2008 Wimbledon Championships

Seniors

Juniors

Girls' singles champion Laura Robson practicing.

Other events

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.[17] 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."[18] 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 player's 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.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20] 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."[21] 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.[20] 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.[22][23] 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,[23][24] whilst others claimed that a similar resolution to the pigeon problem was sought, with the bees being professionally exterminated.[22]

Laura Robson (left), in her first round juniors match against Alexa Guarachi

British performance

The British public were treated to some palpable success, as London-based Laura Robson became the first British girl to win the Girls' juniors competition since Annabel Croft in 1984. Fourteen-year-old Robson, the youngest player in the Girls' juniors, had to beat players aged up to eighteen, the maximum age allowed for entry into the juniors.[25][26] She garnered considerable media attention;[25][27][28] with a large crowd gathered to watch both her semi-final and final matches, the latter of which was on No. 1 Court, she called it an "overwhelming experience."[29] British-based gambling company Ladbrokes slashed her odds of winning Wimbledon before 2020 from 50/1 to 20/1.[28]

In the seniors, 2007 mixed doubles champion Jamie Murray could not replicate his triumph of the previous year with new partner Liezel Huber, after his 2007 partner Jelena Janković opted not to play in order to concentrate on the singles competition.[30] Murray and Huber reached the semi-finals where they were knocked out by Bob Bryan and Samantha Stosur.

In the seniors singles competition, the most significant impact was made by Scottish player Andy Murray, when he became the first British player to reach the quarter-finals since Tim Henman in 2004. Murray, often castigated in the British media for his surly manner, won the crowd's affections with his five-set victory over Richard Gasquet[31][32] (details of this match are given in the Day 7 summary). The Murray–Gasquet match was watched by over 10 million people in the UK, and it was watched by more than 50% of the potential viewing public in his native Scotland.[33]

Chris Eaton from Surrey, the ATP No. 661, successfully began his campaign in qualifying, and then caused a major surprise by beating ATP No. 114 Boris Pašanski in the first round.[34] Anne Keothavong was the first British woman to directly qualify to the main draw since 1998, however no British woman made it beyond the second round.

A tournament of upsets and surprises

Rainer Schüttler reached his first Wimbledon semi-final

The men's side of the draw was notable for the performances of Marat Safin and Rainer Schüttler, ranked 75th and 94th respectively on entering the tournament. Safin caused an upset in the second round when he defeated Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets,[35] on the way to his first ever Wimbledon semi-final, where he lost to Roger Federer. After more than five years without reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, and thirteen consecutive Grand Slam tournaments without advancing past the second round, Schüttler also reached his first Wimbledon semi-final,[36] where he was defeated in straight sets by the eventual champion Rafael Nadal.[37] Schüttler had earlier defeated Arnaud Clément (who had previously not advanced to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament since reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open) in an epic quarter-final that lasted two days.[38]

Agnieszka Radwańska reached her first Wimbledon quarter-final by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round

The women's side of the draw saw some of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history, in which the top four seeds—Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Janković, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova—all failed to reach the quarter-finals.[39] Maria Sharapova suffered her earliest exit at Wimbledon when she lost to Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round; this was also her earliest exit at a Grand Slam since the 2003 US Open. Recent French Open champion and newly crowned World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic was stunned in the third round by Chinese wild card entrant and World No. 133 Zheng Jie. This was the earliest exit by a top seed at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis lost in the first round in 2001, and Zheng Jie also became the lowest-ranked player ever to defeat a top seed at the tournament. Janković and Kuznetsova were both toppled in the fourth round by Tamarine Tanasugarn and Agnieszka Radwańska, respectively. This was the first time since seedings began at Wimbledon in 1927 (and the first time in the Open Era) that none of the top four seeds managed to advance past the fourth round. Zheng Jie became the second Chinese player (after Li Na in 2006) to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, and the first wild card entry ever to reach the semi-finals (a feat later achieved by Sabine Lisicki in 2011), where she was defeated by eventual runner-up Serena Williams. Meanwhile, Tanasugarn reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final by virtue of her victory over Janković, losing to the eventual champion Venus Williams.

