The Championships, Wimbledon with the other three "Major or Grand Slam" events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players, professional players were prohibited from participating. This changed with the advent of the open era in 1968. No British man won the singles event at Wimbledon between Fred Perry in 1936 and Andy Murray in 2013, while no British woman has won since Virginia Wade in 1977, although Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won the Girls' Championship in 1984 and 2008 respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937. Though properly called "The Championships, Wimbledon", depending on sources the event is also known as
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.