Successful in Transition @Wimbledon
There have been only six players who after winning the boy’s or girl’s singles titles have gone on to secure victories at the Gentlemen and Ladies singles events at the All England Club
Martina Navratilova once famously said, “Wimbledon is like a drug. Once you win it for the first time you feel you’ve just got to do it again and again and again…”
There are some players who tasted this drug only once in their respective careers. Michael Stich (1991), Richard Krajicek (1996) and Conchita Martinez (1994) are prominent examples in this category. There are others who could not taste it for years but kept coming back till they got to taste it. The best examples in this category are Jana Novotna (1998) and Goran Ivanisevic (2001).
Then, there are those who wanted this drug badly, but it proved beyond their reach. Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Andy Roddick are cases in point.
Amid these, there are only six players who got a chance to take this drug while still at the earliest stage of their careers (as juniors), and the addiction was such that they couldn’t resist the temptation thereafter. These players happen to be the only ones (in the Open Era) to have won the boy’s or girl’s singles title, and followed it up with victories at the Gentlemen and Ladies singles events.
Here’s looking at this elite group of players who became Wimbledon champions both as juniors, and in the main competition.
Bjorn Borg (Sweden)
Who else but Bjorn Borg can be the first of the lot.
As a 16-year-old, the Swede beat Briton Buster Mottram 6–3, 4–6, 7–5 in the boys’ singles final in 1972 to mark his arrival at the Centre Court.
He made his men’s singles debut a year later, with an opening round win over India’s Premjit Lall. He would eventually make the quarter-finals and lose to another Briton, Roger Taylor in five sets. Three years later, he would go on to beat Romanian Ilie Nastase in straight sets for his first title.
Borg dominated Wimbledon for the next few years — winning five titles and finishing runner’s up to McEnroe in 1981 and compiling a 51–4 career singles match record.
Even though Pete Sampras, and later Roger Federer, dominated at the Big W later and won more titles, Borg’s dominance outweighs them for the sheer quality of his opponents.
Pat Cash (Australia)
The Australian had made early waves in 1981, when he was the world’s top-ranked junior. A year later, he made his point clear, with back-to-back junior titles at Wimbledon and the US Open.
His 6–4, 6–7 (5), 6–3 win over second-ranked Swede Henrik Sundstrom in the 1982 boys’ final signaled the coming of age of a rising young star. Few points for guessing he turned pro that same year and also won his first senior title in Melbourne.
His first appearance in the men’s singles competition at the All England Club would end with a straight sets fourth round loss to Ivan Lendl.
In 1984, Cash reached the semi-finals before losing in three sets to eventual champion, John McEnroe. However, the Australian also was the runner-up in the men’s doubles that year and also in 1985.
His moment of glory finally came in 1987.
He beat Mats Wilander in the quarter-finals and two-time champion Jimmy Connors in the semi-finals, before exacting revenge on Lendl in the final.
Cash won in straight sets [7–6 (5), 6–2, 7–5], before climbing up the stands and going to the players’ box at Centre Court, where he celebrated with his family. This started a Wimbledon tradition that was been followed by many other champions thereafter.
That triumph at the All England Club just about summed up the Australian’s career.
Stefan Edberg (Sweden)
Beautiful lyrics interwoven to the tune of Wimbledon. Poetry in motion. No matter how it is put in words, explaining Stefan Edberg playing on the grass at Wimbledon will always require a bit more.
The Swede and the Centre Court made for a perfect couple.
It was teen marriage. Well, literally. Edberg was still in his teens when he won the boys’ singles title in 1983, with a 6–3, 7–6 win over Australian John Frawley.
He went onto complete the junior Grand Slam that year, and remains the only player to achieve that feat.
The transition to men’s singles was immediate. Edberg was simultaneously playing in the men’s singles in 1983, where he suffered a second round exit at the hands of fellow-Swede Henrik Sundstrom.
There were a few hiccups in the following years till he finally made his presence felt with a semi-final showing in 1987, losing to Ivan Lendl in four sets.
