Mention the word “Wimbledon” to any tennis enthusiast, and iconic images quickly surface – Roger Federer delivering a flawless cross-court backhand, or Serena Williams asserting her dominance on Centre Court. Held in London’s distinguished SW19, this prestigious tournament draws a veritable who's who of sporting and social royalty – occasionally even actual royalty. For two weeks each July, the world’s finest players converge on the capital to compete for one of the sport’s most coveted accolades: Wimbledon champion. Below, we explore the most successful players to have graced what many consider the greatest stage in tennis.
Billie Jean King – Six Titles
One of only a handful of players to win majors across the amateur and open eras, America’s King – whose career spanned a highly impressive 22 years – has a strong argument for being the tournament’s most successful female player, with 16 championships. However, ten of those came as doubles champion and don’t count towards this particular list.
Between 1966 and 1975, she claimed six singles titles at Wimbledon, establishing herself as world number one in the process. Known as an aggressive, hard-hitting net rusher, Billie Jean was widely admired by her peers for her never-say-die attitude; three of her closest competitors once famously selected her as the player they would most like beside them to recover from a hypothetical defeat, with former world number one Martin Navratilova announcing: "I would have to pick Billie Jean at her best” – a truly flattering endorsement from one of the game’s best.
Both Blanche Bingley and Susanne Lenglen also claimed six Wimbledon singles championships, but this was in the amateur era when the competition was a little less robust than what Billie Jean King was facing.
William Renshaw – Seven Titles
Renshaw – like a lot of late 19th-century sportspeople – unfortunately suffers from a touch of recency bias. The Englishman featured during the formative years of the competition, taking six consecutive honours between 1881 and 1886 and a further championship in 1889.
Elected first president of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) while still a player, William Renshaw famously defeated his twin brother Ernest in three Wimbledon finals, as well as securing five doubles titles alongside him. Though Ernest claimed his own singles win in 1888, it is William’s achievements in the late 1800s that cemented the Renshaw name in tennis history.
Serena Williams – Seven Titles
The younger of the Williams sisters, Serena Williams is a legend of the game and a true pioneer for black women’s tennis. Positioned second on the all-time list of major title-winners, Williams won Wimbledon an impressive seven times, after first bursting onto the scene as a fresh-faced 14-year-old in 1995.
Her first Wimbledon championship came in 2002 – a year she completely dominated by also winning the French and US Opens – and the victories just kept on coming. Serena holds a plethora of records within the women’s tennis arena, including the most Australian Open championship wins, becoming the first and only woman to win $90,000,000 in prize money and becoming only the third woman in history to achieve a Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles. A champion in every sense of the word, Serena Williams is the type of player others aspire to be.
Dorothea Lambert-Chambers – Seven Titles
Appearing in 11 Wimbledon finals and winning seven of them, Lambert-Chambers was also an Olympic Tennis champion and one of the first stars of the ladies' game. Having published her book Tennis For Ladies in 1910, Lambert-Chambers went on to become the first player to win a major singles final without losing a game – her 1911 Wimbledon win against Dora Boothby. For context, the only other female player to achieve this particular feat was Steffi Graf in her 1988 French Open win against Natalia Zvereva – 77 years later.
Having retired in 1928, she turned to professional coaching, before being posthumously inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981.
Novak Djokovic – Seven Titles
When Serbia’s Novak Djokovic emerged in the mid-2000s, many questioned his prospects. Such talent, it was thought, might be eclipsed by two of the game’s all-time greats: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, both in the ascendency at the time. Undeterred, Djokovic forged ahead, rising to the challenge.
“Nole”, as he is affectionately known by friends, used his famed spirit to claim no fewer than seven Wimbledon championships in arguably the most competitive era in men’s tennis history. It’s a testament to this achievement that his long-time sparring partner, Andy Murray – himself a Wimbledon winner – was often referred to as the weakest of the four.
The Serbian great was so successful that, even in the face of such stiff competition, he was able to establish himself as the most successful male tennis player of all time, with 24 major titles.
Steffi Graf – Seven Titles
Ranked world number one for a record 377 weeks – and third on the list of most ATP competition wins – Germany’s Graf stands as many people’s greatest female tennis player of all time. Her achievement of winning each major singles tournament at least four times – a quadruple career Grand Slam – is unmatched by any player, male or female, and will almost certainly stand the test of time. She also places third on the ATP list of most tournament wins of all time.
