Wimbledon 2001 is the 115^th staging of The Lawn Tennis Championships, which began in 1877 with Spencer Gore defeating William Marshall 61 62 64 for the inaugural title. This is the 34^th staging of The Championships in the Open Era, which started here in 1968 with Australia’s Rod Laver defeating countryman Tony Roche 63 64 62. Only 15 different men have won Wimbledon titles in the Open Era, the fewest of any of the four Grand Slam events. A 16^th Open Era Wimbledon Champion will be crowned in 2001.

At stake for the two finalists, in addition to the prestige of the Wimbledon title, is the following prize money and ATP Champions Race points:

Champions Race Update

Factoring in ATP Champions Race points earned up to the 2001 Wimbledon final, Andre Agassi has overtaken Gustavo Kuerten at the top of the leaderboard. Agassi is guaranteed to lead the ATP Champions Race after Wimbledon. Patrick Rafter will climb to No. 4 if he wins the title. Goran Ivanisevic, who has already improved to No. 15, will rise to No.10 if he wins the title. Including points gained so far this tournament, the top 10 players on the ATP Champions Race are as follows:

*still in 2001 Wimbledon draw

 

Head-to-Head

This is the first time in the Open Era that the Wimbledon men’s singles final has featured two players both looking for their first title of the year.

Rafter and Ivanisevic are meeting for the fourth time, with Rafter leading previous meetings 2:1. However, Ivanisevic won their only previous match-up on grass, at 1996 Wimbledon, defeating the Australian 76 46 76 61 in the round of 16. Their last meeting came at 1999 Rome, Rafter winning 75 60 in the first round.

*-earnings as of 25 June 2001

This is the first time in the Open Era that both Wimbledon semifinals have been five-set matches. The last time this happened in the history of Wimbledon was in 1966, when eventual champion Manolo Santana defeated Owen Davidson 62 46 97 36 75 and Richard Ralston defeated Eric Drysdale 68 86 36 75 63.

• Rafter has reached his second consecutive Wimbledon final and first final of 2001. He last contested a final in November last year, at Lyon (where he fell to Arnaud Clement 76 76), that being the only final he has contested between last year’s Wimbledon and now.

• Rafter defeated Agassi 26 63 36 62 86 in their semifinal, Agassi having served for the match at 5-4 in the final set. During the match the Australian served a career-high 30 aces, in the process avenging his defeat by Agassi in their last Grand Slam meeting in the 2001 Australian Open semifinals. It was Rafter’s second victory in three successive semifinal match-ups with Agassi at Wimbledon.

• Rafter’s five-set semifinal win against Agassi represented something of a breakthrough for him in recent five-set matches played, being his first victory over the distance since his 75 46 75 46 63 defeat of Agassi here last year. In between Rafter had lost three five-set matches, including his Australian Open semifinal loss to Agassi, 75 26 67 62 63. He lost in five sets in the opening round of both the 2000 US Open (to Galo Blanco 76 26 63 16 76) and 2001 Roland Garros (to Wayne Arthurs 46 26 63 76 61). Overall, Rafter’s record in five sets is good, 14-6.

• In 2000, Agassi was the first seed that he faced at 2001 Wimbledon – this year he has played three seeds to reach the final (the first, No. 27 Hicham Arazi, by virtue of the new 32-seed system).

• The last title that Rafter won was over a year ago, at 2000 ’s-Hertogenbosch, during his memorable 11-match winning streak on grass that took him on to the Wimbledon final.

• Rafter has equalled his performance here last year, when as No. 12 seed he reached the Wimbledon final for the first time, losing to Pete Sampras 67 76 64 62. He has his best Grand Slam win-loss record at Wimbledon, 29-8, but his two US Open crowns, in 1997 and 1998, are the highlight of his Grand Slam career to date.

• By appearing in the final last year, Rafter became the first Australian player to reach a Wimbledon final since Pat Cash on his way to winning the title in 1987. That year Cash defeated Ivan Lendl 76 62 75 in the final. Rafter is the first Australian to contest back-to-back finals since John Newcombe, who reached three successive finals from 1969-71.

• Australian men have won the Wimbledon title 20 times, third behind Great Britain with 35 and the United States with 33. Rod Laver has won more Wimbledon titles than any other Australian with four (1961, 1962, 1968 and 1969), followed by John Newcombe with three (1967, 1970 and 1971).
• Rafter’s coach Tony Roche reached the first Open Era Wimbledon final in 1968, losing to fellow Aussie Rod Laver 63 64 62.

