Top 10 Wimbledon Finals

We've delved into the archives and look back at the best Wimbledon singles finals of the Open Era.

10: 1995 - Steffi Graf v Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario

The top two seeds with very contrasting styles met in the women’s singles final back in 1995.

Graf was a power player with the ability to serve and volley, with Sanchez-Vicario’s touch style was more suited to clay courts.

The Spaniard looked to be on her way to a first SW19 title after winning the first set 6-4, but then Graf took control and made it six Wimbledon victories by claiming the last two sets 6-1 7-5.

9: 2005 - Venus Williams v Lindsay Davenport

An all-American affair saw Williams and Davenport go head-to-head on Centre Court in what was an epic women’s singles final.

Having lost the opening set, Venus fought back to win the second on a tie-break and then claim her third Wimbledon title after an enthralling deciding set.

Williams won the third set 9-7, with the match lasting two hours and 45 minutes.

8: 1993 - Steffi Graf v Jana Novotna

The 1993 women’s singles final will be forever remembered for a tearful ending after an enthralling three-set clash between two top-10 players.

Graf had won the last two Wimbledon titles going into the showdown with Novotna and took the first set on a tie-break.

Novotna - playing in her first SW19 final - swept to second-set success, losing just one game and the Czech star then went 4-1 up in the decider and looked to be on course for her first Grand Slam title.

But Graf won the next five games to fight back and make it three in a row, leaving Novotna to shed a tear or two on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent at the presentation.

7: 2019 - Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer

The top two men’s seeds made it through to the Centre Court final in 2019 and the match went on to be the longest final in Wimbledon history.

Djokovic was the defending champion while Federer, aged 38, was looking for his eighth Wimbledon title after victory in 2017.

It took a mammoth four hours and 57 minutes to eventually separate the two men, with Djokovic finally winning 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12 in an absolute thriller.

6: 1978 - Martina Navratilova v Chris Evert

Navratilova and Evert won 13 Wimbledon singles titles between them and built up a huge rivalry during the 1970s and 80s.

The pair faced each other no fewer than five times in SW19 finals, with Navratilova winning on each occasion.

The final in 1978 was their most memorable meeting, with Evert - who was going for her third title - taking an early advantage by winning the first set 6-2.

But Navratilova, two years younger than her opponent, came from behind to win the next two sets and begin a dynasty at the All England Club.

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5: 2009 - Roger Federer v Andy Roddick

This was the third time these two players met in the Wimbledon final and they produced the longest men’s singles major final at that time - needing a mammoth 77 games to find the winner.

Federer was looking for his sixth SW19 title, but fell a set down before taking a 2-1 lead. Roddick then levelled the match by winning the fourth 6-3.

The whole match was four hours and 17 minutes long and the fifth and deciding set itself took 95 minutes to complete, before Federer eventually won it 16-14.

4: 2001 - Goran Ivanisevic v Pat Rafter

The story behind the victory was as good as the success itself for the big-serving Ivanisevic, who had lost three previous Wimbledon finals.

The Croatian star became the first ever wildcard to win a Grand Slam title and was the first unseeded player since Boris Becker, in 1985, to lift the singles trophy on Centre Court.

Due to several rain delays earlier in the week, the final was eventually played on a Monday and Ivanisevic won a five-set thriller in front of a raucous crowd - claiming the final set 9-7 - as Rafter lost in the final for the second consecutive year.

3: 2002 - Serena Williams v Venus Williams

Only once before had two siblings played in a women’s singles final at Wimbledon - the Watson sisters way back in 1884 - prior to the meeting of the Williams sisters in 2002.

It was older sibling Venus that was the defending champion, but it was younger sister Serena who took the spoils with a 7-6, 6-3 success.

That win saw the younger Williams claim her first Wimbledon title, as well as securing the world number one spot. They both returned to the final in 2003, when Serena won again - this time in three sets.

2: 1980 - Bjorn Borg v John McEnroe

One of the most iconic Wimbledon matches saw the ice-cool Swedish star Borg face his brash American rival McEnroe.

Borg had won four consecutive SW19 titles, but had never faced McEnroe in the final and it was the American who surged in front, winning the first set 6-1.

The defending champion’s experience eventually proved crucial, with the then 24-year-old beating the 21-year-old in five sets - 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6.

1: 2008 - Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer

Widely described as the best tennis match of all-time, anyone who watched the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final will never forget it.

The two top players of a generation went head-to-head on the hallowed turf of SW19, with Federer going for a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title.

The Swiss ace started as the favourite, but suffered his Grand Slam final defeat outside of the French Open, with Nadal winning an epic after almost five hours of play.

It was the Spaniard’s first Wimbledon title, eventually coming out on top in five sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7.