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Memorable Moments in Tennis History Timeline

Jul 11th 2015
Wimbledon

Since tennis first arrived on the sporting scene back in the late 1800s, there have been a wide array of memorable moments. Many of them will continue to be iconic moments that inspired a sporting generation, or created glorious memories for thoughts who witnessed them. It's difficult to make a small definitive list of the most memorable moments in the history of tennis, but this timeline by FBD Insurance offers fans an interactive 3D window into many of them. Explore at your leisure as Wimbledon reaches its climax.

As an appetizer, here are a few notable moments from the annals of the sport that related to Wimbledon.

First Wimbledon Tournament in 1877

Wimbledon made its first appearance in 1877 with 22 male players competing for the inaugural championship. Spencer Gore became the first winner after a relatively straightforward 6-1 6-2 6-4 win in the final. Gore said that he thought the game of tennis was boring and decided to quit the game after losing his title defence the following year.

Ted Shroeder Winning Wimbledon 1949

American Ted Shroeder became known as 'Lucky Ted' after this championship and it is not hard to see why. He fought back in his first round match from two sets down to progress, and then followed that with a lucky miss-hit winner in the quarter finals. If that wasn't enough, his semi-final and final match all went to five sets. Remarkably, this was the only Wimbledon championship that Ted Shroeder competed in.

Arthur Ashe Winning Wimbledon 1975

Arthur Ashe made history in 1975 by becoming the first male African-American player to win at Wimbledon. He did so after beating Jimmy Connors in the final. It looked like Ashe was going to run away with it when he won the first two sets 6-1 6-1, but Connors fought back and forced a fourth set, where Ashe went on to make history.

John Isner vs. Nicholas Mahut at Wimbledon 2010

Even though this was only a first round game, the clash between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut become one of the longest and most infamous tennis games in history. Playing on court for a massive 11 hours and five minutes over the course of three days, Isner finally won the tie-break in the deciding set 70-68. It attracting the attention of the entire world and made news headlines everywhere. Never has a match in the first round of a tournament become so infamous.

Andy Murray Winning Wimbledon 2013

After nearly 80 years since the last British winner of Wimbledon, the wait was finally over when Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the final. Despite winning the first two sets in the sweltering heat at SW19, Djokovic fought back and forced Murray to play another difficult set before the Scotsman won the title. Nothing will have inspired a generation more than watching Murray make history in the manner that he did.