LONDON, July 3, 2017
2017 Wimbledon sees the 131st staging of The Lawn Tennis Championships, which began in 1877 with Britain’s Spencer Gore defeating compatriot William Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 for the inaugural title. This is the 50th staging of The Championships in the Open Era, the first being in 1968 when Australia’s Rod Laver defeated countryman Tony Roche 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. 2017 Wimbledon is the 198th Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era.
PRIZE MONEY… The total prize money for this year’s men’s singles event is £12,180,000, a 12.2% increase on 2016. The champion of the tournament will receive £2,200,000 in prize money as well as 2,000 ATP ranking point.
MURRAY MANIA… World No. 1 Andy Murray is bidding to win his 3rd Wimbledon title and move into joint-4th place on the list for most Wimbledon titles by a British man. Murray ended a 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the final at 2013 Wimbledon and became the 8th British man – and first since Fred Perry – to win multiple Wimbledon titles by defeating Milos Raonic in the final here last year.
MURRAY DEFENDS… Murray is also aiming to successfully defend a Grand Slam title for the first time and become the first British player – man or woman – to defend a Grand Slam title since Perry, who won the title here from 1934-36. Murray has lost in the quarterfinals on both of his previous attempts to defend a Grand Slam title – to Stan Wawrinka at the 2013 US Open and to Grigor Dimitrov at 2014 Wimbledon.
FEDERER AIMS FOR 8TH WIMBLEDON CROWN… Roger Federer is bidding to become the second man in history to win 8 titles at any Grand Slam event. Rafael Nadal became the first man to achieve the feat by winning his 8th Roland Garros title in 2013. The Spaniard is also the only player in history to win 10 titles at the same Grand Slam tournament, lifting the trophies at Roland Garros from 2005 to 2008, from 2010 to 2014 and in 2017.
THE 19TH GRAND SLAM TITLE… By winning his 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this year, Federer extended his lead at the top of the all-time Grand Slam titles list in men’s tennis and tied Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in 5th place on the overall list for most Grand Slam singles titles. He is bidding for his 19th major title here in London, which would see him join Helen Wills Moody in 4th place on the list. The all-time record is held by Margaret Court, who clinched 24 Grand Slam titles.
NADAL EYES ANOTHER PARIS-LONDON DOUBLE… Nadal is bidding to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year for the 3rd time and equal Bjorn Borg’s all-time record of 3 back-to-back titles in Paris and London. Borg achieved the feat in 3 consecutive years (1978-80), while Nadal won Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back in 2008 and 2010. Rod Laver (1969) and Federer (2009) are the only other players to achieve the feat in the Open Era.
NO. 1 RANKING UPDATE… Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka and Djokovic are all in contention for the post-Wimbledon No. 1 ranking. Murray can ensure he will remain at No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday 17 July if he reaches the final.
Who will finish @Wimbledon as world No1? Scenarios explained here:
➡➡https://t.co/bUHIBUN663 pic.twitter.com/CVcM1xjS5r
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) 2. Juli 2017
DJOKOVIC SEEKS 4TH WIMBLEDON TITLE… Djokovic is bidding to win his 4th Wimbledon title and move into equal 6th place on the list for the most Wimbledon titles won. Federer, William Renshaw and Pete Sampras lead the way with 7 Wimbledon titles each.
DJOKOVIC TO CLIMB ALL-TIME LIST?… Djokovic could take sole ownership of 4th place on the all-time list of Grand Slam men’s singles title winners if he wins a 4th Wimbledon title and takes his Grand Slam collection to 13.
WAWRINKA LOOKS TO COMPLETE GRAND SLAM COLLECTION… Wawrinka has the chance to become just the 9th man in history to win all 4 Grand Slam titles, and complete the ‘career Grand Slam’. The 8 men to have won all 4 Grand Slam titles are Andre Agassi, Don Budge, Djokovic, Roy Emerson, Federer, Laver, Nadal and Perry. Djokovic was the last man to complete the ‘career Grand Slam’ when winning 2016 Roland Garros.
