2012 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles final to avoid being the first male player since his coach Ivan Lendl to lose his first four finals. The 2012 Wimbledon Men's Singles final was the third Grand Slam final that Federer and Murray had contested. Federer had won both previous finals, at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open. Since Federer's victory at the 2010 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had combined to win nine consecutive major tournaments, and had competed head-to-head in the last four consecutive finals. Nadal, however, had suffered a second round defeat to world no. 100 Lukas Rosol. Federer, on the
2010 US Open – Men's Singles grass in the same calendar year. 2010 US Open – Men's Singles Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August. Del Potro was the third man in the Open Era not to defend his US Open title, after Ken Rosewall in 1971 (due to conflicts between the World Championship Tennis (WCT) and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF)), and Pete Sampras in 2003 (who unofficially retired after the 2002 final). For the first time in U.S. Open history,