An Analysis of the First 100 Years of Wimbledon Tennis Finals

The Wimbledon tennis tournament began in 1977 when the first men's singles final was played. In 1879 men's doubles were introduced and 1884 saw the advent of women's singles. Using elementary probability theory we can compare that the players and expected number of sets each match lasted under the hypothesis that the players were of equal ability. Consideration is also made of a “back‐to‐the‐wall” effect which favours the player(s) trailing in the match.