Wimbledon's wildest moments from McEnroe's outburst to Centre Court streaker
As the men's final of Wimbledon 2023 takes hold today, all eyes are on the Centre Court to witness history in the making.
With the first-ever tournament taking place back in 1877, Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. It is therefore no surprise that it has created its own traditions throughout the decades and with it, has come many memorable moments that are still talked about to this day.
But of these significant times, some crazy happenings have taken hold during the championship. From the 1996 streaker and John McEnroe's outburst to Cliff Richard's impromptu performance during a rain delay, here are seven of Wimbledon’s wildest moments...
The 1996 Wimbledon Final streaker
The 1996 Wimbledon Final was certainly a dramatic one after the Wimbledon final streaker gave Centre Court an eyeful. Melissa Johnson was a 23-year old student working as a caterer for a pizza stand at the tournament.
And as the two finalists, Richard Krajicek and Malicai Wahington, were posing for their pre-match photo at the net, Melissa jumped a barrier and ran onto Centre Court wearing nothing but a maid’s apron. She went towards the royal box before being escorted away by security. With the crowd in hysterics, even the Duke and Duchess of Kent watched on in shock.
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Streaker Melissa Johnson runs across Centre Court (Daily Mirror)Jokingly blaming Melissa for his defeat, finalist Malivai Washington said: "I saw these things wobbling around and, jeez, she smiled at me. I got flustered and three sets later I was gone."
Melissa was taken to Wimbledon police station for the duration of the final and released without further action. Speaking about the incident after, she said: "I'm a naughty girl - and I've got a wild streak in me. I just said to the people I was working with, 'I'm going to do it, I am going to get my kit off'."
She continued: "But my employers were very po-faced. They demanded my pinny back immediately. I suppose that means I have got the sack. It was my suggestion entirely. I did it for a bit of a laugh, although I was encouraged by all the others. I am a bit of a naughty girl and I definitely have a wild streak in me. I knew it had never been done before - and it had to be done, really, didn't it?
"When the players came out I thought, 'It's now or never', so I just did it. I didn't feel embarrassed. I was going to wear a dress but decided to wear my pinny instead."
Cliff Richard's impromptu performance, 1996
The 1996 tournament holds another memorable moment for Wimbledon fans and that is, of course, the unforgettable impromptu performance from Cliff Richard during a rain delay in the quarter-final between Pete Sampras and Richard Krajcek. The rock 'n' roll icon is a huge tennis fan and is often spotted at Centre Court year in, year out.
Sir Cliff Richard singing on Centre Court at Wimbledon after rain stopped play 1996 (PA)Play began at half twelve, and at two games each in the first set, the heavens opened and paused the play. And then it rained, and rained and didn’t stop for hours.
But then a Wimbledon official had an idea. Why not ask Cliff Richard to sing something? He was reluctant at first, with no soundcheck or guitar, he settled for an interview for the Centre Court crowd.
But at the end of the interview the interviewer turned to the audience and said: "Before I let you go, they would never forgive me if I don't ask you to sing." And the rest was history.
Cliff started by singing the 1963 hit 'Summer Holiday' as a joke before riffing off with 'The Young Ones', 'Bachelor Boy', a cover of Elvis' hit 'All Shook Up', and 'Living Doll'. He finished with his Eurovision runner-up 'Congratulations'. The crowd loved it.
Speaking to in 2008, Cliff said: "It was totally a capella, which has its advantages - it's impossible to sing out of key for a start. And the crowd sees the vulnerability of someone singing without any help. They were magnificent, from the first moment. The reaction was stunning.
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He added: "In the end it was great, great fun. It was all totally unplanned - I was just singing any song I could remember the words to: All Shook Up, Living Doll, whatever came out. It was a wonderful accident, and I'm happy to have been a part of it."
The performance has gone down in Wimbledon history as an iconic moment. So much so that at last year's Wimbledon, Cliff Richard reprised his role as Centre Court entertainer, singing ‘Summer Holiday’ on day seven of the tournament as part of a special celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the main arena.
His performance with some rejoicing at hearing the classic hit and others dubbing it a 'total cringefest.'
Longest ever tennis match, 2010
For those of us that watch tennis regularly, we can expect an average three-set match to last around an hour and a half, 30-40 minutes or so per set. But this certainly wasn’t the case in 2010 when the longest tennis match in history took place between Josh Isner and Nicolas Mahut.
