Which racket won Wimbledon? A decade-by-decade list, limited to the champions whose rackets we can confirm.
It is one of the questions people search most: what racket did the champion use? The honest answer is that records are patchy, and professionals often played frames painted as retail models. So this list includes only the Wimbledon champions whose rackets are confirmed by a museum, a maker or a reliable source, and leaves out the rest instead of guessing. Each entry links to the full story.
1960s: Dunlop Maxply
Rod Laver (1962, 1969): Dunlop Maxply. Laver won both of his calendar-year Grand Slams with Dunlop Maxply rackets, according to Dunlop and Laver himself. The ball was white. Laver, Rosewall and the Dunlop Maxply →
1970s: steel and wood
Jimmy Connors (1974): Wilson T2000, the steel frame he played for some eighteen years. The T2000 story →
Arthur Ashe (1975): a Head racket. Head sponsored Ashe, who beat Connors in the final. The exact model is not confirmed. Head Competition →
Björn Borg (1976–1980): a wooden Donnay. Borg was sponsored by Donnay from 1975 to 1983. Borg and Connors →
1980s: the end of wood, the start of graphite
John McEnroe (1981): Dunlop Maxply Fort, after signing with Dunlop that year. In the 1980 final, which he lost to Borg, he had played a Wilson Jack Kramer Pro Staff. From 1983 he played the graphite Dunlop Max 200G. Borg and McEnroe →
Boris Becker (1985): the Puma Boris Becker Winner, which was the Puma Guillermo Vilas model renamed after his win. The colour revision, the Boris Becker Super, followed in 1986. Puma Boris Becker Super →
Steffi Graf (1988, 1989): Dunlop. The Hall of Fame holds the Dunlop Max 200G she used to win the 1988 US Open, strung with clear gut. Graf played Dunlop until she signed with Wilson in 1994. Graf and Navratilova →
Martina Navratilova (1983): Yonex. She won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open that year with the R-22, according to Yonex. Evert and Navratilova →
1990s: the Pro Staff decade
Andre Agassi (1992): a Donnay Pro One, his racket before he moved to Head in 1993, according to the Tennis Museum (GB). Agassi and Becker →
Pete Sampras (1993–2000): Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 85, which he played for his entire professional career, customised with lead tape at 3 and 9 o’clock and strung with natural gut. Sampras and Becker → · Sampras and Agassi →
Steffi Graf (1995, 1996): Wilson, after she signed with the brand in 1994. Graf and Sánchez Vicario →
2000s: Wilson, Babolat and Prince
Maria Sharapova (2004): Prince. She played Prince from the age of nine and won her first three major titles with it. Serena Williams and Sharapova →
Roger Federer (2004–2007, 2009): Wilson. The nCode nSix-One Tour 90 from 2004 to 2006, then the K Factor Six.One Tour 90, according to Wilson. Federer and Roddick →
Serena Williams (2002, 2003, 2009) and Venus Williams (2008): Wilson. Wilson’s own records list Serena on Hyper Hammer frames in 2002 and 2003, and on the K Blade Team 104 in 2009. Venus and Serena Williams →
Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010): Babolat. He played a Babolat Aero frame for most of his career. Federer and Nadal →
2010s: Wilson, Babolat and Head
Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019): Head, which he has played since 2009. His racket is a pro-stock frame painted to look like the model he endorses. Nadal and Djokovic → · Federer and Djokovic →
Roger Federer (2017): Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph, which Wilson lists for 2014 to 2022.
What You Will Notice
- Wood lasted long. Borg won five Wimbledons with wood, and McEnroe won in 1981 with the Maxply Fort.
- The ball was white until 1986. Every Wimbledon in this list up to 1985 was played with a white ball. Here is how white disappeared →
- Gut never left. Sampras, Federer and Serena all played natural gut for much of their careers. The string that never actually left →
- The name on the frame is not always the racket. See Four Rackets That Weren’t What They Looked Like.
Want to start your own collection? Get the free collector’s guide. See also The Most Collectible Wilson Rackets, The Most Collectible Wooden Rackets and all the rivalries by decade.
— The Editor, Court Privée
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