2007 WIMBLEDON

THE LAWN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s Tournament Preview

Wimbledon 2007 sees the 121st staging of The Lawn Tennis Championships, which began in 1877 with Britain’s Spencer Gore defeating compatriot William Marshall 61 62 64 for the inaugural title. This is the 40th staging of The Championships in the Open Era, the first being in 1968 when Australia’s Rod Laver defeated countryman Tony Roche 63 64 62. Wimbledon 2007 is the 158th Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era.

POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY.... The following is a breakdown of the individual prize money and ATP Ranking points for the men’s singles competition at 2007 Wimbledon. The total prize money for the men’s singles is £3,727,400. There is equal prize money in the men’s and women’s events for the first time this year.

FEDERER BIDS FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE TITLE…. Top seed Roger Federer is bidding to become the fourth player in Wimbledon history to win the men’s singles title for five successive years. He won the 2003 title as No. 4 seed, defeating Mark Philippoussis 76 62 76 in the final. As No. 1 seed, he has defended his title for the last three years: in 2004 defeating Andy Roddick 46 75 76 64 in the final; in 2005 again defeating Roddick 62 76 64; and in 2006 defeating Rafael Nadal 60 76 67 63.

Only seven men in history have won five or more consecutive titles at one Grand Slam event, and Bjorn Borg is the only player to have achieved this feat in the Open Era. Borg was also the last man to win five consecutive Wimbledon titles, the Swede collecting all five of his trophies at the All England Club in 1976-80.

Five or more successive titles at one Grand Slam event (all time)

             Richard Sears                 US championships                      1881-87 (7 straight titles)

             William Renshaw            Wimbledon                                   1881-86 (6 straight titles)

             Bill Tilden                         US championships                      1920-25 (6 straight titles)

             Laurie Doherty                 Wimbledon                                   1902-06 (5 straight titles)         

             William Larned                US championships                      1907-11 (5 straight titles)

             Roy Emerson                  Australian championships           1963-67 (5 straight titles)         

             Bjorn Borg                       Wimbledon                                   1976-80 (5 straight titles)

Federer is one of eight men in history to win at least four Wimbledon titles in his career, whether consecutive or otherwise. He is now bidding to become just the fifth man in history to win five career Wimbledon titles. Borg and Sampras are the only men to win five here in the Open Era, Sampras going on to win seven titles.

Most Wimbledon titles (all time)

NUMBER 11 FOR FEDERER?…. If Roger Federer does win his fifth successive Wimbledon title, he would move into even more exclusive company on the Grand Slam title leaderboard. Four men have 11 or more Grand Slam titles to their names.

All-time Grand Slam title leaders

NO GRASS COURT WARM-UP FOR FEDERER.... Federer arrives at 2007 Wimbledon having not played a grass court tournament ahead of The Championships for the first time in his career (having made his debut here in 1999). The Swiss has not played an official match on grass in 2007 after withdrawing from his usual warm-up event, Halle, citing fatigue.

The last man to win Wimbledon without playing a grass court tournament ahead of The Championships was Andre Agassi in 1992.

Pete Sampras played a grass court warm-up event ahead of all seven of his Wimbledon triumphs. The only year in his entire career that he did not play a warm-up event, in 1996, Sampras failed to win the Wimbledon title, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Richard Krajicek.

Federer won the title in Halle before each of his Wimbledon victories in the last four years. These four back-to-back Halle and Wimbledon titles account for his record 48-match grass court winning streak, still active ahead of the first round here. Federer established his new Open Era record streak on the surface in the first round at 2006 Wimbledon, breaking Bjorn Borg’s previous mark of 41 straight grass court match wins. Federer’s last grass court defeat was in the first round of 2002 Wimbledon, when he lost to qualifier Mario Ancic 63 76 63. (Ancic is missing this year’s Wimbledon due to glandular fever.)

GRASS COURT WINNERS LOOKING TO MAINTAIN FORM.... For the past five years, the Wimbledon champion has warmed up for the Championships by winning one of the pre-Wimbledon grass court titles.

If Federer goes on to win his fifth straight Wimbledon title this year, this pattern will be broken, the world No. 1 having sat out the pre-Wimbledon grass court season this year as detailed above after winning both Halle and Wimbledon 2003-06. Prior to that, in 2002, Lleyton Hewitt won Queen’s Club before triumphing at the All England Club.

Andy Roddick and Tomas Berdych won the first two of this year’s grass court titles, Roddick collecting his fourth Queen’s Club title and Berdych his first grass court title at Halle.

