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.
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