2002 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles
Lleyton Hewitt defeated David Nalbandian in the final, 6–1, 6–3, 6–2 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships. It was his second major title, after the 2001 US Open. Hewitt became the first Australian to win the title since Pat Cash in 1987.
Men's singles | |
---|---|
2002 Wimbledon Championships | |
Champion | Lleyton Hewitt |
Runner-up | David Nalbandian |
Score | 6–1, 6–3, 6–2 |
Draw | 128 (16 Q / 8 WC ) |
Seeds | 32 |
Goran Ivanišević was the reigning champion, but withdrew due to a shoulder surgery. He would not return to Wimbledon until 2004.
The tournament was notable for the poor results of the top players. With the exception of Hewitt and world No. 4 Tim Henman, all of the top 17 seeds were eliminated before the fourth round. This granted relatively unknown players an unusually high chance of success, especially as Hewitt and Henman were in the same half of the draw and played each other in the semifinals. In one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history, seven-time champion Pete Sampras was eliminated by George Bastl in the second round, in what would be Sampras' last appearance at Wimbledon. The 1992 champion Andre Agassi suffered a second-round defeat to unseeded Paradorn Srichaphan, while future eight-time champion Roger Federer was defeated in the first round by qualifier Mario Ančić, his last defeat at Wimbledon until the 2008 final, spanning a record-tying five straight Wimbledon titles between 2003 and 2007.
This was the last major for 1997 finalist and former world No. 4 Cédric Pioline, losing in the first round to Marat Safin, and the last appearance for 1996 champion Richard Krajicek, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Xavier Malisse.