Wimbledon wouldn’t be Wimbledon without the Americans!
USA
July 15, 2024
Try to imagine Wimbledon over the years without Americans. It just wouldn’t have been the same, would it?
Rebellious, record-breaking, glamorous or just utterly brilliant, the Americans always add something – and that’s why we can’t wait to welcome them in 2025. A new generation of US stars has risen to the top – and they’re already fascinating to watch.
COCO GAUFF
Coco Gauff first captured British hearts at the 2019 Championships, when she beat the great Venus Williams at the tender age of fifteen. An epic comeback on Centre Court against Polona Hercog further ignited global interest. From that moment, it felt as though an American youngster had come of age at Wimbledon – and we loved her for it.
We welcome Coco back to Wimbledon 2025 as a Grand Slam singles champion. And we don’t mind admitting that we were cheering her all the way as she secured the 2023 US Open title. Everyone loves Coco. Her extraordinary talent apart, she is quite obviously such a caring person. American and British fans will create fresh Coco-Mania at Wimbledon 2025. The atmosphere and strength of support for her should be truly special. Gauff has reached the fourth round three times at the All England Club, including last time out. But we have a feeling she is destined to win Wimbledon one day. Could 2025 be Coco’s year?
JESSICA PEGULA and EMMA NAVARRO
For all the continued spotlight on Coco Gauff, two other American stars can share the pressure of expectation at Wimbledon 2025. In fact the super-talented Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro have been even further than Coco in the singles at Wimbledon. Pegula reached the quarter-finals in 2023 and Navarro astonished everyone with her breakthrough run to the quarter-finals in 2024. America is truly blessed to have Coco and Emma representing their new generation. As Wimbledon 2025 approaches, hopes are high and the future is bright for American women’s tennis. And watching Navarro, Gauff and Pegula at Wimbledon 2025 is going to be thrilling.
TAYLOR TOWNSEND
Let’s not forget there was an American winner at Wimbledon 2024! Taylor Townsend was part of a triumphant women’s double act alongside Katerina Siniakova. They defeated Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Kiwi Erin Routliffe thanks to a pair of dramatic tie-breaks in the final. There’s no reason why the USA can’t boast at least one doubles title winner at Wimbledon 2025 too!
FRITZ, PAUL, SHELTON AND TIAFOE
Tommy Paul is perhaps the least celebrated of this amazing American quartet among the wider sporting public. And yet he surprised many by reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2024, after winning the warm-up Queen’s tournament in London on grass. No one will be underestimating Tommy Paul’s ability to claim silverware going into Wimbledon 2025!
And who can forget the epic Wimbledon quarter-final between Taylor Fritz and the great Rafael Nadal in 2022? It was Nadal who edged that classic encounter – but Fritz came of age and won so many new fans at Wimbledon that year. He could have gone one better at Wimbledon 2024 – but was surprisingly edged out by Loranzo Musetti in their quarter-final. At Wimbledon 2025, Fritz could finally have that winning blend of confidence and experience to go all the way.
Ben Shelton’s big breakthrough came at the 2023 US Open, typified by his exciting quarter-final victory over his compatriot Frances Tiafoe. That tells us plenty about the future awaiting American men’s tennis. Like Coco Gauff, Shelton is a supreme tennis entertainer and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon 2024. Tiafoe went that far two years earlier and remains just as explosive.
There’s a depth to the anticipated American challenge at Wimbledon 2025 that will create growing excitement and evoke memories of times gone by.
ICONIC
So many of Wimbledon’s most iconic moments have involved Americans. John McEnroe yelling ‘you cannot be serious.’ at the umpire in 1981. (Tournament Referee Alan Mills once admitted that McEnroe was usually right when he exploded.) And how we were moved by Arthur Ashe’s monumental title win six years later! Who can forget Pete Sampras winning Wimbledon for the seventh time in 2000? Meanwhile it’s an indisputable fact that American women have taken most of the Wimbledon singles titles since the late 1920s. Maureen Connolly won three titles in succession in the 1950s and Billie-Jean King took six, starting in 1966.
FUSION
There is a glorious Wimbledon-Hollywood fusion that you can feel in the air each year, and it gives this particular Grand Slam even more glamour. Over the years we have seen the likes of Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller and Robert Redford strolling around the grounds of the All England Club, just soaking up the wonderful history of the place. And yet Wimbledon has also had to move smoothly with the times to remain such an outstanding success. And Americans have never been slow to point out where The Championships needed modernising when it came to facilities, officiating, prize money and equality. So another fusion, between past and future, has also owed a lot to the American influence as Wimbledon adapted to stay on top of the game.
SPECIAL
Andy Roddick, who lost three finals to Roger Federer but made so many friends when he lost that epic fifth set 14-16 in 2019, best expressed what Wimbledon means to Americans. ‘Wimbledon is our special place. It’s our Augusta, where someone who has never seen tennis in their life can walk through and appreciate…it’s not even a conversation that it’s the most special venue in tennis.’
SUBVERSION
Since the days of Bill Tilden and Don Budge in the1920s and 1930s, the Americans have always been able to boast multiple Wimbledon winners. The feisty Jimmy Connors divided opinion with his controversial fits of rage on his way to victories in 1974 and 1982. Not as much as McEnroe, who triumphed in 1981, 1983 and 1984. British crowds were shocked and even a little thrilled by the subversion of Connors and McEnroe. It lives long and rather deliciously in the memory.
SERENA
We can’t conclude this tribute to Wimbledon’s Americans without saying farewell to the great Serena Williams. Thank you Serena, and your sister Venus, for your remarkable contribution to Wimbledon in the 21st Century. Serena and Venus were so dominant that they took seven and five singles titles respectively.
DRAMATIC FUTURE
The future is bright for American tennis. And Wimbledon is a natural destination for all tennis-loving Americans. That’s the way it has always been. The British love it that way too! That’s why Americans will always be made to feel so very welcome at the All England Club. We can’t wait to see what fresh glamour and drama you will bring to the party in 2025!