Ten great Wimbledon champions!

With the dominance of the "Big Four" showing signs of fraying in men's tennis, this year's Wimbledon could be the most unpredictable in years.

Only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have won on the grass of southwest London since 2002.

For many, winning Wimbledon is the pinnacle of the sport. Very few of the greats have not triumphed at the All England Club, perhaps only Ivan Lendl in the modern era. 

Spencer Gore, who won the inaugural Wimbledon in 1877, was the man who supposedly introduced the serve-and-volley. His three-set victory over William Marshall took only 48 minutes.

British players, notably seven-time winner William Renshaw, won the first 30 titles.

New Zealand's Anthony Wilding later won four straight titles from 1910-13.

After World War I, Wimbledon's international reach was evident, most notably with the success of French players in the 1920s, such as Rene Lacoste (in picture), Jean Borotra and Henri Cochet. 

In this July 3, 1936 file photo, Fred Perry of Britain is shown in action in Wimbledon's Men's Singles at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London.
When Perry won his third straight Wimbledon in 1936, it's unlikely that he would have thought it would take another 77 years before another British player would triumph next.

But that's exactly what happened _ Andy Murray ending the drought in 2013. Perry's name, like Lacoste's before him, lives on in the fashion label that launched at Wimbledon in 1952.

In 1938, Don Budge of the United States became the first player, male or female, to win the Grand Slam of all four major titles. But Australians soon took over as the ones to beat after World War II. 

Between 1956 and 1971, Australian players won the Wimbledon title 13 times. Perhaps the best of them was Rod Laver, who won his third Wimbledon title in 1968 as the Open era started — six years after he turned professional and wasn't allowed to compete in Grand Slam tournaments.  

In this July 5, 1975 file photo, Arthur Ashe holds the men's singles trophy after defeating fellow American Jimmy Conners in the final of the men's singles championship at the All England Lawn Tennis Championship in Wimbledon, London.
Ashe became the first, and only, black man to win Wimbledon when he defeated Connors in the 1975 final.

Since then, Wimbledon has had colorful characters and great rivalries, such as Bjorn Borg's battles with John McEnroe in the early 1980s, the athletic prowess of the Boris Becker-Stefan Edberg duels and Pete Sampras' dominance of the 1990s.  

In this July 4, 1981 file photo, John McEnroe celebrates his victory after defeating Bjorn Borg to take the men's singles title at the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London.
A year after losing to Borg, in one of the greatest matches ever played, McEnroe got his revenge ending Borg's 5 year domination of Wimbledon.

The serve-and-volley tactics of McEnroe, who had caused some controversy earlier in the tournament with a couple of foul-mouthed tirades, proved too much for Borg, who lost in four sets.

McEnroe would win another two Wimbledons. Borg never graced the tournament again.

In this July 1, 1985 file photo, Boris Becker, of West Germany, dives to make a return to his opponent Joakim Nystrom, of Sweden, in the men's singles third round play at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London.

Becker notched up a series of records when he won his first Wimbledon in 1985. At 17 years and 227 days, he became the youngest-ever Grand Slam champion.

He was also the first German to win Wimbledon and the first unseeded player to lift the trophy.
Becker would remain a feature of Wimbledon finals over the coming years. He competed in seven finals in total, winning three

Sampras won seven titles, equaling the mark that Renshaw had set back in 1889. 

Federer joined them in 2012 and is still looking for No. 8.