2001 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 2001 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Pete Sampras was a record seven-time (and four-time defending) champion, but he lost in the fourth round to 19-year-old Roger Federer. The Sampras-Federer match was the only time the two tennis legends ever competed against each other in any ATP event as active tour players. This was the first Grand Slam tournament at which Federer was seeded. Sampras was also attempting to equal Björn Borg's 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles. Goran Ivanišević defeated Pat Rafter in the final, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 to win the Wimbledon title. Ivanišević became the first unseeded player to
2012 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 2012 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Roger Federer. Federer defeated Andy Murray in the final, 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4, to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. It was his seventh Wimbledon title and seventeenth Grand Slam title. With the win, Federer also regained the world No. 1 ranking. Federer thus equalled both William Renshaw and Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles, as well as Sampras' record of 286 weeks as world No. 1; Federer broke the latter record on 16 July 2012.