Wimbledon has been contested since 1877 — long enough for its records to accumulate into a remarkable archive of athletic achievement, statistical curiosity, and historical context. Some of those records have stood for decades.
A few may never be broken. Here is a complete guide to the most significant Wimbledon records — the title leaders, the longest matches, the youngest and oldest champions, and the statistics that define how this tournament’s history has been measured.
Most Singles Titles
The headline record at every Grand Slam is the title count, and Wimbledon’s roll of honour features two of the most decorated players in tennis history.
Ladies’ Singles
Martina Navratilova is the most successful singles player at Wimbledon, with nine titles between 1978 and 1990. Her wins came in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1990 — a span of 13 years that includes a record six consecutive titles from 1982 to 1987.
The list of women’s Open Era champions with multiple Wimbledon singles titles:
- Martina Navratilova: 9 (1978–1990)
- Steffi Graf: 7 (1988–1996)
- Serena Williams: 7 (2002–2016)
- Venus Williams: 5 (2000–2008)
- Billie Jean King: 4 in the Open Era (1968, 1972, 1973, 1975); six total including pre-1968
- Chris Evert: 3 (1974, 1976, 1981)
In the pre-Open Era, Helen Wills Moody won eight Ladies’ Singles titles between 1927 and 1938. Dorothea Lambert Chambers won seven between 1903 and 1914.
Gentlemen’s Singles
Roger Federer holds the men’s Open Era record with eight Wimbledon titles — 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2017. His run of five consecutive titles from 2003 to 2007 equalled the Open Era record set by Björn Borg, who won five in a row from 1976 to 1980.
The Open Era men’s leaders:
- Roger Federer: 8 (2003–2017)
- Pete Sampras: 7 (1993–2000)
- Novak Djokovic: 7 (2011–2022)
- Björn Borg: 5 (1976–1980)
- Rod Laver: 4 (two in the Amateur Era, two in the Open Era)
- John McEnroe: 3 (1981, 1983, 1984)
- Boris Becker: 3 (1985, 1986, 1989)
In the pre-Open Era, William Renshaw won seven titles between 1881 and 1889 — though six of those came under the now-abolished “challenge round” format, in which the defending champion played only the final against the winner of the all-comers draw. Under modern conditions, Fred Perry holds the Amateur Era record with three titles won via a complete draw (1934–1936).
Most Doubles Titles
The doubles records at Wimbledon span partnerships, individuals, and decades.
Todd Woodbridge holds the Open Era men’s doubles record with nine Wimbledon titles — six with fellow Australian Mark Woodforde (1993–1997, 2000) and three with Sweden’s Jonas Björkman (2002–2004). The Woodbridge-Woodforde pairing — known universally as the Woodies — is the most successful men’s doubles partnership in Wimbledon history.
Martina Navratilova holds the Open Era women’s doubles record as well, with seven titles between 1976 and 1986. Her partnerships at Wimbledon included Chris Evert (1976), Billie Jean King (1979), and Pam Shriver (1981–1984, 1986).
The most successful women’s doubles partnership in Wimbledon history is Venus and Serena Williams, who won six titles together as a pairing between 2000 and 2016.
In mixed doubles, Owen Davidson and Leander Paes share the men’s record with four titles apiece. Davidson won all four of his mixed crowns partnering Billie Jean King (1967, 1971, 1973, 1974). Martina Navratilova holds the women’s mixed doubles record with four titles between 1985 and 2003.
If pre-Open Era records are included, the overall doubles leader is Elizabeth Ryan, who won 12 Wimbledon women’s doubles titles between 1914 and 1934 alongside six mixed doubles titles — a combined total of 19 Wimbledon championships across all doubles formats.
Youngest and Oldest Champions
The age records at Wimbledon span more than 25 years between the youngest and oldest singles winners.
Youngest Champions
- Gentlemen’s Singles: Boris Becker, 17 years and 227 days, in 1985. Becker became the first unseeded champion and the first German to win the men’s singles title, defeating Kevin Curren in four sets. He remained the youngest male Grand Slam singles champion until Michael Chang won the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 110 days.
- Ladies’ Singles: Lottie Dod, 15 years and 285 days, in 1887. Dod’s record predates the Open Era by more than 80 years and is one of the oldest unbroken records in tennis. She won the title five times in total before retiring from the sport at the age of 21 to pursue other competitive pursuits, including golf and Olympic archery.
Oldest Champions
- Gentlemen’s Singles: Arthur Gore, 41 years and 182 days, in 1909. Gore won three Wimbledon men’s singles titles, the last of which set the age record that has stood for more than a century.
