Wimbledon 2012: the greatest 25 moments - in pictures

1936: Fred Perry wins his third consecutive title Following triumphs in 1934 and 1935, Perry signed off in by clinching the Wimbledon title for the third time in a row, and, as was the custom, being allowed to keep the original trophy. It was one of the most one-sided Wimbledon finals as Perry beat Baron Gottfried von Cramm 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in a match that lasted only 45 minutes. Perry remains the last Briton to win the men’s championship. Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

1968: Rod Laver wins first Open era title Laver, who had turned professional after completing the grand slam in 1962, was finally able to compete in a major event again as a professional when the Open era began in 1968. He beat Tony Roche in straight sets in the final 6–3, 6–4, 6–2. Photograph: George Freston/Getty Images

1969: Ann Jones upsets Billie Jean King King dominated tennis during the 1960s and having won three Wimbledon titles in a row was expected to breeze past the Briton. But Jones managed a thrilling third set comeback with her support on Centre Court unsettling the American. Jones triumphed 3-6 6-3 6-2 in her last grand slam singles event. Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

1975: Arthur Ashe’s unexpected win Ashe was 32, a surprise finalist, and playing against Jimmy Connors, who was 10 years younger and the defending Wimbledon champion. No one anticipated that Ashe would outplay his brash opponent, forcing Connors outside his comfort zone with acute angles to win 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. It was Ashe’s first Wimbledon title, his third slam, and, in a historic moment for the sport, he became the first black male to win the Wimbledon. Photograph: Focus On Sport/Getty Images

1977: Virginia Wade wins ladies singles Wade triumphed in the centenary year of the competition in front of the Queen in her Silver Jubilee year. It was Wade’s 16th appearance at Wimbledon and her first singles final, courtesy of defeating, Chris Evert in the semi-finals. Wade beat Betty Stöve in three sets to claim the championship, nine days before her 32nd birthday with the crowd chorusing ‘For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ in celebration as she received the trophy from the Queen. Photograph: Tony Duffy/Getty Images

1980: Borg v McEnroe: the epic tie-break Borg was aiming to win a fifth successive Wimbledon title in the men’s singles final, McEnroe was in his first final at 21. The match was poised 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6–6 when the fourth set tie-break began. The epic 34-point tie-break took 22 minutes with Borg having match point five times but the set ended 18-16 in McEnroe’s favour. Borg, though, won the final set 8-6 to clinch the trophy Photograph: Getty

1981: John McEnroe’s rant - ‘You can not be serious’ McEnroe’s infamous words were spat towards umpire Ted James in the American’s first-round match against Tom Gullikson after a serve was ruled out. He later called the umpire the “pits of the world” and having demanded the referee, Fred Hoyles, come to the court, then insulted him as well. McEnroe was fined, not thrown out of SW19 to the horror of some, and went on to win the tournament, avenging his defeat by Bjorn Borg in the final the previous year. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Bob Thomas/Getty Images

1985: Boris Becker is youngest champion Becker actually set three new marks when he became the then youngest ever Wimbledon champion at the age of 17, simultaneously becoming the the first German to win the tournament and the first unseeded player to clinch the trophy Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images

1987: Pat Cash climbs grandstand Little did Cash know that he would be starting a tradition when he became the first player to celebrate his Wimbledon victory with his family by emotionally climbing the grandstand after defeating Ivan Lendl 7-6, 6-2, 7-5 to win the championship. It was the Australian’s only grand slam title Photograph: Getty Images

1988: Graf on way to golden slam Stefi Graf had already won the Australian Open and French Open going into Wimbledon. Her opponent in the final was Martina Navratilova. Graf was trailing 7–5, 2–0 before coming through to win the final two sets 6–2, 6–1. She went on to defeat Gabriela Sabatini in the US Open to complete the golden slam Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images

1990: Martina Navratilova wins her ninth singles title At 33, Navratilova was the fourth oldest player in history to win Wimbledon when she passed won a record ninth singles title. Having lost the previous two finals to Steffi Graf, Navratilova described her emphatic 6-4, 6-1 victory over friend Zina Garrison, thus: ‘This tops it all, absolutely, because I’ve worked so hard and so long for it’. Photograph: Getty Images

1991: The first People’s Sunday So badly was the 1991 tournament affected by the rain that for the first time, play was scheduled to take place on the middle Sunday, with low-cost tickets and unreserved seating on the show courts. Photograph: Simon Bruty/Getty Images

1992: Andre Agassi wins his first Grand Slam Agassi was not a fan of Wimbledon, having railed against the all-white dress code and missing three years as a result. He was also more assured on the courts at the French and US Opens. But his first slam success was to come on grass, defeating Goran Ivanisevic in five sets having beaten two former Wimbledon champions, Boris Becker and John McEnroe on his way to the final. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images

1993: Jana Novotna’s tears Novotna, the No8 seed, lost the first set against the top-seeded Steffi Graf on a tie-break, thrashed her 6-1 in the second and went 4-1 up in the third. Then, the suspected mental fragility of the Czech player came into play. She disintegrated and Graf came back to win the final set 6-4. But the most poignant moment came at the trophy ceremony where the Duchess of Kent did her best to console Novotna when she broke down and wept on the Duchess’s shoulder Photograph: Chris Cole/Getty Images

