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
2004 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 2004 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Roger Federer successfully defended his title, defeating Andy Roddick in the final, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6, 6–4 to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. This tournament marked the beginning of Federer's record streak of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals and 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals (in which he made 19 finals and won 14 slams). This tournament was the final Grand Slam appearance of 2001 champion Goran Ivanišević, having announced his decision to retire once he finished competing at this edition of the Championships. His last match, in the