6 players who have won more than 5 Wimbledon singles titles ft. Roger Federer and Serena Williams
Wimbledon has been graced by many fine players over the years. The oldest of the four Majors and the only one currently to be played on grasscourt, Wimbledon has a rich history, with many great players winning the tournament.
Since the Open Era commenced in 1968, eight ladies and 12 men have won SW19 multiple times. That includes famous names like the Williams sisters - Venus and Serena - Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Martina Navratilova and Novak Djokovic, among others.
On that note, here's a look at the six players - male and female - who have won more than six titles at the grasscourt Major:
#6 Novak Djokovic - 6-time Wimbledon winner
Novak Djokovic is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game's history. The former World No. 1 has an impressive record at Wimbledon and if he wins his first-round match this year, he'll become the first male player to win 80 matches in all four Majors.
Djokovic has won six titles at the grasscourt Major, with three of them coming after beating Roger Federer in the final. The Serb triumphed for the first time at SW19 in 2011, beating Rafael Nadal in the final.
He beat Federer in the 2014, 2015 and 2019 title matches, famously saving two championship points on Federer's serve in the 2019 final. Djokovic has won the last three Wimbledon titles (2018, 2019, 2021) on offer, with his only final loss at SW19 in 2013 coming against Andy Murray.
#5 Serena Williams - 7 titles
Serena Williams is one of the most successful singles players in the history of the game. With 23 Majors, Williams has won the most singles titles in the Open Era and is only one behind all-time leader Margaret Court.
Williams' seven titles at Wimbledon have come in 2002-03, 2009-10, 2012, 2015 and 2016. She has also come up short in four finals at the tournament - 2004, 2008, 2018 and 2019.
The American lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich last year at the grasscourt Major after she injured her ankle and has been out of action ever since. However, she is due to make her 21st appearance at SW19 next week, having plummeted to No. 1208 in the WTA rankings.
The stage awaits.
Our 7-time champion @serenawilliams will return to Wimbledon as a wild card this summer for her 21st appearance https://t.co/7ddMAv7mOq
While another title run looks unlikely after coming back from a long layoff, Williams will fancy her chances of a deep run if she wins the first few rounds. She needs two more triumphs to bring up 100 match wins at SW19.
#4 Steffi Graf - 7 titles
Steffi Graf is one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport. She has won every Major at least four times, including seven titles at Wimbledon.
After losing to five-time defending champion Martina Navratilova in her first final at the grasscourt Major in 1987, the German turned the tables on Navratilova the next year.
Graf won all four Majors in 1988 and also won the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics to complete the Golden calendar Grand Slam, one of the toughest and rarest feats in tennis. More than three decades later, no player - male or female - has achieved a calendar Slam.
WATCH A piece of history from 1988 ahead of the ladies' final - Steffi Graf claims her first #Wimbledon title.
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Over the next eight years, Graf added six more SW19 titles to her collection. Three years later, she made the final again (1999) but lost to Lindsay Davenport. That would be Graf's final appearance at a Grand Slam, with the German retiring from the sport soon after.
#3 Pete Sampras - 7-time Wimbledon winner
Pete Sampras is widely regarded as one of the finest grasscourt players in the history of the sport.
Pistol Pete didn't lose a Wimbledon final in seven attempts, losing just once in the tournament between 1993 and 2000. His triumph in 2000 made Sampras the first male player in the Open Era to win seven titles at SW19, a mark that would later be surpassed by Federer.
Seven #Wimbledon finals played, seven Wimbledon finals won 🏆
The legendary Pete Sampras turns 50 today ✨ https://t.co/UGxzASiGIh
In a memorable fourth-round clash in 2001, Sampras was dethroned by a young Federer in what turned out to be the American's final match on the Centre Court of Wimbledon. A year later, the seven-time winner lost in the second round to George Bastl in his last appearance in the event.
#2 Roger Federer - 8 Wimbledon titles
Roger Federer is undeniably the greatest male player to grace Wimbledon. The Swiss maestro has won 105 matches and a record eight titles at the prestigious grasscourt Major, the most among male players.
Two years after his win over Sampras, Federer made his SW19 breakthrough in 2003 and racked up the next five titles. He came within two points of a sixth one but was denied by Rafael Nadal in a memorable final in 2008 that ended in near darkness.
Nevertheless, Federer returned to win his sixth title at SW19 the next year before going level with Sampras with a seventh triumph in 2012. After losing to Djokovic in back-to-back finals in 2014-15, the Swiss won a record eighth title in 2017 against Marin Cilic in the final and didn't drop a set throughout the tournament.
2003 🏆
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The moment @rogerfederer won #Wimbledon title No.8 https://t.co/rMzNNA6M0K
In the 2019 final against Djokovic, Federer was a point away from a record-extending ninth title on two occasions in the fifth set. However, he let two championship points on serve come and go as the Serb triumphed in a first-ever fifth-set tiebreak at the grasscourt Major.
Federer hasn't been in action since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year. For the first time in 23 years, the Swiss won't be participating in SW19 as Centre Court celebrates 100 years without its most successful male singles player.
#1 Martina Navratilova - 9 titles
Martina Navrtilova is the most successful singles player in the history of Wimbledon. She has won a record 120 matches and nine titles in the tournament.
Navratilova made her SW19 breakthrough in 1978, beating Chris Evert in the final. She successfully defended her title against the same opponent the following year. The left-hander beat defending champion Evert in the 1982 final to kickstart a six-year reign on the grasscourt Major, beating her compatriot in two more finals over the next five years.
Navratilova's bid for a seventh straight title at SW19 was ended by Steffi Graf in 1988 and the Czech-American endured defeat against the same opponent the following year as well. However, she returned to win her ninth and final title in 1990.
#Wimbledon
On this day in 1994, Martina Navratilova won her 167th and final WTA singles title.
A Open era record that has stood the test of time 💪 #Wimbledon https://t.co/XLkdtkL15H
A 37-year-old Navratilova made her last final at the event in 1994, but Conchita Martinez denied her a tenth title in the tournament and a record-extending 168th overall.