1996 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 1996 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Pete Sampras was the three-time defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Richard Krajicek, in his only loss at Wimbledon between 1993 and 2000. Krajicek defeated MaliVai Washington in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3 to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships. Krajicek had originally been unseeded, but as the 17th ranked player in the Wimbledon seedings he replaced 7th seed Thomas Muster in the draw, when Muster withdrew shortly before the start of the tournament. A number of high-seeded men were eliminated early, including 1992 champion Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi an early loss in the second round to Tommy Haas. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, losing to Marcelo Ríos, who became No. 1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career (the first being 10 years earlier in 1988). Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time,