• Today Rafter is looking for his third Grand Slam title, and first outside the US Open. He may view his No. 3 seeding as a lucky charm, since he was also No. 3 seed when he successfully defended his US Open title in 1998. That was the last time any Australian won a Grand Slam title.

• As No. 3 seed, Rafter has his highest Grand Slam seeding for two years. He was seeded No. 2 here in 1999, when he reached the semifinals for the first time (losing to Andre Agassi 75 76 62). The No. 3 seed has won Wimbledon on four previous occasions in the Open Era.

• Rafter has reached 21 previous finals in his career, winning 10 of them.

• Rafter is facing a wildcard for the 42nd time in his career and fourth time at Wimbledon. His win-loss record against wildcards is 30-11 and he has never lost to one here. He has not lost to a wildcard since 1998 (falling to Justin Gimelstob 64 63 in the quarterfinals at Los Angeles).

• Ivanisevic is the second left-handed player (after Arazi) that Rafter has played this tournament. This is his fifth Wimbledon meeting with a leftie and his record here is 2-2. Rafter’s overall record against left-handers is 56-29, and his most recent loss to one came at this year’s Roland Garros, when he lost a two-set lead to countryman Wayne Arthurs, falling 46 26 63 76 61 in the first round.

• Rafter is playing his ninth consecutive Wimbledon.

• Rafter came into this year’s tournament less well prepared than the previous three years. He was defeated by Peter Wessels 75 64 in the opening round at ’s-Hertogenbosch, a tournament he had won for three straight years. Rafter fared better in Halle the week before, reaching the semifinals, before losing to Fabrice Santoro 75 64.

• Rafter is second only to Sampras amongst active players in number of grass court titles held. Sampras has 10 (seven at Wimbledon); Rafter has four. Three of these are 1998-2000 ’s-Hertogenbosch; the other is 1994 Manchester, the first of his 10 career singles titles.

• This is only the 12^th event of the year for Rafter. Anxious already not to overplay and potentially aggravate the right shoulder that needed lengthy rehabilitation following surgery in October 1999, he was hampered throughout the 2001 clay court season by a right elbow injury that kept him off the tour for six weeks. The injury was first sustained in April during Australia’s second round Davis Cup tie against Brazil. Rafter returned at the World Team Cup, but withdrew from Australia’s final against Russia with the same problem. He recovered to play at Roland Garros, where he lost in the first round to countryman Wayne Arthurs 46 26 63 76 61.

• Rafter’s best result this year before 2001 Wimbledon came at the Australian Open, where he reached the semifinals for the first time, falling to eventual champion Andre Agassi 75 26 67 62 63, ironically following talk of retirement at the end of 2001. He also reached semifinals at TMS Miami (again losing to Agassi 60 67 62) and Halle (see above).

• Rafter has once again played a key part this year in Australia’s Davis Cup campaign, helping to put the nation into the semifinals for the third year running. He won both his singles rubbers, against Nicolas and Giovanni Lapentti, in Australia’s first round tie with Ecuador in Perth. In their second round tie with Brazil in Florianopolis, he teamed with Lleyton Hewitt to win the doubles and help Australia to a 3-1 victory (despite having to retire from the opening singles rubber against Gustavo Kuerten, trailing 46 64 76 21, with the elbow injury described above). Australia host Sweden in Sydney in the semifinals on 21-23 September.

• Ivanisevic is through to his fourth Wimbledon final in the last 10 years. He is looking for his first Wimbledon title, and is hoping to avoid becoming only the second player to lose all four Wimbledon finals he has contested. Ken Rosewall was beaten in four Wimbledon finals between 1954-74.

• Ivanisevic is the first wildcard ever to reach the Wimbledon final (wildcards were first issued at Wimbledon in 1977). He is also the first wildcard to reach the final of any Grand Slam event. The furthest a wildcard had advanced previously at a major was the semifinals, Jimmy Connors doing so at the 1991 US Open and Henri Leconte at 1992 Roland Garros. Pat Cash held the previous best record for a wildcard at Wimbledon, reaching the quarterfinals in 1986, before losing to Henri Leconte 46 76 76 63.

