Top 10 Memorable Wimbledon Matches

[notsosilentbob]

MEN

PANCHO GONZALES v CHARLIE PASARELL, first round, 1969
In the longest Wimbledon match ever played, it took five hours and 12 minutes for Gonzales to triumph. The contest took place before tie breaks were introduced, resulting in 112 games with 22-24 1-6 16-14 6-3 11-9 the final scoreline.

ARTHUR ASHE v JIMMY CONNORS, final 1975
History was made as Ashe became the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, toppling brash number one seed Connors. Ashe won the match 6-1 6-1 5-7 6-4, crushing a Connors fightback in emphatic style.

BJORN BORG v JOHN McENROE, final, 1980
Rated as one of the best men's finals ever, Borg was clear favourite but it took a marathon five-set contest to separate him from McEnroe. An epic tie break settled the fourth set for an emotional McEnroe, who won 18-16.

PAT RAFTER v ANDRE AGASSI, semi-final 2000
Contrasting styles made for one of the all-time classics with Rafter edging Agassi 7-5 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-3. Rafter's serve and volley game, which saw the Australian play much of the game at the net, frustrated Agassi throughout.

ROGER FEDERER v PETE SAMPRAS, fourth round, 2001
A battle of two all-time greats, Sampras' skills may have been waning but the match was never less than gripping. It took five sets to separate them with Federer triumphing 7-6 5-7 6-4 6-7 7-5

WOMEN

ANNE JONES v BILLIE-JEAN KING, final, 1969
Home favourite Jones stunned Wimbledon with a victory against all the odds. King dominated tennis during her era and was expected to breeze past Jones but instead lost 3-6 6-3 6-2 with the support for her opponent on Centre Court clearly getting to her.

VIRGINIA WADE v BETTY STOVE, final, 1977
Wade dispatched Stove 4-6 6-3 6-1 to complete a fairytale victory in Wimbledon's centenary year. The Briton, who had defeated Chris Evert in the semi-finals, ultimately made light work of Stove but it was a heart-warming moment in the tournament's history.

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA v CHRIS EVERT, final, 1978
Navratilova and Evert met an astonishing 60 times in event finals with their 1978 Wimbledon showdown probably the pick of them. Evert made a strong start but Navratilova struck back to win an enthralling match 2-6 6-4 7-5.

STEFFI GRAF v JANA NOVOTNA, final, 1993
An eventful final that saw Novotna burst into tears after losing a match she looked set to win. The Czech was making unstoppable progress and was just a point away from securing a 5-1 lead in the final set, only for Graf to triumph 7-6 1-6 6-4.

CONCHITA MARTINEZ v MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, final, 1994
Navratilova was nearing the end of her career at 37 but she produced a magnificent display that earned her the longest standing ovation Centre Court has ever seen. The youth of Martinez eventually told with the Spaniard winning 6-4 3-6 6-3.





[source sky sports news]

[Detomah]

Bjorn Borg v John McEnroe 1980 final for me in the mens, it is the first major mens final I can remember and nothing has come close to it for me since. Only thing that's likely to top that for me would be if an English male player managed to win Wimbledon.

Virginia Wade v Betty Stove 1977 final for the women, was the queens silver jubilee year and I remember this match being celebrated nearly as much and Virginia Wade almost being made an honorary member of the royal family for the victory. I vaguely remember watching the match on a black and white tv, although the details of the match itself elude me. Closely in second for me would be pretty much any Wimbledon final that featured Navratilova, as she was basically in a league of her own and as she proved, in her prime she could even hold her own against the best men in the game, she's the one tennis player i'd have actually loved to have watched live and would have paid to have see play (well maybe Kornikova, Hengis or Sharapova, but that would have been for completely different reasons).