1979 Wimbledon Championships


The 1979 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England [Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club] in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 25 June until 7 July. It was the 93rd staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1979.
This edition was the first to introduce the tiebreak game|tiebreak] with the scores at 6–6 instead of 8–8.

Prize money

The total prize money for 1979 championships was £277,066. The winner of the men's title earned £20,000 while the women's singles champion earned £18,000.
EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Round of 128
Men's singles£20,000£10,000£5,000£2,500£1,500£760£440£265
Women's singles£18,000£8,750£4,375£2,000£1,160£585£340£200
Men's doubles *£8,000£4,000£2,000£1,000£520£170£80
Women's doubles *£6,930£3,464£1,600£800£364£116£54
Mixed doubles *£4,200£2,100£1,000£500£250£0£0

* per team

Champions

Seniors

Men's singles

Björn Borg defeated Roscoe Tanner, 6–7, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4

Women's singles

Martina Navratilova defeated Chris Evert Lloyd, 6–4, 6–4
  • It was Navratilova's 2nd career Grand Slam title, and her 2nd Wimbledon title.

Men's doubles

Peter Fleming / John McEnroe defeated Brian Gottfried / Raúl Ramírez, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2

Women's doubles

Billie Jean King / Martina Navratilova defeated Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull, 5–7, 6–3, 6–2
  • This was King's 20th Wimbledon title overall, surpassing Elizabeth Ryan's record of 19 overall titles. This record was subsequently matched by Navratilova in 2003.

Mixed doubles

Bob Hewitt / Greer Stevens defeated Frew McMillan / Betty Stöve, 7–5, 7–6

Juniors

Boys' singles

Ramesh Krishnan defeated Dave Siegler, 6–0, 6–2

Girls' singles

Mary-Lou Piatek defeated Alycia Moulton, 6–1, 6–3

Singles seeds

Men's singles

  1. Björn Borg
  2. John McEnroe '
  3. Jimmy Connors '
  4. Vitas Gerulaitis '
  5. Roscoe Tanner '
  6. Guillermo Vilas '
  7. Arthur Ashe '
  8. Víctor Pecci '
  9. Brian Gottfried '
  10. Wojciech Fibak '
  11. John Alexander '
  12. José Higueras '
  13. Manuel Orantes '
  14. José Luis Clerc '
  15. Tim Gullikson '
  16. Corrado Barazzutti ''''

Women's singles

  1. Martina Navratilova
  2. Chris Evert Lloyd '
  3. Evonne Goolagong Cawley '
  4. Tracy Austin '
  5. Virginia Wade '
  6. Dianne Fromholtz '
  7. Billie Jean King '
  8. Wendy Turnbull '
  9. Kerry Reid '
  10. Virginia Ruzici '
  11. Greer Stevens '
  12. Sue Barker '
  13. Regina Maršíková '
  14. Kathy Jordan '
  15. Betty Stöve '
  16. Pam Shriver ''''