Men's Singles

The Men's singles seeds is arranged on a surface-based system to reflect more accurately the individual player's grass court achievement as per the following formula:

• ESP points as at a week before The Championships at 16 June 2008
• Add 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months (18 June 2007 – 15 June 2008)
• add 75% points earned for best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that (19 June 2006 – 17 June 2007).

Seed	Rank	Player	Points before	Points defending	Points won	Points after	Status
1	1	Roger Federer	6,900	1,000	700	6,600	Runner-up, lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
2	2	Rafael Nadal	5,755	700	1,000	6,055	Champion, defeated Roger Federer [1]
3	3	Novak Djokovic	5,360	450	35	4,945	Second round lost to Marat Safin
4	4	Nikolay Davydenko	3,115	150	5	2,970	First round lost to Benjamin Becker
5	5	David Ferrer	3,005	35	75	3,045	Third round lost to Mario Ančić
6	6	Andy Roddick	2,280	250	35	2,065	Second round lost to Janko Tipsarević
7	7	David Nalbandian	2,100	75	5	2,030	First round lost to Frank Dancevic
8	10	Richard Gasquet	1,610	450	150	1,310	Fourth round lost to Andy Murray [12]
9	8	James Blake	2,015	75	35	1,975	Second round lost to Rainer Schüttler
10	25	Marcos Baghdatis	1,090	250	150	990	Fourth round lost to Feliciano López [31]
11	20	Tomáš Berdych	1,290	450	75	915	Third round lost to Fernando Verdasco [22]
12	11	Andy Murray	1,555	0	250	1,805	Quarter-finals lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
13	9	Stan Wawrinka	1,615	5	150	1,760	Fourth round lost to Marat Safin
14	16	Paul-Henri Mathieu	1,345	150	75	1,270	Third round lost to Marin Čilić
15	14	Fernando González	1,405	75	35	1,365	Second round lost to Simone Bolelli
16	15	Radek Štěpánek	1,360	5	75	1,430	Third round lost to Mikhail Youzhny [17]
17	17	Mikhail Youzhny	1,305	150	150	1,305	Fourth round lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
18	22	Ivo Karlović	1,220	5	5	1,220	First round lost to Simon Stadler [Q]
19	12	Nicolás Almagro	1,485	5	35	1,515	Second round lost to Guillermo García López
20	27	Lleyton Hewitt	1,050	150	150	1,050	Fourth round lost to Roger Federer [1]
21	23	Juan Carlos Ferrero	1,135	250	35	920	Second round retired against Mischa Zverev
22	18	Fernando Verdasco	1,300	75	150	1,375	Fourth round lost to Mario Ančić
23	19	Tommy Robredo	1,300	35	35	1,300	Second round lost to Tommy Haas
24	28	Jarkko Nieminen	1,050	75	35	1,010	Second round lost to Marin Čilić
25	33	Dmitry Tursunov	968	75	75	968	Third round lost to Janko Tipsarević
26	31	Ivan Ljubičić	980	75	5	910	First round lost to Jürgen Melzer
27	32	Nicolas Kiefer	970	75	75	970	Third round lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
28	29	Gilles Simon	1,030	35	75	1,070	Third round lost to Richard Gasquet [8]
29	30	Andreas Seppi	1,015	35	35	1,015	Second round lost to Marat Safin
30	26	Gaël Monfils	1,053	75	0	978	Withdrew due to shoulder injury[40]
31	35	Feliciano López	950	75	250	1,125	Quarter-finals lost to Marat Safin
32	34	Michaël Llodra	951	35	5	921	First round lost to Mario Ančić

The following players would have been seeded, but they withdrew from the event.

