete Sampras, whose matches, in many people's opinion, are slightly less exciting than watching paint dry. 10 This is a reference to being Sampras' foil last year. Upon winning, Sampras then became the only male singles tennis player to have won 13 Grand Slam titles.

Ranking the 10 Most Iconic Moments in Wimbledon History | Bleacher Report Ranking the 10 Most Iconic Moments in Wimbledon History By Jake Curtis , Featured Columnist Jul 8, 2015 Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow Ian Walton/Getty Images 7 Comments With most of the favorites still in contention in this year's Wimbledon, a memorable moment may be in store. But will it match some of the most iconic moments in Wimbledon history? We limited our rankings to the Open Era, because many of the earlier noteworthy occurrences are known to us only by reputation or through books. Many of us witnessed the iconic Wimbledon events in the Open Era, allowing us to relive those unforgettable bits of history in our mind's eye. A number of iconic events that did not quite make our list deserve mention.

They include the sixth Wimbledon meeting of the Williams sisters this year, the championship run of 17-year-old, unseeded Boris Becker in 1985, the female streaker who made an appearance on Centre Court just before the 1996 final, Steffi Graf's 1988 victory that was part of her Grand Slam year, Cliff Richard singing "Singin' in the Rain" on Centre Court during a 1996 rain delay and Rod Laver's triumph in the very first open Wimbledon in 1968. Our list of the 10 most iconic moments in Wimbledon history is based on a subjective ranking of the images and occurrences that are most deeply etched into our minds, hoping to identify the events that will be discussed for years to come. 10. Sampras' Unceremonious Exit, 2002 Associated Press Champions are supposed to go out on top. However, it is often more memorable if they depart in anguish. Pete Sampras won seven Wimbledon titles, tied for the most in history, and he never lost a Wimbledon final. He and Roger Federer are the undisputed kings of the All England Club in the Open Era.

Sampras had won four straight Wimbledon titles from 1997 through 2000, and his five-set, fourth-round loss to Federer in 2001 was hardly an embarrassing experience. But Sampras' final match at the All England Club was a sad affair. His second-round contest of the 2002 Wimbledon took place not on Centre Court but on Court No. 2, a cramped stadium that is called the "Graveyard of Champions." The 30-year-old Sampras was the No. 6 seed and still a major threat on grass. He was expected to handle an unknown named George Bastl with ease. Bastl was ranked No. 145, not high enough to get entry into Wimbledon without going through qualifying rounds. He then failed to qualify, but got into the main draw as a "lucky loser" because someone had withdrawn with an injury. Bastl won the first two sets, but Sampras charged back to win the next two, perhaps motivated by a note from his wife that he read during changeovers, according to the Telegraph. Sampras seemed destined for an amazing comeback that would add to his Wimbledon legend.

Instead, Sampras dropped the final set and lost, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4. As Bastl tossed wristbands into the crowd, the stunned Sampras stayed seated for several minutes before walking off, head down. Bastl lost 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 to David Nalbandian in the next round and never won another match in a Grand Slam event. In his last attempt to reach the main draw of a major, Bastl lost in the first round of qualifying for the 2009 U.S. Open, falling to 160th-ranked Roko Karanusic 6-0, 6-0. After losing to Bastl, Sampras insisted he would return to Wimbledon the next year. He won the U.S. Open later that year for his 14th and final Grand Slam singles title, but he never played singles at Wimbledon again. 9. The 70-68 Set, 2010 Alastair Grant/Associated Press Seldom does a first-round match between players ranked outside the top 15 stay locked in the memory banks.

That is especially true when the match is played on Court 18 at the All England Club, far away from the hub of action, in a space that accommodates no more than 782 spectators. But the 2010 Wimbledon matchup of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut was like no other tennis match at any tournament before or since. Not surprisingly, Isner, who was ranked No. 19 at the time, prevailed over 148th-ranked Nicolas Mahut. The score was what made the match iconic. Isner won 6–4, 3–6, 6–7, 7–6, 70–68 The fifth-set score is not a misprint. It was indeed 70-68. To say it was the longest match in history is an understatement. The 138 games and the eight hours and 11 minutes used to play the final set alone were both far more than had been compiled in any previous match in history. The fifth set had to be suspended twice because of darkness. By the calendar, the match lasted three days. By the stopwatch, the match lasted 11 hours and five minutes.

