Wimbledon 2025: Anniversaries for Serena Williams, Arthur Ashe, Isner-Mahut and COVID
FILE - Security guards at the entrance in front of Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon in London, Monday, June 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth,File)
FILE - John Isner of the US and France's Nicolas Mahut, right, pose for a photo next to the scoreboard following their epic men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Thursday, June 24, 2010. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant,Pool,File)
FILE - Pete Sampras kisses the trophy, after defeating Australia's Patrick Rafter in the Men's Singles final on the Center Court at Wimbledon Sunday, July 9, 2000. (AP Photo/Dave Caulkin,File)
FILE - In this July 7, 1990, file photo, Martina Navratilova fights back tears as she poses with her record ninth ladies singles championship trophy at Wimbledon, after defeating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1. (AP Photo/Roy Letkey, FIle)
FILE - Tennis player Anne White of the U.S. is shown in a tight fitting body suit, which she has been banned from wearing in her resumed match against fellow American Pam Shriver, June 28, 1985. (AP Photo/Seelan Naidoo,File)
FILE - Sweden's Bjorn Borg falls to his knees in front of the scoreboard on the Centre Court, Wimbledon, London, July 5, 1980, after beating American John McEnroe, unseen, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 8-6, to take the Mens' Singles Final for the fifth year in succession. (AP Photo/Robert Dear)
FILE - In this July 5, 1975, file photo, Arthur Ashe holds the men's singles trophy after defeating fellow American Jimmy Conners in the final of the men's singles championship at the All England Lawn Tennis Championship in Wimbledon, London. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Serena Williams of the United States reacts as she holds up the trophy after winning the women's singles final against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday July 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin,File)
FILE - Serena Williams of the United States reacts as she holds up the trophy after winning the women's singles final against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday July 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin,File)
FILE - Security guards at the entrance in front of Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon in London, Monday, June 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth,File)
FILE - John Isner of the US and France's Nicolas Mahut, right, pose for a photo next to the scoreboard following their epic men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Thursday, June 24, 2010. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant,Pool,File)
FILE - Pete Sampras kisses the trophy, after defeating Australia's Patrick Rafter in the Men's Singles final on the Center Court at Wimbledon Sunday, July 9, 2000. (AP Photo/Dave Caulkin,File)
FILE - In this July 7, 1990, file photo, Martina Navratilova fights back tears as she poses with her record ninth ladies singles championship trophy at Wimbledon, after defeating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1. (AP Photo/Roy Letkey, FIle)
FILE - Tennis player Anne White of the U.S. is shown in a tight fitting body suit, which she has been banned from wearing in her resumed match against fellow American Pam Shriver, June 28, 1985. (AP Photo/Seelan Naidoo,File)
FILE - Sweden's Bjorn Borg falls to his knees in front of the scoreboard on the Centre Court, Wimbledon, London, July 5, 1980, after beating American John McEnroe, unseen, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 8-6, to take the Mens' Singles Final for the fifth year in succession. (AP Photo/Robert Dear)
FILE - In this July 5, 1975, file photo, Arthur Ashe holds the men's singles trophy after defeating fellow American Jimmy Conners in the final of the men's singles championship at the All England Lawn Tennis Championship in Wimbledon, London. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Serena Williams of the United States reacts as she holds up the trophy after winning the women's singles final against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday July 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin,File)
LONDON (AP) — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at Wimbledon:
50 years ago (1975): Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King win Wimbledon
Arthur Ashe became the first — and to this day, only — Black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon in 1975, beating defending champion Jimmy Connors 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4 in the final. Also that year, Billie Jean King easily won her sixth — and, it turned out, last — singles championship at the All England Club, defeating Evonne Goolagong 6-0, 6-1. It also was the 19th of the 20 total Wimbledon trophies (across singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles) that King would win.
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45 years ago (1980): Bjorn Borg collects his 5th Wimbledon title in a row
Bjorn Borg earned his fifth consecutive Wimbledon trophy in 1980, barely getting past rival John McEnroe 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7 (16), 8–6 in a final immediately — and still — considered one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. The fourth-set tiebreaker alone, known as The War of 1816, is still discussed with reverence.
40 years ago (1985): Anne White's white bodysui t at the All England Club
Anne White showed up for her first-round Wimbledon match in 1985 against Pam Shriver wearing a full white bodysuit that drew plenty of attention — and criticism. After they split the first two sets, play was called because of darkness. During the break, White was told that the All England Club did not love her original outfit, even if it did comply with the all-white rule, and she wound up wearing more traditional clothing for the third set when action resumed the next day. Shriver won the match.
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35 years ago (1990): Martina Navratilova wins her 9th Wimbledon trophy
A 6-4, 6-1 victory over Zina Garrison in the 1990 final gave Martina Navratilova her record ninth Wimbledon championship. It also was her 18th and last Grand Slam title, equaling rival Chris Evert for the Open era record at the time.
25 years ago (2000): Pete Sampras gets 7th Wimbledon, 13th Slam title
Pete Sampras' 2000 Wimbledon title, via a 6–7 (10), 7–6 (5), 6–4, 6–2 victory over Patrick Rafter in the final, gave the American his seventh, and last, trophy at the All England Club and his then-record 13th title from all Grand Slam tournaments. Sampras would win his 14th major at the 2002 U.S. Open, then walk away from the sport. That stood as the men's record until Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all surpassed it.
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15 years ago (2010): Isner and Mahut play a 70-68 fifth set at Wimbledon
John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest tennis match on record at Wimbledon in 2010, competing for 11 hours, 5 minutes stretched across three days in the first round at the All England Club, until Isner eventually prevailed 70-68 in the fifth set. That was part of the impetus for rules changes that eventually mandated tiebreakers at 6-all in fifth sets of men's matches (and third sets of women's matches) at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
10 years ago (2015): Williams gets a 'Serena Slam' as oldest major champ
Serena Williams completed her second self-styled 'Serena Slam' — four Grand Slam titles in a row, although not all within a single season — by winning Wimbledon in 2015. Her 6-4, 6-4 victory over Garbiñe Muguruza in the final made the 33-year-old Williams the oldest woman to win a major singles championship in the Open era. It also set up Williams for a bid at a true Grand Slam — going 4 for 4 at the majors within one calendar year — at the U.S. Open later in 2015. She fell just short, losing to Roberta Vinci in a stunning upset in the semifinals in New York.
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5 years ago (2020): Wimbledon is canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Wimbledon was called off in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first time since World War II that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament wasn't held. The cancellation was announced in April, with Britain under a nationwide lockdown. Roger Federer offered a one-word commentary on social media, writing simply: 'Devastated.'
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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