When American Men Owned Wimbledon: A Look Back at the 90’s

As we look forward to the beginning of the historic Wimbledon tennis tournament, fans of U.S. tennis have to wonder: where are all the Americans? Entering next week’s play, there are only three U.S. players in the Top 50 Men’s Singles Ranking, with the highest placing player being John Isner at #12. (Frances Tiafoe is at #39 and Taylor Fritz is at #42) so the chances of an American winning Wimbledon in 2019 are, again, pretty slim. In fact, the last time a U.S. player even made the Final was 10 years ago during the last years of Andy Roddick’s career, and he eventually lost to Roger Federer. (I mean, who didn't?)

Of course, a large part of the reason no American has won in London is the continued reign of the iron horses that are Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic (and, at least at Wimbledon, Andy Murray.) Between these 4 players, they’ve won the tournament every year for the past 16 years. They’ll retire someday, right? 

Until then, let’s take a look back at the time just before they started hogging the plates for themselves, when American men reigned supreme: the 1990’s. It was the end of the John McEnroe/Jimmy Connors era of U.S. tennis, as well as the reigns of Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. There was a new wave of players coming into their own, playing a new style of tennis, and ready to make the game their own.

1991 (A Taste of Things To Come)

After a 3 year boycott (because they wouldn’t allow him to dress in his distinctive colorful attire) the “rebel” Andre Agassi returned to the All England Club, and was seeded 5^th behind Edberg, Becker, Ivan Lendl, and fellow American Jim Courier, with U.S. players Pete Sampras and Michael Chang seeded 8^th and 9^th. While he went out in the quarters in a year that an all-German final was won by Michael Stich, Agassi showed he was ready to be taken seriously, especially in all-white.

1992 (The Rebel With A Cause)

While all the focus was on Jim Courier to become the first man to win on all surfaces in a single year (he’d already won the French Open on clay and the Australian Open on hard court) this was the event in which the reign of Agassi and Sampras would truly begin. The four semi-finalists were Sampras, Agassi, Goran Ivanisovic and John McEnroe, who was playing in his last men’s singles Wimbledon tournament. Agassi dispatched McEnroe, while Ivanisovic upset Sampras, leading to a 5 set finale, where Agassi won his first Grand Slam tourney, a career breakthrough that brought much needed legitimacy to his already high profile image.

1993 (Pete Wins His First)

Despite not having won any Grand Slams since 1990, when he won the U.S. Open, Sampras was controversially ranked #1 in the world and the tournament. He proved his ranking by making quick work of his opponents on his way to the semis, where he defeated Agassi in a 5 set match, then easily handled Boris Becker, before winning his first Wimbledon with a tight four-set triumph over Jim Courier.  

1994-1995 (Sampras Adds On)

Sampras won his second and third Wimbledon titles. In 1994, he got his plate by beating 5 different American opponents on his way to the final against Goran Ivanisovic. In 1995, he won despite entering the tourney ranked #2 to Agassi. Alas, his fellow American was defeated in the semis by Boris Becker, who Sampras eventually beat in the final, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

1996 (The Hiccup)

A strange year at The All England Club saw Agassi, Michael Chang, and Jim Courier all eliminated in the first round, with Sampras losing to 17^th ranked Richard Krajicek in the quarters. Oddly enough, two other Americans, 13^th ranked Todd Martin and unranked Malivai Washington, made it to the semis as well, with Krajicek beating the upstart Washington in the final.

1997-2000 (The Reign of Sampras)

Many people found Pete Sampras boring, especially compared to Agassi and his predecessors McEnroe and Connors. Well, they got a whole lot of boring in the late 90’s, with Sampras ruling over the grass court, winning titles over Cedric Pioline (1997), Ivanisovic (1998), Agassi (1999) and Patrick Rafter.

2001 (The End Of An Era...And The Beginning Of A New One)

Seeded #1 yet again, Sampras looked to sew up a fifth straight title in 2001, but met some 19 year-old upstart in the 4^th Round named Roger Federer. A 5-set classic, Federer won 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in the only match ever played between the two. Goran Ivanisovic eventually won the plate, becoming the first Wild Card entrant ever (he was ranked #125 at the time) to win a Grand Slam.

And that was also the end of the American’s stranglehold on Wimbledon. Two years later the same Federer would start his own streak, eventually surpassing Sampras’ record of 7 Wimbledon titles with his 8^thin 2017, while the closest a U.S. player has gotten were Andy Roddick’s defeats to Federer in the 2004, 2005, and 2009 Finals.

Can Federer make it to nine this year? Will John Isner or another American surprise everyone and make some noise this year?

Check out the latest odds and place your bets!