By the time the match was suspended for the second day with the two tied at 59-59 in the final set, it was receiving worldwide attention. The scoreboard could not handle it, malfunctioning at one point in the fifth set. When Isner finally broke serve in the 138th game of the fifth set, the two had played 980 points, including 215 aces (112 by Isner, 103 by Mahut). They had held serve in 180 of 183 games. The tennis itself was not particularly entertaining, but the sheer length of the match made it remarkable theater. Mahut later wrote a book about the event titled The Match of my Life (La Match de Ma Vie). And it could only happen at Wimbledon, which refuses to use a tiebreaker in the ultimate set. 8. Novotna Gets a Shoulder to Cry On, 1993 Chris Cole/Getty Images The way Jana Novotna lost the 1993 Wimbledon final, simply choking away a sizable lead against Steffi Graf, made that match noteworthy.

However, the iconic moment came during the awards ceremony afterward, as a member of British royalty comforted the loser during an outpouring of personal anguish. Novotna, the No. 8 seed, had upset Martina Navratilova in the semifinals, and seemed on the verge of knocking off defending champion Graf in the final. Novotna had won the second set easily and rolled to a 4-1, 40-30 lead while serving in the third set. Novotna then double-faulted, lost the game and never completely recovered. Novotna lost five straight games and was defeated 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 by Graf, who won her third straight Wimbledon title. The 24-year-old Novotna, who had frittered away a chance for her first Grand Slam singles crown, was crushed. When Novotna accepted the runner-up trophy from the Duchess of Kent, Novotna literally put her head on the Duchess' shoulder and openly wept, as the Duchess tenderly caressed the crestfallen runner-up.

There was nothing contrived about the actions of the Duchess, who put her hand around Novotna's neck as naturally and tenderly as she would her own child at home. Watch a video of the match and the award ceremony here and see if you can hold back tears. By the way, Novotna won her one and only Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1998. The Duchess of Kent presented her with the winner's trophy. 7. Murray Ends the Drought, 2013 Alastair Grant/Associated Press The drought was noted in other countries, but it was a major issue to British fans. Just as Boston baseball fans had bemoaned the fact that the Red Sox had not won a World Series since 1918, British tennis fans lamented the fact that no British male had won a Wimbledon singles title since 1936. Andy Murray of Scotland, the best British hope in years, had lost to Roger Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final. The pressure on Murray from his home country to win Wimbledon was mounting as he entered his final-round match against Novak Djokovic in 2013.

You can get a taste of that pressure from this ESPN video . The misery ended for Red Sox fans in 2004. For British tennis fans, the 77-year wait ended in 2013, when Murray won the Wimbledon title by beating Djokovic in straight sets. As the BBC report on the match noted, "Murray was willed on by the majority of the 15,000 spectators on Centre Court, thousands watching on the nearby big screen and millions more around the country." The Guardian put it this way: "It was one of those moments that will forever be bathed in a glow of palpable warmth, from the crowd and the skies above the opened roof of Centre Court." It is probably no coincidence that Murray became so occupied by requests and publicity in the aftermath of that victory that he failed to reach the final in any of his next five Grand Slam events and got to the semifinals of only one of them. 6. Ivanisevic and the Centre Court Zoo, 2001 DAVE CAULKIN/Associated Press Three factors combined to make the 2001 men's final one of the most fascinating tennis events in history.

First of all, the atmosphere was unlike any seen at Wimbledon before or since. Rain had postponed the final from Sunday to Monday. As a result, 10,000 tickets were handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, giving the common man a chance to get a seat at Centre Court. People who had camped out overnight waited in a line that was miles long to get one of the tickets. It provided a very different kind of crowd from what the staid grounds of the All England Club were used to. Centre Court was more like a zoo, with banners, flags and colorful clothing featured in a crowd that was boisterous throughout with partisan sections for each player. The Guardian called it "a football-style crowd" and noted, "The All England Club has never seen anything like it." The second factor was that the final between Goran Ivanisevic and Pat Rafter was absolutely riveting, with the loud crowd riding every wave in the back-and-forth match. Rafter saved three match points in the final set, but Ivanisevic ultimately prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7.

The third and final element was the shocking victory by Ivanisevic. A three-time Wimbledon finalist who had never won a Grand Slam singles title, Ivanisevic had virtually faded out of sight at the age of 29 in 2001. Bothered by shoulder problems for the better part of two years, he was ranked 125th at the time and needed a wild-card entry just to get into the Wimbledon main draw. He had lost in the first round in four of his five tournaments immediately before Wimbledon, including three losses to players ranked outside the top 80. Somehow he found the magic at Wimbledon, beating British favorite Tim Henman in five sets in the semifinals before closing out Rafter in another five-setter to become the first wild-card entrant to win Wimbledon. It was Ivanisevic's only Grand Slam singles title. 5. Martina's No. 9, 1990 Bob Martin/Getty Images Martina Navratilova did not care much for records. Seldom does she mention what is probably her most impressive accomplishment: the 74-match winning streak. However, she did care about one mark: most Wimbledon singles titles.

