We look at the top 5 youngest Wimbledon title winners in history but who was the youngest Wimbledon winner?
The Wimbledon Championships is one of the four Grand Slams held in the calendar year with a rich history. The first edition dates back to 1877 and has continued by the All England Tennis Club. The tournament last year was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time since World War 2.
We look back at the five youngest winners of the Championship in the history of the tournament:
5. May Sutton Bundy (19 years, 285 days)
Sutton was the first American to win the Championships. She is a two time Wimbledon Champion having won in 1905 and 1907. She began playing tennis at the age of 13. The American also won the 1904 U.S. National Women’s Singles Championship, aged 17.
Sutton died in 2009, aged 97 and making her name in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. May was married to three-time U.S. Doubles Champion Tom Bundy and had a daughter Dorothy “Dodo” Bundy Cheney The family is famously known for their tennis heritage even in today’s times.
4. Sidney Wood (19 years, 245 days)
Wood won the Championships in 1931 as a teenager beating Fred Perry in the semi-finals and receiving a walkover Frank Shields in the final. As a 15-year-old in 1927, he was the youngest Wimbledon entrant in gentlemen’s singles and doubles history. Wood also was a U.S. National Men’s Singles Championship finalist in 1935.
After his retirement, he became an entrepreneur and was involved in the making of courts of different surfaces. He will always be remembered as one of the greats in the game.
3. Steffi Graff (19 years, 19 days)
Steffi Graff is a winner of 22 Grand Slam titles in her career. The only person in history to win a “Golden Slam’, she is one of the greats in women’s tennis. Her 107 career titles rank right below Martina Navratilova (167) and Evert (157). Graf was the International Tennis Federation World Champion a record seven times (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996).
Graff’s success at SW19 came seven times from 1988–89, 1991–93 and 1995–96. Only four other players in history had achieved a calendar year Grand Slam (Maureen Connolly, Court, Don Budge, and Rod Laver twice). She retired from the game in 1999 and is now married to fellow tennis legend Andre Agassi.
2. Boris Becker ( 17 years, 228 days)
At Wimbledon in 1985, the German Becker became the youngest male major champion in history at age 17 years, 7 months. He is a 3-time Wimbledon winner and would win six major singles titles in a 16-year career that earned him 49 singles trophies.
He is famous for defending his title in 1986, beating No. 1 seed Ivan Lendl in straight sets. He left the game in 1998 after becoming one of the world’s best players even reaching the No.1 spot in the world rankings. Becker, then famously went on to become the coach of current World No.1 Novak Djokovic.
1. Martina Hingis (16 years, 278 days)
By the age of 19, Hingis went on to achieve the unthinkable winning five major titles. In 1996 she became the youngest major titlist in history at 15 years, 9 months, while winning the doubles title at Wimbledon. Hingis won three successive crowns at the Australian Open (1997, 1998, 1999) and one each at Wimbledon (1997) and the US Open (1997).
On seven occasions, Hingis was a major singles finalist (French in 1997, 1999; Australian in 2000, 2001, 2002; US Open in 1998, 1999). In 2007, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
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