Wimbledon is weird. Honestly, there is no other way to describe it. You’ve got the world’s best athletes running around on what is essentially a slippery garden, wearing all-white outfits like they’re at a fancy 1920s garden party, and trying to hit a yellow ball that bounces lower than a politician's approval rating. But that’s the charm, right? The winners of Wimbledon tennis aren't just the people who hit the ball the hardest. They’re the ones who survive the chaos of the grass.
The New Guard and the 2025 Shocker
If you haven't been paying attention for the last year or two, the hierarchy has completely flipped. For a long time, it was just the "Big Three" passing the trophy around like a family heirloom. Not anymore.
In 2024, Carlos Alcaraz looked like he was going to start a decade-long residency on Centre Court. He absolutely dismantled Novak Djokovic in straight sets—6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4)—to defend his title. It was brutal. It was fast. It felt like a passing of the torch that had been surgically glued to Djokovic's hand for years.
But then 2025 happened.
Jannik Sinner decided he wanted a piece of history. In a final that lasted over three hours, Sinner did something most people thought was impossible: he out-grinded Alcaraz on the lawn. After dropping the first set 4-6, the Italian stayed incredibly calm. He didn't panic. He just kept hitting those laser-like backhands until Alcaraz eventually blinked. Sinner took the next three sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to become the first-ever Italian man to win the singles title at SW19.
It was a masterclass in "controlled aggression." Sinner only hit two double faults the entire match. Think about that for a second. In the biggest match of his life, under that kind of pressure, his arm didn't shake once.
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The Women’s Draw is a Wild Ride
While the men’s side is starting to settle into a Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry, the women’s side has been a total "hold my drink" situation. We haven't had a successful title defense in the ladies' singles since Serena Williams did it back in 2016.
Check out the last few years of winners of Wimbledon tennis on the women's side:
- 2025: Iga Świątek (Finally figured out the grass)
- 2024: Barbora Krejčíková (The ultimate tactical genius)
- 2023: Markéta Vondroušová (The first unseeded woman to win it)
- 2022: Elena Rybakina (The quietest powerhouse in the game)
Iga Świątek’s win in 2025 was especially huge. For years, the narrative was that she couldn't play on grass. Her heavy topspin was supposed to be a liability. But in the 2025 final, she basically turned into a brick wall against Amanda Anisimova, winning 6-0, 6-0. A "double bagel" in a Grand Slam final is basically unheard of. It was almost uncomfortable to watch.
Why Some Legends Just "Get" the Grass
Success at Wimbledon is about footwork and geometry. On hard courts, you can slide. On clay, you must slide. On grass? If you slide the wrong way, you’re looking at a groin injury and an early flight home.
Roger Federer is the king here for a reason. Eight titles. He moved like he was floating an inch above the turf. Martina Navratilova is the actual GOAT of the All England Club, though, with nine singles titles. She understood that grass rewards the brave. You have to move forward. You have to shorten the points.
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Novak Djokovic, who is sitting on seven titles, proved that you can also win by being a human rubber band. He modified his movement to "skate" on the grass, which sounds insane until you see him do it. But even his legendary elasticity has limits, as we saw in his recent losses to the younger generation.
The Mental Toll of the Rain
Let's talk about the roof. People think the roof solved everything. It didn't.
When they close the roof on Centre Court or No. 1 Court, the humidity spikes. The ball moves differently. The sound changes—it’s louder, more echoing. Some winners of Wimbledon tennis have actually struggled with this transition. You can be up a break, the clouds open up, there's a 20-minute delay to close the roof, and suddenly the momentum is gone.
Managing those "dead" periods in the locker room is half the battle. Do you eat? Do you nap? Do you stare at a wall?
What the Stats Don’t Tell You
Everyone looks at aces and winners. Boring.
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The real stat to watch at Wimbledon is "Second Serve Points Won." Because the grass is uneven, a second serve is a massive target. If you can’t protect your second serve, you’re toast. In the 2025 final, Sinner won 63% of his second serve points. Alcaraz was down at 58%. That tiny 5% gap is where the trophy was won.
Also, look at the unforced errors. On grass, an unforced error often happens because the ball took a "bad hop." A true champion doesn't complain to the ref about the dirt; they just adjust their strings and move on.
The Road to 2026: What’s Next?
If you're looking to follow the next crop of winners of Wimbledon tennis, keep an eye on these specific trends:
- The Return of the Slice: Players like Ons Jabeur have shown that the backhand slice is a deadly weapon again. It stays so low on the grass that opponents have to "dig" the ball out of the dirt.
- The Sinner Era: With his 2025 victory, Jannik Sinner has proven he is the best all-surface player in the world right now. Can he do the "Channel Slam" (French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back)?
- The Health Factor: Look at the grass-court lead-up tournaments like Queen’s Club and Halle. If a player isn't moving 100% there, they won't survive seven rounds at Wimbledon.
To truly understand this tournament, you have to watch the first week. The grass is lush and green. By the second Sunday, the baseline is nothing but brown dust and dry dirt. The game actually changes as the surface dies.
Next Steps for Tennis Fans:
- Track the 2026 Warm-ups: Watch the results at the Libéma Open and Stuttgart in June. This is where you see who has their "grass legs" under them.
- Analyze Serve Percentages: Before betting or picking a bracket, look at "First Serve In" percentages. If a player is below 60%, they are vulnerable to an upset.
- Study the Draw: Wimbledon seeds are no longer based on a special "grass-court formula" (they stopped that in 2021), so the standard ATP/WTA rankings apply. This often leads to "clay specialists" being seeded higher than they probably should be on grass. Use that to spot early-round upsets.