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
1973 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 81 of the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) players, including defending champion Stan Smith, boycotted the Wimbledon Championships in 1973 in protest against the suspension of Nikola Pilić by the Yugoslav Tennis Association, supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF). This resulted in a large number of qualifiers and lucky losers. Jan Kodeš defeated Alex Metreveli in the final, 6–1, 9–8, 6–3 to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 1973 Wimbledon Championships. The final match included a tie-breaker played at 8–8 in the second set; the first ever Wimbledon singles