Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are three of the most successful Wimbledon champions in history.
Federer has won the most men’s singles titles at Wimbledon, having lifted the Challenge Cup a record eight times.
After winning his eighth and final title in 2017, Federer overtook Sampras as the man with the most Wimbledon titles.
Djokovic later joined Sampras on seven in 2022, but the number of titles is not always seen as the thing that makes a Wimbledon champion the greatest.
Steve Flink claims Pete Sampras is the best Wimbledon champion
Steve Flink is a Tennis Hall of Fame journalist, having been inducted in 2017, and has witnessed the multiple Wimbledon title victories of Federer (8), Djokovic (7) and Sampras (7).
Although Federer has won more titles than him, Flink believes that Sampras is actually the greatest Wimbledon champion of all time.
The main reason Flink backed Sampras over Federer and Djokovic was his unbeaten record in Wimbledon finals.
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“I’d probably put Sampras at the top, because he was the most dominant grass court player,” Flink said on the Tennis and Bagels Podcast.
“It’s true that Roger to his credit surpassed him and got to eight titles to Pete’s seven, but Pete never losing a final is pretty convincing to be 7-0 in Centre Court finals. I think he lost his serve twice in the seven finals that he played in.
“I still see him as the quintessential grass court player as the best of the lot. I have to say, even though Roger was the more natural grass court player, it is hard to ignore [Djokovic’s] three final wins over Roger. So very close with those two, but I would put Sampras at the top.
“With the caveat that the grass was faster in those days, that has to be taken into account and it was a serve and volley era where Pete was thriving and then it changed over time to the point where Roger started off serving and volleying and coming in 109 times when he played Sampras at Wimbledon in ’01, to playing very differently as the years went on. He did not serve and volley much and obviously Djokovic hardly at all, Novak selectively in recent years has done it.”
| Men with the most Wimbledon titles | Titles Won | Finals lost |
| Roger Federer | 8 | 4 |
| Pete Sampras | 7 | 3 |
| Novak Djokovic | 7 | 0 |
Steve Flink says how he thinks Pete Sampras would have played on grass today
As Flink mentioned, Sampras mastered the art of serve and volleying during his Wimbledon dominance.
However, this was during a time when the grass was slower than it is nowadays, having changed its composition in 2001.
Despite this, Flink believes that Sampras would still have adapted his game to the grass if he was playing in the current generation.
“I think he would have transferred it to this era,” said Flink. “Some people may think the grass is a lot slower, could he have done it? I think he could have.
“I believe he could have and in his case he would have been picking and choosing more about serving and volleying on second serves, he still would have been in on every first serve.
“He might have stayed back…anywhere from 25 to 40% of his second serves he might have stayed back on and that would have been the difference in how he played. But he was the most daunting of the three on grass because of his style.”