This is the first period since the early 1980s that the pre-Wimbledon grass court events have acted as such a reliable form guide. Then, the champion at London’s Queen’s Club went on to win Wimbledon four times in five years:

            John McEnroe             1981 Queen’s Club and Wimbledon champion

            Jimmy Connors          1982 Queen’s Club and Wimbledon champion

            John McEnroe             1983 Queen’s Club finalist and Wimbledon champion

            John McEnroe             1984 Queen’s Club and Wimbledon champion

            Boris Becker               1985 Queen’s Club and Wimbledon champion

Between 1985 and 2002, only one player, Pete Sampras, champion at Queen’s Club in 1995 and 1999, won a pre-Wimbledon grass court title and Wimbledon itself in the same year.

While the winners at Queen’s Club and Halle have fared well here in the last six years, no winner of Nottingham or ’s-Hertogenbosch has gone beyond the quarterfinals in the same period.

Prior to the completion of 2007 Nottingham and ’s-Hertogenbosch, 11 players in the men’s singles draw have captured at least one grass court title: Tomas Berdych, Jonas Bjorkman, Roger Federer, Richard Gasquet, Robbie Ginepri, Sebastien Grosjean, Lleyton Hewitt, Thomas Johansson, Nicolas Kiefer, Michael Llodra and Andy Roddick. 

The following six players in the draw have won more than one grass court title. (Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors share the all-time Open Era grass court titles record, owning ten each.)

(does not include 2007 Nottingham or ’s-Hertogenbosch)

NADAL ATTEMPTS RARE DOUBLE…. At last year’s Wimbledon, world No. 2 Rafael Nadal became the first Roland Garros champion to reach the final at Wimbledon the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999. The Spaniard’s loss to Federer in the final saw him narrowly miss out on becoming just the third man in the Open Era, after Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, to hold both the Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles the same year. As reigning Roland Garros champion again in 2007, Nadal has another chance to achieve this rare double.

Borg achieved the feat for three years in succession 1978-80, while Laver also did it in 1962, one of eight men to achieve this in the pre-Open Era.

Roland Garros-Wimbledon Double

                                                        1925              Rene Lacoste

   1933              Jack Crawford

       1935              Fred Perry

                                                        1938              Don Budge

   1950              Budge Patty

       1955              Tony Trabert

                                                        1956              Lew Hoad

                                                        1962,1969     Rod Laver

1978-80                  Bjorn Borg

SANTORO PLAYING 60TH SLAM…. Andre Agassi’s record number of Open Era Grand Slam appearances ended at 61 when he retired at last year’s US Open. Chasing that record is Fabrice Santoro, now second on the list for most majors played - the 34-year-old Frenchman will contest his 60th Grand Slam event at 2007 Wimbledon. Santoro is also playing his 36th consecutive Grand Slam event here (see second table below).

Players at 2007 Wimbledon in bold (totals include this event)

MOST CONSECUTIVE SLAMS PLAYED…. Dominik Hrbaty has the longest streak of consecutive Slams of any active player, and that streak is still alive through 2007 Wimbledon. This will be his 43rd straight major. Rainer Schuettler’s streak ended at 33 when he failed to qualify for this year’s Roland Garros.

Players at 2007 Wimbledon in bold

* denotes a streak which is active through 2007 Wimbledon

MOST CONSECUTIVE WIMBLEDON APPEARANCES…. Jimmy Connors has made the most consecutive singles appearances at Wimbledon in the Open Era, appearing here every year from 1972 until 1989. He also hold the record for most total singles appearances at Wimbledon in the Open Era, playing here for the 21^st time in 1992. Brit Greg Rusedski’s streak of Wimbledon appearances stopped at 14 in 2006, following his retirement in April this year.

DEFENDING THE TITLE.… Following Roger Federer’s successful third defence last year, seven players have now successfully defended their Wimbledon crown on a total of 16 occasions. In 2004, Federer became the seventh player to defend his Wimbledon men’s singles title in the Open Era.

The last five Grand Slam tournaments have all seen successful defences, going back to Rafael Nadal winning his second consecutive Roland Garros title in 2006. This represents the longest streak of successful Grand Slam title defences in the Open Era. Previously, the longest streak of defences of major titles was four, which occurred twice: from Guillermo Vilas defending his Australian Open title in 1979 through John McEnroe’s defence of his Wimbledon crown in 1980; and from Boris Becker’s defence at Wimbledon in 1986 through Ivan Lendl’s defence of his Roland Garros title in 1987.

Wimbledon champions have had more success in defending their titles than at the other three Grand Slam events. [See table overleaf.]

In 2003, Lleyton Hewitt became the first Wimbledon defending champion in the Open Era to lose in the first round, falling to Ivo Karlovic 16 76 63 64. The defending champion has lost in the Wimbledon first round only twice in history, the first time being in 1967, when 1966 champion Manuel Santana lost to Charlie Pasarell 108 63 26 86.

