For a long time, serve-and-volley players ruled at Wimbledon. Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras in the men’s tournament, and Martina Navratilova in the women’s, made the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club their exclusive domain. As the fastest surface, grass rewarded the boldest players, those who charged to the net. Wimbledon was won at the net, nowhere else.
“The bounce was so low and the ball skidded so much that it was the only possible tactic,” recalled Patrice Hagelauer, former national technical director of the French Tennis Federation, who also held the same role at the British federation from 1998 to 2002. Of course, there were exceptions. Thanks to their returns and passing shots, Björn Borg and Andre Agassi also left their mark on the history of “The Championships,” as Wimbledon is also known.
But, starting in the summer of 2002, everything changed. A glance at the winners over the past two decades is enough to confirm it. Since then, in the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic has won seven times, and Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz twice each. Neither Roger Federer (eight titles) nor Andy Murray (two wins) can be considered “pure” serve-and-volley players, as they were also accomplished defensive players. The last player to win in London using all-out attacking play remains Goran Ivanisevic, in 2001.
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