Nadal defeated five-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final in what many regard as the greatest tennis match of all time.

[3][4][5] In the women's singles, Venus Williams claimed her fifth title, and first win over her sister Serena in a Wimbledon final (she had lost the previous two).

Stéphane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer, 6–7(8–10), 6–1, 6–3 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.

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.

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.

"[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 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.

[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.

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 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.

[38] 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.

Meanwhile, Tanasugarn reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final by virtue of her victory over Janković, losing to the eventual champion Venus Williams.

The following players were accepted directly into the main tournament, but withdrew with injuries, suspensions or personal reasons.