Rank	Player	Points before	Points defending	Points after	Withdrawal reason
13	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	1,415	150	1,265	Knee injury[41]
21	Juan Mónaco	1,245	5	1,240	Back injury[40]
24	Carlos Moyá	1,095	5	1,090	Shoulder injury[40]

Women's Singles

Seed	Rank	Player	Points before	Points defending	Points won	Points after	Status
1	1	Ana Ivanovic	4,188	450	90	3,828	Third round lost to Zheng Jie [WC]
2	3	Jelena Janković	3,685	140	140	3,685	Fourth round lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn
3	2	Maria Sharapova	3,706	140	60	3,646	Second round lost to Alla Kudryavtseva
4	4	Svetlana Kuznetsova	3,565	450	140	3,255	Fourth round lost to Agnieszka Radwańska [14]
5	5	Elena Dementieva	2,745	90	450	3,105	Semi-finals lost to Venus Williams [7]
6	6	Serena Williams	2,676	250	700	3,126	Runner-up, lost to Venus Williams [7]
7	7	Venus Williams	2,606	1,000	1,000	2,606	Champion, defeated Serena Williams [6]
8	8	Anna Chakvetadze	2,436	90	140	2,486	Fourth round lost to Nicole Vaidišová [18]
9	9	Dinara Safina	2,257	60	90	2,287	Third round lost to Shahar Pe'er [24]
10	12	Daniela Hantuchová	2,007	140	60	1,927	Second round lost to Alisa Kleybanova
11	10	Marion Bartoli	2,030	700	90	1,420	Third round lost to Bethanie Mattek
12	13	Patty Schnyder	1,940	140	2	1,802	First round lost to Casey Dellacqua
13	14	Vera Zvonareva	1,912	0	60	1,972	Second round lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn
14	11	Agnieszka Radwańska	2,011	90	250	2,171	Quarter-finals lost to Serena Williams [6]
15	15	Ágnes Szávay	1,645	91	140	1,694	Fourth round lost to Zheng Jie [WC]
16	16	Victoria Azarenka	1,386	90	90	1,386	Third round lost to Nadia Petrova [21]
17	17	Alizé Cornet	1,248	60	2	1,190	First round lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [Q]
18	22	Nicole Vaidišová	1,153	250	250	1,153	Quarter-finals lost to Zheng Jie [WC]
19	19	Maria Kirilenko	1,208	2	2	1,208	First round lost to Vera Dushevina
20	20	Francesca Schiavone	1,201	60	60	1,201	Second round lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues
21	18	Nadia Petrova	1,211	140	250	1,321	Quarter-finals lost to Elena Dementieva [5]
22	23	Flavia Pennetta	1,122	2	60	1,180	Second round lost to Ai Sugiyama
23	24	Katarina Srebotnik	1,110	90	2	1,022	First round lost to Julia Görges
24	26	Shahar Pe'er	1,027	90	140	1,077	Fourth round lost to Elena Dementieva [5]
25	25	Lindsay Davenport	1,055	0	60	1,115	Second round withdrew due to knee injury
26	29	Sybille Bammer	977	60	60	977	Second round lost to Peng Shuai
27	28	Virginie Razzano	1,015	2	2	1,015	First round lost to Evgeniya Rodina
28	27	Alona Bondarenko	1,018	90	60	988	Second round retired against Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová [Q]
29	33	Amélie Mauresmo	832	140	90	782	Third round lost to Serena Williams [6]
30	31	Dominika Cibulková	902	(20)†	2	884	First round lost to Zheng Jie [WC]
31	30	Caroline Wozniacki	932	60	90	962	Third round lost to Jelena Janković [2]
32	32	Sania Mirza	867	60	60	867	Second round lost to María José Martínez Sánchez [Q]

† The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2007. Accordingly, points for her 16th best result are deducted instead.

The following player would have been seeded, but she withdrew from the event.

Rank	Player	Points before	Points defending	Points after	Withdrawal reason
21	Tatiana Golovin	1,160	60	1,100	Back injury[40]