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.
2009 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles 2009 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but withdrew from the tournament due to knee tendinitis. In a repeat of the 2004 and 2005 finals, Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick in the final, 5–7, 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 16–14 to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships for the sixth time. It became the longest men's singles final (in terms of games played) in Grand Slam tournament history with 77 games, breaking the record of 71 games set at the 1927 Australian Open. The match also had the longest fifth set (16–14)