The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 122nd edition of Wimbledon and it was held from 23 June to 6 July 2008. It was the third tennis major of the year.
Spanish player Rafael Nadal won the first Wimbledon title of his career; it was the first Grand Slam tournament he won outside of the French Open. Nadal defeated five-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final in what many regard as the greatest tennis match of all time. In the women's singles, Venus Williams claimed her fifth title, and first win over her sister Serena in a Wimbledon final (she had lost the previous two). The performances of Britons Andy Murray in the men's singles and Laura Robson in the girls' singles were able to arouse significant interest from the home crowd.
Following the completion of the 2007 Championships, the new fixed roof was put in place at Centre Court, in time for the 2008 Championships. The retractable section of the new roof was completed for the 2009 Championships.
Singles players Men's singles ChampionRunner-up Rafael Nadal Roger Federer Semi-finals out Marat Safin Rainer SchüttlerQuarter-finals out Mario Ančić Feliciano López Arnaud Clément Andy Murray Fourth round out Lleyton Hewitt Fernando Verdasco Stan Wawrinka Marcos Baghdatis Janko Tipsarević Marin Čilić Richard Gasquet Mikhail Youzhny Third round out Marc Gicquel Simone Bolelli Tomáš Berdych David Ferrer Andreas Seppi Mischa Zverev Simon Stadler (Q) Bobby Reynolds Dmitry Tursunov Guillermo García López Paul-Henri Mathieu Jürgen Melzer Gilles Simon Tommy Haas Radek Štěpánek Nicolas Kiefer Second round out Robin Söderling Ilija Bozoljac (LL) Albert Montañés Fernando González Victor Hănescu Olivier Rochus Philipp Petzschner (Q) Igor Andreev Novak Djokovic Florent Serra Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Martín del Potro Thomas Johansson Thomaz Bellucci Roko Karanušić Frank Dancevic Andy Roddick Chris Eaton (Q) Nicolás Almagro James Blake Jérémy Chardy (WC) Jarkko Nieminen Jesse Levine (Q) Benjamin Becker Sébastien Grosjean Agustín Calleri Tommy Robredo Xavier Malisse (WC) Viktor Troicki Stefano Galvani (Q) Martín Vassallo Argüello Ernests GulbisFirst round out Dominik Hrbatý (PR) Kevin Kim (Q) Kei Nishikori Chris Guccione Robin Haase Carlos Berlocq Alex Bogdanovic (WC) Robby Ginepri Evgeny Korolev Alejandro Falla Dudi Sela Philipp Kohlschreiber Michaël Llodra Lee Hyung-taik Jiří Vaněk Sergiy Stakhovsky (Q) Michael Berrer Fabio Fognini Lu Yen-hsun Tobias Kamke (LL) Sam Querrey Alexander Peya (Q) Pavel Šnobel (Q) Marcos Daniel Steve Darcis Vince Spadea Igor Kunitsyn Ivo Karlović Brian Dabul Luis Horna Filippo Volandri David Nalbandian Eduardo Schwank Thierry Ascione Boris Pašanski Nicolas Mahut Marcel Granollers Izak van der Merwe (Q) Santiago Ventura Bertomeu Christophe Rochus (Q) Óscar Hernández Frederico Gil (Q) Édouard Roger-Vasselin (Q) Wayne Odesnik Ivan Ljubičić Donald Young Jonas Björkman Nikolay Davydenko Mardy Fish Potito Starace Kevin Anderson Dawid Olejniczak (Q) Kristof Vliegen Guillermo Cañas Denis Gremelmayr Fabrice Santoro Jan Hernych (Q) Nicolás Lapentti Jamie Baker (WC) Sergio Roitman Julien Benneteau Ivo Minář John Isner Andreas Beck (Q)
