The four men to win 3+ consecutive Wimbledon titles: Carlos Alcaraz one match away from feat
Carlos Alcaraz has won 20 straight matches at Wimbledon, and is on the cusp of winning his sixth Grand Slam title at the All England Club.
The world No 2 beat Taylor Fritz in four sets to reach his third straight final at the All England Club on Friday, and, after his 2023 and 2024 triumphs, will look to win his third straight title at the tournament.
Should Alcaraz prevail on Sunday, he would join an esteemed list of men to complete a Wimbledon ‘threepeat’ in the Open Era.
Here, we look at the four tennis icons that the 22-year-old would emulate.
Bjorn Borg – 1976-80
The first man in the Open Era to win 3+ consecutive titles in the Open Era was tennis icon Borg, who won a staggering five straight Championships from 1976 to 1980.
Borg defeated Ilie Nastase to win the title for the first time in 1976, and then beat Jimmy Connors in both the 1977 and 1978 finals to complete a historic ‘three-peat’ at SW19.
However, the Swede was not done there, beating Roscoe Tanner in the 1979 final before his fifth triumph in 1980, downing John McEnroe in a legendary final.
Borg almost made it six in a row, but fell to McEnroe in the 1981 final.
Pete Sampras – 1993-95, 1997-2000
Sampras holds a unique place in Wimbledon history as the only man to have won at least three straight titles on two separate occasions, dominating the event in the 1990s.
‘Pistol Pete’ saw off compatriot Jim Courier to win the title for the first time in 1993, before beating Goran Ivanisevic in 1994 and three-time champion Boris Becker in 1995.
After a shock defeat to eventual champion Richard Krajicek in 1996, the American regained his title in 1997, beating Cedric Pioline in the final.
That kickstarted a run of four straight titles, with Sampras downing Ivanisevic in 1998, Andre Agassi in 1999, and Pat Rafter in 2000 to complete his haul of seven titles overall.
Roger Federer – 2003-07
No man in the Open Era matches Federer’s record of eight singles titles at SW19, and the Swiss’ first five triumphs came in consecutive years.
Federer triumphed for the first time in 2003, defeating Mark Philippoussis in the final, and successfully defended his title in 2004 with a victory over Andy Roddick.
He would again beat Roddick in the 2005 final to seal a third straight title, before back-to-back final victories over Rafael Nadal in 2006 and 2007 saw him emulate Borg’s record of five straight triumphs.
Much like Borg, Federer so nearly made it six in a row, only to fall to Nadal in the 2008 final.
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Novak Djokovic – 2018-22
Wimbledon is the second-most successful major of Djokovic’s career in terms of titles won, with seven victories to his name, and the Serb won his four most recent titles in consecutive years.
Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson in the 2018 final to lift his fourth title at the All England Club, and famously saved championship points to beat Federer in the 2019 final.
The tournament was cancelled due to COVID in 2020, but when the event returned in 2021, Djokovic made it three triumphs in a row, beating Matteo Berrettini in the championship match.
Victory over Nick Kyrgios in 2022 made it four consecutive triumphs for the former world No 1, though his quest for a fifth straight title was scuppered by Alcaraz in 2023.
