Following Novak Djokovic’s semi-final exit at the All England Club this year, Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles is still intact.
Federer won five straight crowns from 2003 to 2007, becoming just the second player in the Open Era to do so after Bjorn Borg.
He then went on to win again in 2009, 2012, and for one final time in 2017, where he broke Pete Sampras and William Renshaw’s joint-record tally of seven Wimbledon championships.
Outside of his triumphs, the Swiss legend has had several near misses in SW19, most notably in the 2019 final, where he failed to capitalise on two match points against Djokovic.
One of his more unfortunate losses, however, came in 2016, when he faced Milos Raonic in the semi-finals.
Roger Federer’s ‘unexplainable’ mistake at Wimbledon in 2016
Federer lost in five sets to Raonic, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, with the Canadian winning the final two sets to reach his first Grand Slam final.
Trying to take the fourth set to a tiebreak and seal the win, the then-seven-time champion let a 40-0 lead slip at 6-5 after two double faults, and lost the game, resulting in a decisive fifth set.
In his post-match press conference following the defeat, Federer was asked about the mishap: “It’s unusual for you not to capitalise on these opportunities. What happened?”
He replied: “I don’t know. Something went wrong. I don’t know. I can’t believe I served a double‑fault twice.
“Unexplainable for me, really. Very sad about that and angry at myself because I never should have allowed him to get out of that set that easily.
“I mean, he deserved it. He earned it in the end. But I helped him so much to get back into that game. I would like to see a breaker because I was the better player for the set.
“Then, you know, I know he’s great in breakers and all that, it was always going to be tough. But I would have liked to see him scramble more than that.”
Roger Federer explained his loss to Milos Raonic at Wimbledon in 2016
Federer continued: “Well, I’m not quite sure which one either, myself [Which opportunity in the match was his best]. Maybe Love‑30, good passing, to go Love‑40.
“From then on, I don’t know. I had a breakpoint, I don’t know how many. There were opportunities there.
“Opportunities were all around the fourth set. I think I pushed him on a few service games to get the break. But somehow I couldn’t get it done.
“Either he served well or he hit the line on the serve, or with the forehand, he did a great job there.
“It was always going to come down to a few shots here and there. Unfortunately, they went his way today. It’s disappointing for me, clearly.”
Raonic advanced to the final but lost to Andy Murray, as the Briton picked up his second Wimbledon title, and third major overall.
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