Lasting an impressive 11 hours and five minutes, the match took place over three days and was eventually won by Josh Isner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. The match was such an unexpected occurrence that the electronic scoreboard stopped working at 47-47 in the fifth set, as it had not been programmed to keep scores beyond that point.
This record is now unlikely to be broken as tennis matches now employ the tie-break rule to decide the final set. Before this, the rules stated that the final set in Grand Slams would be played until any player had won two more games than his opponent, with a minimum of six games to be won. At Wimbledon, rules now dictate that a tie-break will be played if the final set is tied at 12-12.
Pat Cash's first-ever champion's climb, 1987
A champion's ecstatic celebrations are one of the highlights of a Wimbledon Final. Some might cry, punch the air or jump up and down. Others decide that this isn’t enough and scale the terrace to reach the player’s box in a 'champion’s climb'.
This all started with Pat Cash’s iconic climb in 1981. After his 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 7-5 win against Ivan Lendl, Pat punched the air in celebration. He then did something that surprised everyone. He ran towards the stands, clambered through the applauding crowd, pulled himself onto the roof of the commentator’s box and embraced his coach Ian Barclay, his dad and others sat in the player’s box.
Since then, 14 players have followed suit and leapt through the crowd in order to celebrate with their friends and family. Some of these recreations also included a few unexpected and funny moments.
In 2008, after Rafael Nadal celebrated with his family, he made a sudden U-turn towards the Royal Box and greeted the Spanish Crown Prince and his wife. In 2013, Murray thanked everyone in his player’s box, started to leave but was instantly called back as he had forgotten to thank his mum, Judy.
Andy Murray's iconic maiden win, 2013
In 2012, in Andy Murray’s first-ever Wimbledon final, the match ended with Murray choked by tears on Centre Court after being defeated by old foe Novak Djokovic. It had been 76 years since a British man took home the Wimbledon trophy.
Andy Murray celebrates with his trophy after winning his first Wimbledon title, (PA)But just 12 months later, in the sweltering heat of Centre Court, Andy Murray's dream of winning Wimbledon finally became a reality as he ended Britain's 77-year wait for a men's champion. Murray achieved a straight-set victory against world number one Djokovic and became the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win at the All England Club.
With temperatures reaching a staggering 31 degrees, Murray was awarded the trophy by the Duke of Kent in front of a 15,000-strong crowd. Addressing the win, he said: "It feels slightly different to last year. I’m so glad to finally do this.
He added: "I have played Novak many times and when everyone finishes playing, he will go down as one of the fighters. He did the same today and that is what made it tough. I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon and I hope everyone enjoyed it."
John McEnroe's "You Cannot Be Serious", 1981
There have been some famous outbursts seen at SW19 over the years. More recently, Australian player Nick Kyrigios has been making waves for his behaviour on the courts including spitting at booing fans during last year's tournament. But John McEnroe's famous “You cannot be serious” outburst is the stuff of legend making it undoubtedly the most famous freakout of Wimbledon and indeed tennis altogether.
American tennis player John McEnroe argues a point with the umpire during his semi-final match (Getty Images)In 1981, a young John McEnroe, sporting a headband and hair, was locked in battle with Tom Gullikson in the first round of the tournament when the umpire called his serve. The decision prompted the now world-famous outburst: "You can't be serious, man. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up. It was clearly in.
"How can you possibly call that out? He's walking over. Everybody knows it's in the whole stadium. And you call it out? You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?" The outburst became so infamous that McEnroe wrote a book about his tennis journey with the title "You Cannot Be Serious" in 2002.
Cartwheeling streaker, 2006
Following in the footsteps of Melissa Johnson, another Wimbledon streaker was seen cartwheeling across Centre Court during the quarter final in 2010. During the match between Russian Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva, the man, who was completely naked except for white trainers and black socks, climbed onto the court on Sharapova’s side and did a cartwheel.
He was later revealed to be 29-year-old Sander Lantinga from Berkhout, Holland and had been wearing an outfit held together with velcro that could be whipped off in a matter of seconds. A friend of the man confirmed it had been a stunt for a Dutch TV show titled ‘Try Before You Die’.
Security staff immediately burst onto the court and held out a large red blanket which he charged at before being wrapped up and ushered away, to great applause from the crowd. Maria Sharapova appeared to blush and turned her back to the streaker whilst Elena Dementieva appeared to smile.
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