Women's singles ChampionRunner-up Venus Williams Serena Williams Semi-finals out Zheng Jie (WC) Elena Dementieva Quarter-finals out Nicole Vaidišová Agnieszka Radwańska Nadia Petrova Tamarine TanasugarnFourth round out Ágnes Szávay Anna Chakvetadze Svetlana Kuznetsova Bethanie Mattek Shahar Pe'er Alla Kudryavtseva Alisa Kleybanova Jelena Janković Third round out Ana Ivanovic Anabel Medina Garrigues Casey Dellacqua Evgeniya Rodina Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová (Q) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Q) Marion Bartoli Amélie Mauresmo Gisela Dulko Dinara Safina Victoria Azarenka Peng Shuai María José Martínez Sánchez (Q) Ai Sugiyama Marina Erakovic Caroline Wozniacki Second round out Nathalie Dechy Elena Baltacha (WC) Francesca Schiavone Monica Niculescu Pauline Parmentier Samantha Stosur (WC) Elena Vesnina Edina Gallovits Kateryna Bondarenko Alona Bondarenko Li Na Marta Domachowska Tatiana Perebiynis Vera Dushevina Virginia Ruano Pascual Urszula Radwańska (WC) Timea Bacsinszky Lindsay Davenport Émilie Loit Hsieh Su-wei Sorana Cîrstea Mara Santangelo Sybille Bammer Maria Sharapova Anne Keothavong Sania Mirza Flavia Pennetta Daniela Hantuchová Vera Zvonareva Julia Görges Aleksandra Wozniak Carla Suárez Navarro (WC)First round out Rossana de los Ríos Yuan Meng Angelique Kerber Dominika Cibulková Tamira Paszek Yan Zi Magdaléna Rybáriková (Q) Tathiana Garbin Patty Schnyder Akgul Amanmuradova Raluca Olaru Zuzana Ondrášková (Q) Virginie Razzano Nuria Llagostera Vives Yvonne Meusburger Stéphanie Dubois Mathilde Johansson (Q) Rika Fujiwara (Q) Camille Pin Melanie South (WC) Alizé Cornet Anastasia Rodionova Jill Craybas Iveta Benešová Sabine Lisicki Petra Kvitová Séverine Brémond (Q) Maria Kirilenko Ashley Harkleroad Milagros Sequera Klára Zakopalová Kaia Kanepi Maria Elena Camerin (Q) Julie Ditty Aravane Rezaï Renata Voráčová Katie O'Brien (WC) Lucie Šafářová Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Chan Yung-jan Tsvetana Pironkova Ekaterina Bychkova Maret Ani Olga Govortsova Sofia Arvidsson Viktoriya Kutuzova (Q) Ekaterina Makarova Stéphanie Foretz (Q) Naomi Cavaday (WC) Vania King Martina Müller Catalina Castaño Julia Vakulenko Yanina Wickmayer Tzipora Obziler Sara Errani Aiko Nakamura Petra Cetkovská Michaëlla Krajicek Katarina Srebotnik Eva Hrdinová (Q) Mariya Koryttseva Galina Voskoboeva Olga Savchuk
Point and prize money distribution
Point distribution Below are the tables with the point distribution for each discipline of the tournament.
Senior points Event Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64 Round of 128 Men's singles10007004502501507535512840Men's doubles00014090602 000
Prize distribution The total prize money for 2008 championships was £11,812,000. The winner of the men's and women's singles title earned £750,000.
Event Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64 Round of 128 Singles£750,000£375,000£187,500£93,750£50,000£28,125£17,000£10,250£6,500£3,250£1,625 Doubles*£230,000£115,000£57,500£30,000£16,000£9,000£5,250 Mixed doubles*£92,000£46,000£23,000£10,500£5,200£2,600£1,300 *£6,750£3,750 Invitation doubles£17,000£14,000 * per team
Champions
Seniors
Men's singles
Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer, 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7 It was Rafael Nadal's sixth title of the year, and his 29th overall. It was his second Grand Slam title of the year, his fifth overall, and his first Wimbledon title.
Women's singles
Venus Williams def. Serena Williams, 7–5, 6–4 It was Venus Williams's first title of the year, and her 37th overall. It was her seventh Grand Slam title, her fifth Wimbledon win, and her second consecutive win at the event.
