Best Wimbledon Matches Ever Played

I have listed the best Wimbledon matches that have been played over the years in my opinion. Of all the four grand slam tournaments, Wimbledon is considered the most prestigious one and it has treated us to some amazing tennis over the years.

#10 Cilic-Querrey Half Marathon

The Croat Marin Cilic edged out Sam Querrey of USA in a 5 hour 31 miniute long battle in a complete series of drama with a scoreline of 7-6(8-6), 6-4, 6-7 (2-7) 6-7 (3-7) 17-15. It was a superb third round game of the 2012 tournament which displayed some top quality tennis on green grass, but this duration was not even half of the longest tennis match in history which was also played at Wimbledon 2 years back. Cilic had to fight hard in the first set but got past Sam with his agression and after the second set it looked like the American who carried a back injury in tournament will lose it out, but he did not let it go easily. He took the challange on and his incredible resistance won him the next two sets in a tie break. Now, it all came to the fifth and final set and there was no room left for even the smallest of mistakes. The final set alone lasted for more than 2 hours, but finally Cilic made it after two consecutive long balls from Querrey.

#9 Gonzales-Pasarell: Battle of Ages

Age is just a number they say and the 41 year old Pancho Gonzales proved the phrase against his own countryman Charlie Pasarell who was half of his age. This first round match of 1967 was played before the time tie breaks were introduced. After losing the first set 22-24 Gonzales on the fading evening complained about the low visibility and hence requested the match to be continued next day. The Umpire refused and the dejected veteran threw the set away inviting big boos from the audience. Rest of the match was now postponed for the next day. New energy was pumped in Gonzales the next day probably he was determined to give a strong reply to the audience. Pasarell tred to make Gonzales run and take advantage of his run but couldn’t succeed due to the extra ordinary efforts from the old man. Gonzales won the last three sets after a grinding challange. In the last set he saved 7 match points. Finally the score stood 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9 in favour of Gonzales.

#8 Ivanisevics Wild Card Magic Over Rafter

Goran Ivanisevic, then number 125 who was the number two once in 1994 became the first man to win the Wimbledon Title as a wild card qualifier in 2001. Coming back after a shoulder injury, the three time finalist was not on count as favourite but his wonderous performance was also not expected to be replicated in the finals. But the Croat proved all the odds wrong and went on to beat Pat Rafter of Australia in a three hour game with a margin of 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7 . This epic see-saw ride was thouroughly backed by the crowd who cheered and enchanted between every point. Such an atmosphere was never seen at Wimbledon.

#7 Isner-Mahut: Mega Marathon

John Isner of United States and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut played the longest tennis match ever in 2010 which lasted for 11 hours and five minutes and was played over the course of three days. First two sets of the match were won one each by Isner and Mahut respectively. Third set was won by Mahut in a tie breaker and the fourth set was won by Isner again not before the set being dragged into the tie breaker. But when it came to the fifth set, the match never seemed to be ending, but eventually Isner held on himself and clinched the set. Atlast the scores read 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-3), 70-68 in favour of the American. This ever lasting match made many records on it’s course and they are:

• – Longest set (the fifth set required 8 hours, 11 minutes).
• – Most games in a set (138 in the fifth set).
• – Most games in a match (183).
• – Most aces in a match by one player (Isner, 113).
• – Total aces in a match (Mahut's 103 aces, the second highest number by a player in a match, brought the total to 216).
• – Consecutive service games held (168; 84 for each player).
• – Most games won by both winning player (92) and losing player (91) in a match.
• – Most points won in a match (Mahut, 502).

#6 Ashe-Connors: Rise of The First Black Champion

Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win the Wimbledon Title in 1975 after upsetting the fellow American favourite Jimmy Connors in the finals who was believed to be unbeatable. He stunned the crowd on the center court at Wimbledon with his clever play. He turned the ball and variated his shot speed and strength to keep Connors wondering what will come next. Connors won the first game of the set easily but thereafter the thrashing began. Ashe won six straight games without giving even a single break point. He sailed through in the second set as well, but Connors probably shook himself back after being shocked in the first two sets, he won the third 7-5. But in the fourth set Ashe again tamed the defending champion and won the match with the set. Final score was 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

#5 Rafter-Agassi: Challange of Styles

The Semi-Final of the 2000 tournament saw two contrasting styles up against each other. Pat Rafter loved to drag their opponents up on the net and then again push them back and bad boy Andre Agassi never liked to play on the net. The Aussie man Rafter kept his head up in one of the most intensely played matches in history. This match was amongst the long running rivalry between the two. Rafter gave lots of trouble to Agassi but the American was also in reply throwing a strong challange back at the Australian. The Australian Rafter and Agassi were playing some wonderful rallies. Rafter’s performance was even more remarkable as he was coming out of a serious shoulder injury, but still his serves were sharp enough specially in the last set. Rafter evenually beat Agassi in a five set classic which was at it’s thrilling best by 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

#4 Fedrer-Sampras: Dawn and Dusk

Roger Federer in the fourth round of the the Wimbledon 2001 put an end to the dominating era of Pete Sampras. The Swiss prodigy Federer defeated Sampras in a 5 set match by 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. You can easily imagine how interesting this match was by looking at the fact that 4 out of the 5 sets had 12 or more games. This was one big match in history which saw two legends of different periods up against each other, one was the legend towards the dead end of his career and another was the legend in making. Federer was young and enthusiastic but Sampras was up with his experience. Though Federer won it at the end but Sampras’s tough fight and his approach after all those years of dominance was same and one could not stop applauding his efforts. The mere fact that Federer went on to beat Sampras’s record of most number of grand slam titles makes this an historical legendary encounter.

#3 Connors-Perfors: The Epic Saga of Bounce-Back

This match between the legendary Jimmy Connors and Mikael Pernfors could easily be termed as one of the best come backs in the tennis history. The American legend was always knows as a fighter and he proved why he is called one by coming back from 6-1, 6-1, 4-1 down to pick up a 1-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 victory. When it looked like it was all over for Connors and everybody was expecting an easy cruise for Perfors, Connors showed he still had the fire in him and overcame his leg injury to be on top.

#2 Borg Claimed his Supreriority over McEnroe

It was the Wimbledon Final between the fire and the ice in 1980.The Swedish Bjorn Borg with his cool and calm collected approach was on the court to win his fifth title on the trot against the firing John McEnroe. After the first set debacle it looked like finally this will be the day for Borg but he was not the one who was going to easily put his arms down and he displayed why he has dominated this court for years. After winning the second and the third set it looked like Borg will now overpower the American. But what happened in the fourth set is still cherished in the memories, the Swedish had two break points which McEnroe saved with diving rallies, then forced the set into a tie breaker and won it from there 18-16. Now the match was level on 2-2. The deciding set was also a classic but Borg defeated an exausted McEnroe. At last Borg claimed the match with the score of 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(16-18), 8-6.

#1 Nadal Halted Federers Streak

Roger Federer was on court to go one step ahead of Bjorn Borg’s record of 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles by beating Rafael Nadal in the 2008 finals. But After going down in the first two sets by 4-6, 4-6, people started to believe that it was finally the end of the streak, but there was a lot to come in yet. The Swiss legend with his experience won the next two sets to level the match in tie-breakers. The last set was of 16 games which included some fantastic rallies, wonderful shots and superb services and returns. But eventually the Spaniard was the one who held himself and laid on grass with joy and exaustion.