Goran Ivanišević defeated Patrick Rafter in the final, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships.

[3] The final was held on the third Monday of the event in front of a boisterous crowd, after Ivanišević's semifinal against Tim Henman took three days to complete due to rain.

Pete Sampras was the four-time defending champion, but he lost in the fourth round to Roger Federer.

Sampras was attempting to equal Björn Borg's record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles (which Federer would himself achieve in 2007) and win a record eighth men's singles Wimbledon title (which Federer would achieve in 2017).

They were replaced in the draw by the highest-ranked non-seeded players Jonas Björkman and Harel Levy, who became the #33 and #34 seeds respectively.