1995: Henman says sorry after hitting a ball girl Henman was constantly being called on to show more aggression. Which meant his show of temper in a doubles match with Jeremy Bates which saw him hit a tennis ball in a fit of pique was all the more surprising. Unfortunately, it struck ballgirl Caroline Hall on the head. Henman apologised with by presenting her with bunch of flowers and a peck on the cheek. Things didn’t turn out so well for Henman and Bates, who were disqualified following the incident, the first ever disqualification in the Open era. Photograph: Gary M. Prior/Getty Images

1996: Cliff Richard lifts the gloom during a rain break Some might say Sir Cliff’s sing-along finally spurred the All England Club into action to develop a roof for Centre Court roof that was unveiled 13 years later. Others seemed to love it as the middle-aged pop star roped in the likes of Virginia Wade and Martina Navratilova as backing singers to keep those on Centre Court entertained. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

2000: Venus wins the Williams’s sister first of nine titles Venus defeated her sibling, Serena, in the semi-finals at SW19 in 2000 before overpowering the defending champion Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to become the first black women’s champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958. Venus and Serena went on to win a total of nine Wimbledon singles titles in the next 11 years. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

2001: Goran Ivanisevic finally wins Wimbledon Having taken advantage of the rain breaks to break the hearts of a nation and ruin Tim Henman’s best chance of a Wimbledon title by defeating the Brit in the semi-finals, the Croat at least managed to finish off the fairytale. Just shy of 30, with a dodgy shoulder and a lowly ranking, Ivanisevic became the first wildcard entry to win Wimbledon after he beat Pat Rafter 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7, 9-7. ‘Winning Wimbledon is the most beautiful moment in my career. If I had lost that match, my fourth final, I would have had to move to the North Pole," he said. Photograph: Gary M. Prior/Getty Images

2002: Pete Sampras’s last Wimbledon Sampras had won his seventh Wimbledon championship in 2000 but defeat by a rising Roger Federer in 2001 indicated a star heading towards the end of his career. However, nobody expected Sampras’s last Wimbledon appearance to consist of a shock loss by the 145th-ranked George Bastl in the second round. Sampras, who read a letter from his wife on court in a vain attempt to inspire him, said after the 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 defeat: ‘I’m not going to let my time end like this. I’m not going to give into the critics – I’ll stop on my terms.' He went on to win the US Open that year but he never returned to Wimbledon Photograph: Al Bello/Getty Images

2003: Martina Navratilova’s final Wimbledon title Navratilova became the oldest ever Grand Slam champion at 46 years 261 days after winning the mixed doubles title with Leander Paes. In doing so, Navratilova, who won her first title in 1976, equalled Billie Jean King’s record of 20 Wimbledon titles. ‘I have no idea what next year will bring, I will finish this year and see what my heart says,’ she said. Navratilova’s final appearance came in 2006, when she went out in the third round of the mixed doubles. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

2007: Jamie Murray and Jelena Jankovic’s kiss The elder brother of Andy Murray, Jamie, became the first Brit to win a senior Wimbledon title in 20 years after his success in the mixed doubles with Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic. Their progress through the rounds and their budding flirtations captured the public’s imagination with Jankovic spurring Murray on in the final by promising to kiss him ‘all over’ should they win. Sadly, Jamie had to settle for a peck on the cheek Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

2008: ‘The greatest final’ Federer v Nadal Many finals are described shortly after they end as ‘the greatest’. These words, though, came from John McEnroe in the commentary box. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had pushed each other to the brink. With rain breaks adding to the tension and drama, Nadal finally came out on top as darkness fell ending Federer’s tilt at a sixth successive title with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 win. The victory meant Nadal became the first player since Bjorn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for The Guardian

2009: Federer v Roddick Andy Roddick’s serve was broken only once, in the 77th game of the 77-game Wimbledon men’s final. That break which came after more than four and a quarter hours gave Roger Federer the fifth set 16-14, to become the first man to win 15 grand slams, win his sixth Wimbledon title, and regain the World No1 ranking. Roddick in his third final defeat was devastated having held four points in the second-set tie-break to go two sets up but failing to take his chance Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

2010: Andy Murray bows before the Queen On 24 June 2010, the Queen made her first appearance at Wimbledon since watching Virginia Wade win the ladies title in 1977. She timed it on day four to coincide with Murray’s match on Centre Court. The Scot had left the press guessing over whether he would bow or not but as it happened both Murray and his opponent Jarko Nieminen did a deep bow on the day. Neither were as spectacular, though, as the incredibly low curtsy managed by Serena Williams Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

2010: The longest match in history On court 18 on the second day of Wimbledon, John Isner stepped out to take on Nicolas Mahut in their first-round match. It became the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games. After two suspensions when darkness fell, on the third day, with the match resuming at 59-59 in the fifth set, Isner finally held his nerve to win 70-68, to end an 183-game match that broke all records. It lasted 11 hours and five minutes with the final score 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images