Men's doubles
Daniel Nestor / Nenad Zimonjić def. Jonas Björkman / Kevin Ullyett, 7–6(14–12), 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 6–3
Women's doubles
Serena Williams / Venus Williams def. Lisa Raymond / Samantha Stosur, 6–2, 6–2
Mixed doubles
Bob Bryan / Samantha Stosur def. Mike Bryan / Katarina Srebotnik, 7–5, 6–4
Juniors
Boys' singles
Grigor Dimitrov def. Henri Kontinen, 7–5, 6–3
Girls' singles
Laura Robson def. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Boys' doubles
Hsieh Cheng-peng / Yang Tsung-hua def. Matt Reid / Bernard Tomic, 6–4, 2–6, 12–10
Girls' doubles
Polona Hercog / Jessica Moore def. Isabella Holland / Sally Peers, 6–3, 1–6, 6–2
Other events
Gentlemen's invitation doubles
Donald Johnson / Jared Palmer def. Jacco Eltingh / Paul Haarhuis, walkover
Ladies' invitation doubles
Jana Novotná / Kathy Rinaldi def. Martina Navratilova / Helena Suková, 5–7, 6–3, [10–5]
Senior gentlemen's invitation doubles
Ken Flach / Robert Seguso def. Jeremy Bates / Anders Järryd, 7–6(7–1), 6–7(5–7), [10–7]
Wheelchair men's doubles
Robin Ammerlaan / Ronald Vink def. Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer, 6–7(8–10), 6–1, 6–3
Notable stories
Betting scandal There were allegations in a dossier that several matches, including eight at Wimbledon, were under suspicion of being fixed by professional gambling syndicates after bookmakers noted unexpected spikes in betting patterns. The dossier, released on the Sunday prior to the first day of play, had been commissioned by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women's Tennis Association (WTA), International Tennis Federation (ITF), and four Grand Slams earlier in the year, and was compiled by bookmakers. An official said, "If you look at a tournament, you might see one match for £23,000 [in betting turnover], one for £27,000, one for £36,000 and one for £4.5m. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that something is going on in the last one." Betting on Wimbledon matches was popular in 2007, with over £420m wagered on bets.
To help deal with any potential gambling problems, the All England Club restricted access to players' changing rooms this year, allowing only the player and their coach permission. It was hoped that this would make communication between gamblers and players more difficult. Match fixing became a prominent issue in the media after the 2007 Orange Prokom Open, where the then World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko came under suspicion of colluding with gamblers, and gambling company Betfair took the unprecedented step of voiding all bets on a match of his with Martín Vassallo Argüello.
Pigeon killing controversy The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the sport club that plays host to the Championships, came under fire from animal activists for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons. The marksmen were ordered to use hawks to scare them away, but when some failed to do so, the marksmen killed them, which led to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) group releasing a statement admonishing the practice and subsequently, referring to the Animal Welfare Act 2006, contacting the Metropolitan Police.
Several players complained about the pigeons distracting them during play, and because of the inefficient nature of the hawks, rapid action was sought on the Sunday evening before the tournament began. The marksmen were hired by the All England Club and, armed with rifles, shot several birds. When the media broke the story on Monday, a spokesman for the All England Club defended the club's approach, saying that, "The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job. But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn't deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach." By Tuesday however, the Metropolitan Police wildlife crime unit had been alerted to the practice by PETA, after allegedly infringing the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Bruce Friedrich, vice-president of PETA, wrote in a letter to the All England Club chairman Tim Phillips, that the birds did not represent "a demonstrable risk to public health and safety", and the activity was therefore in violation of the Act. A Wimbledon spokesperson subsequently announced that they had reneged on their policy, and that the All England Club would no longer shoot pigeons.
A similar, but more inconspicuous, incident also occurred on the Sunday evening before the Championships. A swarm of bees descended upon the area surrounding the All England Club; this caused the clearing out of the players' lawn (where competitors gather after play) and a temporary cessation of some interviews. Further disruption was caused because organizers had to alter the overnight queuing system, in order to protect people. This was the first time that bees had caused disruptions at the All England Club. Some media outlets reported that the bees deserted the grounds after around 90 minutes, whilst others claimed that a similar resolution to the pigeon problem was sought, with the bees being professionally exterminated.
British performance