Wimbledon’s two singles prizes are among the most recognisable trophies in sport, and they tell two very different stories.
The men’s trophy is a silver-gilt cup topped with a pineapple-shaped finial, while the women’s prize is the Venus Rosewater Dish, a gilded silver salver with classical decoration.
The Wimbledon Men's Singles Trophy
The Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy was first presented in 1887, replacing earlier cups used from 1877 to 1886 after William Renshaw’s run of titles raised a practical problem for the All England Club.
The club bought the new cup for 100 guineas and decided it would never become the property of the winner, which is why the original remains with Wimbledon rather than going home with the champion.
The current trophy is made of silver gilt, stands 18 inches high, and carries the inscription “The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World”.
Engraved around the bowl are the dates and names of the champions, and in 2009 a black plinth with an ornamented silver band was added because there was no space left for more names.
Why is there a pineapple on top?
The pineapple is widely understood as a symbol of rarity and status, which fits the fruit’s place in late 19th-century European dining culture.
Pineapples were exotic and expensive, so putting one on top of the trophy gave the cup a bit of old-world swagger. It is a decorative flourish, not a hidden tennis code, and it has become part of the trophy’s identity.
The Wimbledon Women's Singles Trophy
The Ladies’ Singles Trophy is the Venus Rosewater Dish, also known simply as the Rosewater Dish. It was first presented in 1886, when the challenge round era was introduced for the women’s event.
The dish is a partially gilded sterling silver salver, 18.75 inches in diameter, with a rich mythological design rather than a tennis-themed one. The central figure is Temperance, surrounded by classical imagery and references to the seven liberal arts around the rim.
The trophy stays at Wimbledon, and champions receive a three-quarter-size replica to keep.
What the trophies say about Wimbledon
Wimbledon has always treated its singles trophies as more than just prizes. The men’s cup was designed to avoid the awkward possibility of a champion permanently taking it away, while the women’s dish carries an older ceremonial style that feels closer to a museum piece than a sporting bowl.
That difference is part of Wimbledon’s charm. One trophy looks like a champion’s cup with a bit of aristocratic theatre on top, and the other looks like an object from a gallery that happens to sit at the heart of a tennis final.
Most successful men in Wimbledon history
By the end of the 2025 Championships, the men’s singles title race at Wimbledon still has Roger Federer at the top of the modern era with eight titles. His run remains the benchmark for the Open Era, even though the event’s long history stretches much further back than that.
Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic sit just behind Federer on seven men’s singles titles each. That puts them in a rare group of players whose careers are permanently linked to Centre Court’s biggest prize. That said, there’s still a chance for Djokovic to grow his legacy, according to the tennis odds.
Björn Borg won five men’s singles titles, while William Renshaw and Laurence Doherty are among the historic giants of the pre-Open Era with seven and five titles respectively. Those older records matter because Wimbledon’s roll of honour spans more than a century of tennis history, not just the TV era.
Most successful women in Wimbledon history
Martina Navratilova is by far and away the most successful women’s singles champion in Wimbledon history with nine titles. That record has stood for years and still defines the women’s side of the event.
The next tier includes Helen Wills Moody with eight titles and Steffi Graf with seven, while Serena Williams finished her Wimbledon career with seven women’s singles titles as well.
Among the current frontrunners in the Wimbledon odds, none have won the Venus Rosewater Dish on more than one occasion. Those numbers explain why the women’s trophy carries so much weight in Wimbledon folklore: it has been lifted by a small group of all-time greats.
Wimbledon is a reminder that the best sporting symbols do more than sit on a plinth. The men’s cup and its pineapple finial give the championship a quietly eccentric edge, while the Venus Rosewater Dish brings elegance, history, and a touch of mythology to the women’s final.
For anyone following this summer's tournament, the trophies are part of the theatre as much as the matches themselves. They are the pieces every champion wants in the picture, even if the originals never leave SW19.
