2001 Wimbledon Championships

2001 Wimbledon Championships
Date25 June – 9 July
Edition115th
CategoryGrand Slam (ITF)
Draw128S/64D/64XD
Prize money£8,525,280
SurfaceGrass
LocationChurch Road
SW19, Wimbledon,
London, United Kingdom
VenueAll England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Champions
Men's singles
Croatia Goran Ivanišević
Women's singles
United States Venus Williams
Men's doubles
United States Donald Johnson / United States Jared Palmer
Women's doubles
United States Lisa Raymond / Australia Rennae Stubbs
Mixed doubles
Czech Republic Leoš Friedl / Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová
Boys' singles
Switzerland Roman Valent
Girls' singles
Indonesia Angelique Widjaja
Boys' doubles
Canada Frank Dancevic / Ecuador Giovanni Lapentti
Girls' doubles
Argentina Gisela Dulko / United States Ashley Harkleroad
← 2000 · Wimbledon Championships · 2002 →

The 2001 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom, held from 25 June to 9 July 2001.[1][2] It was the 115th edition of the Wimbledon Championships, part of the 2001 ATP and WTA Tours, and it was the third Grand Slam tennis event of the year.

The tournament was the first in Wimbledon's 124-year history in which 32 players in the men's and women's draws were seeded, instead of the usual sixteen.[3] This move was made to appease clay court players who were unhappy with the traditional seeding system, which favoured grass court results over those of other surfaces.[4]

Pete Sampras was unsuccessful in his defence of the men's singles title, losing in the fourth round to 19-year-old Roger Federer, who was then relatively unknown. Goran Ivanišević won the title, defeating 2000 runner-up Pat Rafter in the final in five sets. Ivanišević had previously been runner-up three times (1992, 1994 and 1998), but had fallen to number 125 in the world by 2001 and had only entered the 2001 tournament after being granted a wild card. Venus Williams successfully defended the women's singles title, beating 19-year-old Justine Henin in the final in three sets. Henin became the first Belgian player to reach a Wimbledon final. Top seed Martina Hingis was beaten by Virginia Ruano Pascual in the first round.

It was originally scheduled to end on 8 July 2001, but the semifinal match between Ivanišević and Tim Henman was played on three separate days due to rain, and that was extended to 9 July, causing the women's singles and women's doubles championships moved to Day 13.

  1. ^ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. ISBN 978-0942257700.
  2. ^ Barrett, John (2001). Wimbledon : The Official History of the Championships. London: CollinsWillow. ISBN 0007117078.
  3. ^ "Grand Slam Tourneys Change Seeding Process". The New York Times. 12 June 2001.
  4. ^ "Sampras, Hingis top seeds at Wimbledon; Rafter benefits". CNN. Archived from the original on 26 June 2001.