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
2003 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 2003 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Lleyton Hewitt was the defending champion, but he lost in the first round to Ivo Karlović. As a result of this loss, Hewitt became one of only two defending Wimbledon men's singles champions to lose in the first round of their defence, the other being Manuel Santana, the 1966 champion, who lost in the first round in 1967 to Charlie Pasarell. Roger Federer defeated Mark Philippoussis in the final, 7–6, 6–2, 7–6 to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. It was Federer's first Grand Slam tournament win, and the