Vic Seixas was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Budge Patty.

This resulted in Rosewall being considered by many to be the greatest player never to win Wimbledon.

[3] Drobný was extremely popular with British tennis fans, and no British player had made it to the 1954 quarterfinals, the longest-surviving home player in the men's singles being 18-year-old Mike Davies, who was knocked out in the fourth round by Budge Patty.

[3] No unseeded players made it to the quarterfinals, the stage at which second-seeded Lew Hoad was knocked out in straight sets by Drobný.

Top seed Tony Trabert was defeated in the semifinal by Rosewall.