As far as British tennis supporters are concerned, the men's singles 2001 Wimbledon final - played 14 years ago today - will forever be remembered as the one that would have featured Tim Henman, but for a rain delay in his semi-final encounter against Goran Ivanisevic.

While Henman failed to cope with the stoppage, the Croatian capitalised to book his place in the showpiece encounter on Centre Court alongside Pat Rafter, who had lost to Pete Sampras 12 months earlier in the final at SW19.

Ivanisevic also had bad memories of this particular match, having lost in it in 1992, 1994 and 1998. It meant that at the end of the encounter, one man's disappointing record would be forgotten.

As expected, there was very little to separate these two powerful players, so much so that they shared the first four sets evenly.

Then, in what was a highly entertaining fifth and deciding final set, watched on by a raucous crowd, the pendulum seemed to swing one way and then the other early on.

However, it was Ivanisevic that eventually made the crucial breakthrough against his Australian opponent, allowing him to record a 6-3 3-6 6-2 2-6 9-7 victory in exactly three hours.

Not only was it his maiden Wimbledon title at the fourth attempt, he also became the first wildcard entry to have ever won the tournament.

"I don't know if someone is going to wake me up and tell me I haven't won again," said an emotional Ivanisevic afterwards.

"This was my dream all my life. I came here and nobody thought about me, but here I am holding the trophy."

Meanwhile, a defeated Rafter added: "It was one of those matches which could have gone either way. Someone has to lose and I'm the loser once again."

To this day, the match is still regarded as one of the best finals in recent Wimbledon history.