“I wanted the record, no doubt about it,” Navratilova told the Telegraph years later. “I was lucky enough to set a few records in my career, but they just happened because I played well for a long time, but when I realized I was in with a chance of breaking the Wimbledon singles record, it became a big goal of mine." Navratilova won her first Wimbledon singles crown in 1978 at the age of 21. She won her eighth in 1987, tying the record set by Helen Wills Moody in 1938. Navratilova lost in the final to Steffi Graf in 1988 and 1989, and she was running out of time to capture that elusive ninth crown. The 1990 Wimbledon was seen to be her last opportunity. She no longer dominated women's tennis. Three years and 10 Grand Slam events had passed without Navratilova winning a title in a major. And she was 33 years old. There was also the matter of her knees. "I was playing some of my best tennis on grass that summer, but I was pretty concerned about my knees," Navratilova told the Telegraph .

“I would wake up in the morning not knowing if they would be OK or not. Five months after Wimbledon, just before the big end-of-the-year tournament, they locked really badly and I had to go into hospital for an operation." Navratilova not only won the 1990 Wimbledon for her record ninth title, but she had one of the most dominating performances of her career. She did not come close to losing a set in her run to the championship. Zina Garrison, who had done Navratilova a favor by beating Graf in the semifinals, was no match for Navratilova in the final. "She really believes this is her court and that no one can take it away from her," said Garrison, according to ESPN.com , after Navratilova handed her a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. Four years later, at the age of 37, Navratilova reached the Wimbledon singles final again, only to lose in three sets to Conchita Martinez. Had she won title No. 10, that moment might rank as the most iconic moment in Wimbledon history.

The 1990 Wimbledon crown was Navratilova's final major title, but it made her the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles event, a mark Serena Williams would break if she wins Wimbledon this year. 4. You Cannot Be Serious, 1981 Peter Kemp/Associated Press It's not poetry worthy of Frost or Whitman, but John McEnroe's outburst directed at the elderly chair umpire during a 1981 Wimbledon first-round match may be the most famous on-court quote in tennis history. "You can't be serious, man. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up. It was clearly in. How can you possibly call that out? He's walking over. Everybody knows it's in in the whole stadium. And you call it out? (Pause) You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?" Chair umpire Edward James hit McEnroe with a penalty point. That tirade obscured the fact that McEnroe would go on to win the Wimbledon title that year, beating Bjorn Borg in the final to end Borg's five-year run as champion.

Trivia question: Who was McEnroe's opponent in that first-round match? Only the dedicated tennis fan knows it was Tom Gullikson, who would lose the match in straight sets. A 2011 story in the Telegraph reported that fans in 2010 voted McEnroe's rant as their top Wimbledon moment of all time. 3. Ashe's Upset, 1975 Associated Press Jimmy Connors was considered almost unbeatable in 1975, especially on grass. He had beaten Ken Rosewall in the final of the 1974 Wimbledon 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 and had crushed Rosewall again in the final of the 1974 U.S. Open (then played on grass) 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. Although he had lost in the final of the 1975 Australian Open to John Newcombe, the top-seeded, 22-year-old Connors was at the top of his game at Wimbledon that year, reaching the final without the loss of a set. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Arthur Ashe seemed to be past his prime.

He had won the 1968 U.S. Open and the 1970 Australian Open but had not gone past the quarterfinals of a major since reaching the final of the 1972 U.S. Open. Ashe, the No. 6 seed, made his way to the 1975 Wimbledon final, but it had been a struggle. He had to go five sets to get past No. 16-seeded Tony Roche in the semifinals. Not only was Connors an overwhelming favorite against Ashe, but Connors was a prohibitive 9-10 favorite to win in straight sets, according to an ESPN.com article on the match. Adding to the flavor of the match was the fact that the quiet, gentlemanly Ashe and the young, brash Connors were not friends. Just two weeks earlier, Connors had announced a $5 million libel suit against Ashe for criticizing Connors' decision not to play for the U.S. Davis Cup team. Connors was expected to take his anger out on Ashe, who wore his USA Davis Cup jacket during the warm-up for the match. However, Ashe had a strategy that minimized Connors' effectiveness.