• Ivanisevic is also the third-lowest ranked player to reach the final of a major in the Open Era (assuming that his Entry System Position is equivalent to the old rankings system). The lowest-ranked man to reach a final was Mark Edmondson, who won the 1976 Australian Open title ranked No. 212.

Ranking Player Event Result

No. 212 Mark Edmondson 1976 Australian Open Champion

No. 188 John Marks 1978 Australian Open Runner-up

No. 125 Goran Ivanisevic 2001 Wimbledon ???

No. 100 Andrei Medvedev 1999 Roland Garros Runner-up

• If Ivanisevic goes on to defeat Patrick Rafter in the final, he will have won his first Grand Slam title in his 48^th Grand Slam event. That would take him to the top of the list of Grand Slam events played before a player won his first Grand Slam title.

• Ivanisevic would become the first ever Croatian to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. He would also become only the second Croatian man or woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, following Iva Majoli’s triumph at 1997 Roland Garros. Only 11 countries have provided the men’s singles champion at Wimbledon.

*includes British Isles

 

• Ivanisevic is bidding to become only the seventh left-hander to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, and first since John McEnroe won the last of his three singles titles in 1984.

• Ivanisevic is playing Wimbledon for the 14^th consecutive year. This was the joint-highest total number of appearances in this year’s draw along with Jason Stoltenberg (who lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round). The Croatian needed a wildcard for Wimbledon for the first time since he made his Grand Slam debut here as a qualifier in 1988.

• Ivanisevic has a 32-18 career win-loss record against Australians, including an 11-3 win-loss record at Grand Slams. He has won three of his four previous meetings against Australians at Wimbledon.

• The Championships have been by far his most successful Grand Slam event. Aside from his three previous final appearances, he was also a semfinalist in 1990 and 1995. He has only reached one other career Grand Slam semifinal, at the 1996 US Open.

• Ivanisevic is through to his first final in 60 tournaments (not including Davis Cup). His last final came at Moscow in November 1998, when he lost to Yevgeny Kafelnikov 76 76.

• Ivanisevic is bidding for his first title in 86 tournaments (not including Davis Cup). His last title success came on home soil at Split in February 1998, when he defeated Greg Rusedski 76 76 in the final. He has won a total of 21 career titles in 48 final appearances.

• Ivanisevic has only dropped serve six times in his six matches, three of these occasions coming during the third set of his semifinal against Henman.

• Ivanisevic served 41 aces in his third round defeat of Roddick, the fourth time since 1991 (and the third at Wimbledon) he has served 40 or more aces in a match. He currently holds the all-time Wimbledon record of 46 aces (served in his second round defeat by Magnus Norman in 1997). Ivanisevic has served a total of 186 aces in his six matches – if he more than 20 in today’s final, he will surpass his Wimbledon-best record of 206 aces, struck on his way to a runner-up finish in 1992.

• Ivanisevic’s six victories at 2001 Wimbledon are the first Grand Slam matches he has won since the 2000 Australian Open, where he defeated Cedric Pioline 64 26 75 16 97 in the first round, before losing in the second to Francisco Clavet 76 64 62.

• Ivanisevic needed to play a qualifying tournament for a Grand Slam for the first time for 12 years at this year’s Australian Open. He lost in the opening round to Petr Luxa (CZE) 75 16 61. He did not attempt to qualify for 2001 Roland Garros.

• Ivanisevic has needed wild cards for 10 of the 12 tournaments (not including Davis Cup) he has contested in 2001. His best performances before 2001 Wimbledon were a quarterfinal appearance in Milan, and third round showings in Memphis and TMS Indian Wells.

• Ivanisevic has also played one Challenger tournament (as a direct entrant) in 2001, reaching the final in Heilbronn, Germany before falling to Michael Llodra 63 64

• Ivanisevic warmed up for Wimbledon by reaching the second round in ’s-Hertogenbosch, where he defeated Max Mirnyi 76 76, before losing 64 75 to eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt. The previous week he lost to Cristiano Caratti 63 64 in the first round at Queen’s Club.

• Ivanisevic struggled with left shoulder problems for most of 2000, and is still not free from pain. He saw his year-end ESP ranking slip from No. 62 to 129, his lowest level since 1988.

• Ivanisevic is working at Wimbledon with fellow Croatian Mario Tudor, a 22-year-old former ITF Circuit player.