Among all four Grand Slam tournaments, a defending champion has lost in the first round four times. It has happened twice at the Australian Open, in December 1977, when Roscoe Tanner fell to Chris Lewis 36 63 62 16 64, and in 1997, when Boris Becker lost to Carlos Moya 57 76 36 61 64. At the 1999 US Open, 1998 champion Patrick Rafter lost in the first round to Cedric Pioline 46 46 63 75 10 ret. when a shoulder injury forced him to retire after losing the first game of the fifth set.

Wimbledon defence attempts

EIGHT GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS IN MAIN DRAW…. Eight of the ten active Grand Slam tournament champions appear in the 2007 Wimbledon main draw. Two of these, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt, are former Wimbledon champions.

2004 Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio withdrew from this year’s Wimbledon, while three-time Roland Garros champion Gustavo Kuerten, coming back from hip surgery, is not ranked high enough for this year’s tournament.

There are 49 members of the club of Open Era Grand Slam tournament singles titleists: Andre Agassi (USA), Arthur Ashe (USA), Boris Becker (GER), Bjorn Borg (SWE), Sergi Bruguera (ESP), Pat Cash (AUS), Michael Chang (USA), Jimmy Connors (USA), Albert Costa (ESP), Jim Courier (USA), Stefan Edberg (SWE), Mark Edmondson (AUS), Roger Federer (SUI), Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP), Gaston Gaudio (ARG), Vitas Gerulaitis (USA), Andres Gimeno (ESP), Andres Gomez (ECU), Lleyton Hewitt (AUS), Goran Ivanisevic (CRO), Thomas Johansson (SWE), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS), Jan Kodes (TCH), Petr Korda (CZE), Richard Krajicek (NED), Johan Kriek (RSA/USA)^, Gustavo Kuerten (BRA), Rod Laver (AUS), Ivan Lendl (TCH), John McEnroe (USA), Carlos Moya (ESP), Thomas Muster (AUT), Rafael Nadal (ESP), Ilie Nastase (ROM), John Newcombe (AUS), Yannick Noah (FRA), Manuel Orantes (ESP), Adriano Panatta (ITA), Patrick Rafter (AUS), Andy Roddick (USA), Ken Rosewall (AUS), Marat Safin (RUS), Pete Sampras (USA), Stan Smith (USA), Michael Stich (GER), Roscoe Tanner (USA), Brian Teacher (USA), Guillermo Vilas (ARG) and Mats Wilander (SWE).

^ -- Johan Kriek was South African when he won the 1981 Australian Open, but he was a naturalized U.S. citizen when he retained the title in 1982.

If anyone is going to win a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, history indicates they are less likely to do so at Wimbledon. In the Open Era, only nine men have notched their first major by winning Wimbledon. Nine men have also won their first major at the Australian Open.

Joining the Grand Slam Tournament title club

THE ‘ONE SLAM WONDER’ CLUB.... There are 22 players in the Open Era who have won a lone Grand Slam tournament singles title. The five active players who can still add to their career totals are as follows - all but Gaston Gaudio are in action at 2007 Wimbledon.

EIGHTEEN OPEN ERA WINNERS…. Of the 49 different Open Era Grand Slam champions, 18 have won Wimbledon at least once. Pete Sampras heads the Open Era list with seven titles.

Player                        Titles          Years

Pete Sampras                 7          1993-95,1997-2000

Bjorn Borg                       5          1976-80

Roger Federer                 4          2003-06      

John McEnroe                 3          1981,1983-84

Boris Becker                    3          1985-86, 1989

Rod Laver                        2          1968-69 (also won in 1961-62)

John Newcombe             2          1970-71 (also won in 1967)

Jimmy Connors               2          1974, 1982             
Stefan Edberg                 2          1988, 1990

Stan Smith                       1          1972

Jan Kodes                       1          1973

Arthur Ashe                      1          1975

Pat Cash                         1          1987

Michael Stich                   1          1991

Andre Agassi                   1          1992

Richard Krajicek              1          1996

Goran Ivanisevic              1          2001

Lleyton Hewitt                  1          2002

GRAND SLAM ACHIEVERS.… The top Open Era Grand Slam win-loss records are as follows (players at 2007 Wimbledon in bold). Roger Federer has now moved up to 11th place on this list.