Ashe used dinks, chips, lobs and short angles to blunt Connors' powerful groundstrokes. Ashe recalled his approach in a 2010 article in the Telegraph: "The plan was that if I got into a rally from the baseline, I had to hit the ball with no pace, with underspin and down the middle to land around the T junction so he would have to come into the court and, with his very flat strokes, would have to hit up on the ball, wouldn’t be able to hit it hard and so would have to compromise.” Ashe not only won, but he won decisively, 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, for one of the most shocking upsets in a Wimbledon final. The match was also historically significant, as Ashe became the first (and still the only) African American male to win Wimbledon. It was Ashe's final Grand Slam singles title, and the match became even more iconic when Ashe tragically died at the age of 49 after contracting HIV from a blood transfusion during heart surgery. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously by President Bill Clinton for his humanitarian work. 2.

The Nadal-Federer Classic, 2008 Ian Walton/Getty Images Often called the greatest tennis match in history, Rafael Nadal's 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 victory over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final featured the added dramatic elements of two rain delays and a finish that was shrouded in darkness. ESPN proclaimed it the most memorable Wimbledon final in the Open Era, and L. Jon Wertheim wrote a book about it titled, Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and Greatest Match Ever Played. The drama for the 2008 match had been building for two years. Federer beat Nadal in four sets in the 2006 Wimbledon final and outlasted him again in five riveting sets at the All England Club climax in 2007.

As the New York Times noted after the 2008 epic, "Last year’s emotional tussle immediately took its place among the best Wimbledon finals, but this five-set classic—played on a rainy, gusty day—was better yet." Heading into the 2008 final, Federer had not lost a match at the All England Club since 2002 and was shooting for his sixth straight Wimbledon crown. Nadal, already known as the king of clay, had been getting better on grass year by year and was finally in position to beat the man who had ruled grass-court tennis for years. The tennis was of the highest caliber as the No. 1 and 2 players in the world tried to establish dominance with their contrasting styles. In the engrossing fourth-set tiebreaker, Federer fought off a pair of match points against him, the latter on a breathtaking backhand passing shot. Federer won the tiebreaker 10-8 to even the match, but Nadal ultimately prevailed to earn his first Wimbledon title. The match lasted four hours and 48 minutes, the longest singles final in Wimbledon history, and ended at 9:16 p.m. local time.

By then darkness was starting to descend on the Centre Court, and there was little natural light for the award ceremonies as the flash bulbs of cameras illuminated the night. 1. The Borg-McEnroe Tiebreaker, 1980 Adam Stoltman/Associated Press The 18-16, fourth-set tiebreaker in the 1981 Wimbledon final may have been the most riveting 22 minutes in tennis history. The contrasting styles and personalities of the participants made it an enthralling matchup from the start: No. 1-ranked Bjorn Borg—the cool, stoic Swede with the breathtaking groundstrokes—was up against No. 2-ranked John McEnroe—the loud, combative American with the masterful serve-and-volley game. The appeal of the Borg-McEnroe matchup went far beyond the confines of the tennis world. After McEnroe cruised through the first set, Borg won the next two and let a double match point slip away while serving at 5-4, 40-15 in the fourth set. Each held serve one more time to force the tiebreaker.

The drama already present when the tiebreaker began seemed to build with each point, as the decider went on and on. The pair changed sides five times during the tiebreaker, and they even forgot to change when it hit 15-15. You could feel the tension in the crowd increase with every winner and every error. Borg had five match points in the tiebreaker and McEnroe had six set points before he captured the fourth set on his seventh set-point opportunity when Borg netted an easy forehand volley. Despite losing the 34-point tiebreaker, Borg rallied to win the fifth set and the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16-18), 8-6 for his fifth straight Wimbledon crown. Borg was just a month past his 24th birthday and he had just won his 10th Grand Slam singles title. Astonishingly, he would win just one more major, the 1981 French Open.

It is worth noting that the dramatic 1980 tiebreaker that defined the Borg-McEnroe rivalry could not have occurred in the fifth set, as Wimbledon does not utilize a tiebreaker in the fifth set of men's matches. Whether the 1980 final was the greatest Wimbledon match in history is open for debate, but the legend of that 22-minute tiebreaker stands alone.

Question: Who is the lowest ranked man to win the men?s singles title at Wimbledon, he was 125th when he won in 2001?
Answer: Goran Ivanisevic