Even for a player of Carlos Alcaraz's brilliance, the 20-year-old faced an immense challenge when he took on seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final of the 2023 championships.
Alcaraz, who won his first grand slam title at the 2022 U.S. Open, is 16 years Djokovic's junior and lost to the all-time great in the French Open semifinals after being beset by cramp midway through the much-anticipated showdown.
However, he emerged victorious this time after a brutal five-set battle on Centre Court.
In last year's women's final, unseeded Marketa Vondrousova completed a huge upset at the age of 24 by beating sixth seeds Ons Jabeur, who is 28, and the pair will look to defend their crowns in 2024 against stiff competition.
Where do this year's finalists rank among the youngest Wimbledon champions? Who holds the record? Here's what you need to know.
MORE: Wimbledon 2024 schedule, draw, brackets
Youngest Wimbledon winners in history
Spaniard Alcaraz became one of the youngest winners in SW19 by avenging his defeat to Djokovic in Paris and lifting the trophy
Even with his 2023 victory, however, Alcaraz is a sizeable three years too late to break the record for the youngest men's singles champion.
And although Vondrousova is by no means a veteran, she is eight years older than the holder of the record for the youngest women's singles winner.
Youngest Wimbledon champions: Who holds the record?
Astonishingly, Martina Hingis was four years younger than Alcaraz when the Swiss sensation won Wimbledon in 1997.
Hingis was a mere 16 years old when she recovered from a set behind to beat 28-year-old Jana Novotna in that final, and her remarkable record is yet to be broken.
Hingis is also the youngest women's doubles champion (she was 15 years and 282 days old when she won in 1996). Overall, across singles, doubles and mixed doubles, Hingis won six Wimbledon finals.
Boris Becker remains the youngest winner of the men's singles competition, prevailing as a 17-year-old in 1985 in a feat that still makes him the second-youngest grand slam title winner in history.
Russian prodigy Maria Sharapova was also 17 when she won Wimbledon, but no other teenage players have won the title in modern times.
Before the Open Era, home player Lottie Dod won at 15 years and 285 days old in 1887. Dod is said to have been listening to Wimbledon on the radio when she died 73 years later.
How Alcaraz ranks among youngest grand slam winners
Michael Chang's record as the youngest man to win a singles grand slam title still stands, with Alcaraz's victory at Flushing Meadows putting him seventh on the top-10 list.
Four of the five youngest, including Rafael Nadal, made the list by winning the French Open, while only three of the 20 youngest across the men's and women's competitions did so by winning Wimbledon.
Youngest men's singles grand slam title winners
| Player | Title | Age |
| Michael Chang | 1989 French Open | 17 years, 3 months, 17 days |
| Boris Becker | 1985 Wimbledon | 17 years, 7 months, 15 days |
| Mats Wilander | 1982 French Open | 17 years, 9 months, 15 days |
| Bjorn Borg | 1974 French Open | 18 years, 10 days |
| Rafael Nadal | 2005 French Open | 19 years, 3 days |
| Pete Sampras | 1990 US Open | 19 years, 29 days |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2022 US Open | 19 years, 4 months, 7 days |
| Stefan Edberg | 1985 Australian Open | 19 years, 10 months, 19 days |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2023 Wimbledon | 20 years, 2 months, 12 days |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 2001 US Open | 20 years, 6 months, 16 days |
| John McEnroe | 1979 US Open | 20 years, 6 months, 24 days |
Youngest women's singles grand slam title winners
| Player | Title | Age |
| Martina Hingis | 1997 Australian Open | 16 years, 3 months, 26 days |
| Monica Seles | 1990 French Open | 16 years, 6 months, 7 days |
| Tracy Austin | 1979 US Open | 16 years, 8 months, 28 days |
| Martina Hingis | 1997 Wimbledon | 16 years, 9 months, 5 days |
| Martina Hingis | 1997 US Open | 16 years, 11 months, 8 days |
| Monica Seles | 1991 Australian Open | 17 years, 1 month, 24 days |
| Maria Sharapova | 2004 Wimbledon | 17 years, 2 months, 14 days |
| Martina Hingis | 1998 Australian Open | 17 years, 4 months, 1 day |
| Arantxa Sanchez Vicario | 1989 French Open | 17 years, 5 months, 23 days |
| Monica Seles | 1991 French Open | 17 years, 6 months, 6 days |
Youngest world number one: Alcaraz the men's record holder
Alcaraz cannot become the youngest Wimbledon winner but he does have the distinction of reaching No.1 earlier in his life than anyone else.
Victory over Casper Ruud in the 2022 US Open men's final made Alcaraz the youngest ever man at the top of the ATP rankings at the age of 19 years and 130 days.
He smashed the previous record held by Lleyton Hewitt when he also won the US Open at the age of 20 years and 268 days.
Who are the oldest Wimbledon winners?
Three-time champion Arthur Gore won as a 41-year-old in 1909, and the Briton still holds the record as the oldest player ever to have won the tournament. Roger Federer is the oldest in the Open Era, having been 35 when he last triumphed in 2017. Novak Djokovic will break that record if he wins on Sunday.
Britain's Charlotte Cooper Sterry holds the women's record as a 37-year-old winner in 1908. In the Open Era, the oldest women's singles champion is Martina Navratilova, who won at the age of 33 in 1990 — a record she almost raised by four years, only to lose to Conchita Martinez in the 1994 final.