- Ladies’ Singles: Charlotte Cooper Sterry, 37 years and 282 days, in 1908. Cooper Sterry won five Wimbledon titles between 1895 and 1908, with her final victory establishing the women’s age record.
In the Open Era specifically, the oldest men’s singles champion is Roger Federer, who won his eighth title in 2017 at 35 years and 342 days. The oldest Open Era women’s singles champion is Serena Williams, who won her seventh title in 2016 at 34 years and 287 days.
The Longest Match
No Wimbledon record is more famous — or more likely to stand forever — than the longest match in tennis history.
In the first round of the 2010 Championships, John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut 6–4, 3–6, 6–7, 7–6, 70–68 in a match that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes spread across three days on Court 18. The match began on Tuesday, 22 June 2010 at 6:13 pm and was suspended at 9:07 pm due to fading light.
Play resumed on Wednesday at 2:05 pm and was suspended again at 9:09 pm with the final set tied at 59 games all. The match concluded on Thursday at 4:47 pm when Isner hit a backhand passing winner to end the fifth set at 70–68.
The fifth set alone lasted 8 hours and 11 minutes — longer than the previous record for an entire tennis match. The 138-game final set, the 980 total points, and the combined 216 aces (Isner 113, Mahut 103) all broke pre-existing records by substantial margins.
The All England Club installed a commemorative plaque on Court 18 to mark the achievement. Wimbledon’s adoption of a 10-point final-set tiebreak in 2022 means a match of this length is now mechanically impossible. The Isner-Mahut record will likely stand permanently.
The Longest Final
The longest Wimbledon singles final was the 2019 Gentlemen’s Singles Final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, which lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes. Djokovic won 7–6, 1–6, 7–6, 4–6, 13–12, saving two championship points on Federer’s serve at 8–7 in the fifth set before winning the first final-set tiebreak in Wimbledon men’s singles history.
The match is widely regarded as one of the greatest finals ever played at any Grand Slam. It was also the catalyst, alongside the 2008 Federer-Nadal final, for the broader move toward final-set tiebreaks across all four majors.
Career Wimbledon Match Wins
The records for total Wimbledon matches won across a career reflect the longevity of certain players’ grass-court excellence.
- Martina Navratilova holds the women’s record with 120 main-draw match wins at Wimbledon — a figure boosted by her decades of doubles participation
- Jimmy Connors holds the men’s record at 84 main-draw singles match wins
- Among active and recently retired players, Roger Federer finished his career with 105 singles wins at Wimbledon — the most in the Open Era — and Novak Djokovic has accumulated more than 95 singles wins and counting
In total matches played across all formats and decades, Jean Borotra holds the all-time men’s record at Wimbledon with 223 matches played between 1922 and 1964. Martina Navratilova holds the women’s record at 326 matches across all events between 1973 and 2006.
Other Notable Records
A selection of further Wimbledon records that have shaped the tournament’s history:
Most consecutive women’s singles titles: Martina Navratilova, six (1982–1987) — a record unmatched in men’s or women’s singles in the Open Era.
Most men’s singles finals: Roger Federer, 12 (between 2003 and 2019) — the all-time record across both eras.
Lowest-ranked men’s singles champion: Goran Ivanišević, ranked 125th in the world when he won as a wild card in 2001. His title remains the only Grand Slam won by a wild card in the Open Era.
First Open Era champion: Rod Laver won the first Open Era men’s singles title in 1968. Billie Jean King won the women’s title that year.
First Black men’s singles champion: Arthur Ashe in 1975, defeating Jimmy Connors in four sets. Ashe remains the only Black man to have won the Wimbledon singles title.
First Black women’s singles champion: Althea Gibson in 1957, retaining the title in 1958.
Wimbledon-without-losing-a-set winners (Open Era): Björn Borg in 1976 and Roger Federer in 2017 are the only men to win Wimbledon without dropping a set across the entire tournament in the Open Era.
Most aces in a tournament: John Isner served 113 aces in his 2010 first-round match against Mahut alone, contributing to the highest single-tournament ace count in Wimbledon history.
Most main-draw appearances: Several players have made 20 or more main-draw appearances at Wimbledon, with Martina Navratilova competing in singles draws across four decades from 1973 to 2004.
The Bottom Line
Wimbledon’s records form a layered archive across nearly 150 years of competition — some set in the late 19th century by players competing under rules that no longer exist, others set in the modern era by athletes whose performances are still being measured against the records they themselves set.
The eight singles titles of Roger Federer, the nine of Martina Navratilova, the 11-hour first-round match between Isner and Mahut, the 17-year-old Boris Becker — each is a marker in the tournament’s collective memory, and each contributes to what makes Wimbledon, in record-book terms as in every other, the most historically dense tournament in tennis.