In 1983, Graf became the youngest ever player to appear in the main draw of a major, aged 13 – and the records kept coming. Known for her versatility across all playing surfaces, Steffi claimed seven Wimbledon championships between 1988 and 1996. Across her entire career, she won 22 major honours – as well as Olympic Gold in Seoul in 1988 – prompting fellow great Billie Jean King to label her as “definitely the greatest women’s tennis player of all time.” Serena Williams has also lauded Graf as the best ever, while the Associated Press named her the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century in 2016.
Pete Sampras – Seven Titles
Having turned professional at the age of 16 in 1988, it would take Sampras – a 15-time major winner – just two years to win his first major. An outstanding grass and clay court player, the American claimed his first Wimbledon trophy in 1993; the first of three consecutive tournament wins. After adding a further four from 1997 to 2000 – with Richard Krajicek responsible for interrupting his fabled run – Sampras became the first male player to win seven Wimbledon championships.
Known for his extreme power and precision, Sampras' serve would later become known as one of the greatest in the game’s storied history. The serve-volley specialist was also the only player in history to win every Wimbledon final he appeared in – a truly remarkable record. He also only lost one match in between 1993 and 2000: that 1996 final to Krajicek. Surprisingly, Sampras only sits 10th on the list of players with the most ATP competition wins in history, but this is easily explained by his relatively young retirement and the fact that he could be somewhat injury-prone.
Helen Wills Moody – Eight Titles
Having featured in her first tournament at the age of 13 in 1919, it would take Moody just four short years to win her first US national honour. The following year, 1924, would arguably be the biggest in her career as she would become Olympic champion while retaining her US championship, and winning her first Wimbledon championship – albeit a doubles title.
She would have to wait until 1927 for her first singles triumph but, after that, the wins kept coming. Having won her first four Wimbledon honours consecutively, her final four were spread between 1932 and 1938. Wills Moody possessed an unusually powerful forehand and was able to drag her opponents around the court by placing shots deep both left and right – a self-awareness of her weakness at the net prompting her to push her opponents back to the baseline as often as she could.
Having dominated female tennis throughout the late 1920s and 1930s, Wills Moody was also an accomplished writer, releasing a tennis coaching manual, an autobiography and a mystery novel, while also writing articles for The Saturday Evening Post.
Roger Federer – Eight Titles
Second on the list of most men’s ATP tournament wins since the start of the Open Era, Roger Federer is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. The Swiss icon has won 20 majors, as well as Olympic Gold (Doubles) in Beijing in 2008.
Known for his versatility, Federer was accomplished on every surface, with former world number one Jimmy Connors quoted as saying "In an era of specialists, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer." Federer was also known for his speed, as well as his exceptional shot selection, with John McEnroe complementing his forehand as “the greatest shot in our sport”.
Having won his first Wimbledon trophy in 2003 – the first of five consecutive championship wins at SW19 – Roger would end his celebrated career with no fewer than eight Wimbledon championships, a record in male tennis. As if to highlight the impact Federer has had on not just tennis, but popular culture in general, The “Swiss Maestro” was ranked number one on the list of most recognisable people from Switzerland – ahead of Albert Einstein – while also ranking 22 places ahead of then-US President Barack Obama in Forbes magazine’s most powerful celebrities in May 2009.
Martina Navratilova – Nine Titles
It’s safe to say that women’s tennis in the 1980s belonged to one woman and one woman only: Martin Navratilova. The Czech-American, ranked world number one for an impressive 332 weeks, also holds the Open Era record for the most ATP competition wins– as well as being one of the most successful female tennis players of all time with 167 top-level competition wins.
Having claimed back-to-back Wimbledon singles titles in 1978 and 1979, Navratilova would go on to put together an eye-watering run in the 1980s, which saw her claim six Wimbledon championships in a row from 1982 to 1987. Martina would also win seven doubles crowns at SW19, singling her out as the most successful tennis player in the history of the world-famous tournament.
Having won Wimbledon tournaments in four different decades – from 1977 to 2003 – Martina Navratilova is the epitome of inspiration, proving that age was just a number for one of the game’s greatest.
Since its inception in the late nineteenth century, Wimbledon has been the stage for the game’s best players to do battle. From the grass-court dominance of Federer and Navratilova to the historic milestones set by legends like Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon has long been the stage where tennis greats are born. These 10 players have not only etched their names into the tournament’s storied history but have helped shape the very fabric of the game. As each July brings new contenders to SW19, one thing remains certain: Wimbledon will be the proving ground for the sport’s finest talents long into the future.