In 1988, Edberg proved his point, a four-set win [4–6, 7–6 (2), 6–4, 6–2] over Boris Becker giving him his first title. The duo would play in the next two finals, Becker winning in 1989 and Edberg returning the compliment in 1990, this five-set encounter is without doubt one of the best title deciders ever played at the All England Club.
There have been many champions at Wimbledon but few have been as graceful as the genial Swede.
Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
This might as well incur the wrath of die-hard Martina Hingis fans, but it won’t be entirely wrong to say that Hingis was simply not cut out for the Big W. Her game wasn’t suited to the conditions, and the lack of a good serve would eventually prove to be her undoing.
Having said that, ‘Swiss Miss’ still made her presence felt at the All England Club and has some achievements to defy the above arguments.
Hingis, who in 1993, became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam junior title (at 12) when she won the girls’ singles at the French Open, retained her French title in 1994, and also won the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon, with a 7–5, 6–4 win over M R Jeon of South Korea.
Her women’s singles debut ended in an opening round exit in 1995, but a year later, she became the youngest Wimbledon champion when she teamed with Czech Helena Sukova to win the women’s doubles title at age 15 years and 9 months.
In 1997, the Swiss became the youngest singles champion at Wimbledon since Lottie Dod in 1887 when she beat Jana Novotna in a three-set final. Taking advantage of a weak draw Hingis reached the final without dropping a set, dropped the first in the decider before coming back to win 2–6, 6–3, 6–3.
The win was more about the Czech’s mental frailties as much as it was about Hingis’s doggedness. Novotna did prove her point a year later, beating Hingis en route to title.
But, by then, ‘Swiss Miss’ had already become a member of this elite list.
Amelie Mauresmo (France)
In 1996, Amelie Mauresmo won the double at Wimbledon. In the junior category, to be more specific.
A 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 win over Spaniard Magui Serna was followed by a doubles triumph partnering Olga Barabanschikova of Belarus.
The Frenchwoman would make her women’s singles debut as a losing qualifier a year later and it would take her five years to make an impact in that category. However, between 2002 and 2005, she made the semi-finals thrice (did not play in 2003).
In fact, her 2004 three-set semi-final defeat at the hands of American Serena Williams was rated by veteran BBC Commentator John Barrett as one of the best matches ever.
But in 2006, exactly 10 years after her junior triumph, Mauresmo had her moment of glory at the All England Club. As the top seed, she defeated Anastasia Myskina in the quarter-finals and Maria Sharapova in the semis before overcoming a first set deficit to defeat Justine Henin in the final 2–6, 6–3, 6–4.
The victory made her the first French woman since the legendary Suzanne Lenglen (in 1923) to win Wimbledon. France didn’t have to wait very long for another winner, with Marion Bartoli emerging victorious in 2013.
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
Roger Federer has won 19 titles on grass. Eight of them happen to be at Wimbledon, and it is an Open Era record.
The Swiss had his first brush with glory at the All England Club as a junior.
A 6–4, 6–4 win over Irakli Labadze of Georgia in the boys’ singles final in 1998 gave him his first Wimbledon title at any level.
His first appearance in the men’s singles came a year later in 1999, ending in an opening round defeat to Czech Jiri Novak.
However, in 2001, Federer shocked everyone with a five-set fourth round win over defending champion Pete Sampras. He would go on to lose to Tim Henman in the quarters that year. In 2002, he was beaten by Mario Ancic of Croatia in the opening round.
Then started a run of victories, which resulted in five straight titles from 2003–07. The Swiss became only the second player (after Bjorn Borg) in the Open Era to achieve the feat. He also compiled a 41 match win streak before coming up short against Rafael Nadal in the 2008 final.
Federer retained the title in 2009, beating Roddick 16–14 in the fifth, and has since added titles in 2012 and 2017 while also being the finalist in 2014, 2015 and 2019 — losing to Novak Djokovic on all the three occasions.
Does he have another Wimbledon title in him? Suffice to say Federer winning again at the All England Club will ensure a fairytale end to a saga that began at the same venue.