                                                                   Win-loss              

            Jimmy Connors                             233-49                                

            Andre Agassi                                 224-53

            Ivan Lendl                                       222-49                                

            Pete Sampras                               203-38                                

            Stefan Edberg                                178-47                                

            John McEnroe                                167-38                                

            Boris Becker                                  163-40                                

            Mats Wilander                                144-37                                

            Bjorn Borg                                      141-17                                

            Guillermo Vilas                               139-45                                

            Roger Federer                             125-22                                

            Michael Chang                               120-56                                

            Jim Courier                                    118-38

            Goran Ivanisevic                            110-50                                

            Arthur Ashe**                                 106-28                                

            Lleyton Hewitt                              106-33

            Wayne Ferreira                              104-56                                

            Stan Smith**                                  102-41                                

            Todd Martin                                    102-48

            Yevgeny Kafelnikov                          99-36                                

            Ilie Nastase                                      97-41

            Tim Henman                                   96-47                                

            John Newcombe**                           93-21                                

            Ken Rosewall**                               92-19                                         

** Also played pre-Open Era matches

The leading British player at Grand Slam events in the Open Era is Tim Henman, at 96-47 overall and 42-13 at Wimbledon.

WIMBLEDON ACHIEVERS….   The leading performers at Wimbledon in the Open Era are as follows (players at 2007 Wimbledon in bold). Henman’s record puts him in 10th place.

                                                           Win-loss

            Jimmy Connors                                  84-18

            Boris Becker                                       71-12

            Pete Sampras                                     63-7

            John McEnroe                                     59-11

            Bjorn Borg                                           51-4

            Stefan Edberg                                     49-12

            Goran Ivanisevic                                 49-14

            Ivan Lendl                                            48-14

            Andre Agassi                                       46-12

            Tim Henman                                      42-13

TOP SEED SUCCESS STORY.... Of the 39 Wimbledon championships played since 1968, 17 top seeds have held form and gone on to win the title, including eight of the last ten years. Pete Sampras won six of his seven Wimbledon titles as No. 1 seed, with Lleyton Hewitt successful in 2002 and Roger Federer in the last three years.

In 2003, Lleyton Hewitt became the only No. 1 seed at Wimbledon in the Open Era to lose in the first round, when he was defeated by Croatian qualifier Ivo Karlovic 16 76 63 64.

Performance of top seed at Wimbledon

BEST OF BRITISH.... While British men have won the title here more times (35) than any other nation, it has been 71 years since a British man won his home championship. The last to do so was Fred Perry in 1936. None of the other three Grand Slam tournaments has gone even half as long without a resident national champion.

2005 marked the only time since 1991 that no British man were present in the second week (round of 16) of The Championships. It was also the first time in ten years that four-time semifinalist Tim Henman did not post the best performance by a British man, as Andy Murray marked his Wimbledon debut by reaching the third round. Murray also outperformed Henman at the 2006 tournament, reaching the round of 16 while Henman fell in the second round, but will not get the opportunity to try to do the same this year, having withdrawn from 2007 Wimbledon on the Sunday before the event due to continuing problems with his right wrist. The last British man to reach the Wimbledon singles final was Henry “Bunny” Austin in 1938. Austin lost to Don Budge, the American on his way to tennis’s first Grand Slam, 61 60 63.

Best of the Brits (1992-2006)

FIRST TIMERS.... There are 23 men making their debut appearance at Wimbledon. Of the 23, seven are qualifiers and three are wild cards. While it has never happened in the Open Era, nine men have won the Wimbledon championship in their first appearance. Six women have achieved this feat.

             MEN                                                 WOMEN                                  

             1877            Spencer Gore               1884              Maud Watson

             1878            Patrick Hadow              1887              Lottie Dod

             1879            John Hartley                  1905              May Sutton

             1919            Gerald Patterson          1919              Suzanne Lenglen

             1920            Bill Tilden                      1946              Pauline Betz

             1932            Ellsworth Vines             1952              Maureen Connolly

             1939            Bobby Riggs

             1949            Ted Schroeder

             1951            Dick Savitt

The last Grand Slam tournament champion to win a title on his first appearance at any event was Rafael Nadal at 2005 Roland Garros.

FROM JUNIORS TO MAIN DRAW.... Only four former Wimbledon Junior Boys’ Champions have gone on to win the men's singles title, as follows:

There are four former Wimbledon junior boys' singles champions playing in this year's main draw:

Roger Federer (1998)

Nicholas Mahut (2000)

Gael Monfils (2004)

Thiemo de Bakker (2006)

Nicolas Kiefer (1995), Ivan Ljubicic (1996), Kristian Pless (1999) and Gilles Muller (2001) were all junior boys' finalists here.

WILD CARDS…. Home players have received five of the eight wild cards on offer. Jamie Baker, Richard Bloomfield, Alex Bogdanovic, Joshua Goodall and Jonathan Marray were awarded berths in the main draw. Last year’s junior champion Thiemo de Bakker (NED), Marin Cilic (CRO) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) received the other three wild cards.

COUNTRY COUNTDOWN…. There are 35 countries represented in the men’s singles draw at 2007 Wimbledon, one more than last year. France leads the field with 15 competitors.