‘GMA’s Robin Roberts Shares Throwback Photos Reflecting on Long History With Wimbledon
With the 2025 Wimbledon Championships currently underway, Robin Roberts is looking back at her personal connection to the famed tennis tournament.
“Making it to @wimbledon had always been a dream of mine,” Roberts captioned past and present photos of herself at the U.K. sporting event via Instagram on Monday, June 30. “But instead of a tennis racket I had a microphone in my hands! In honor of @wimbledon beginning today, taking a look back at some #memorablemoments covering the tournament.”
Robert’s Instagram slideshow included pics of herself covering the tournament with “my producer David” during her time working for ESPN in the ‘90s. “Our cameras weren’t even allowed inside the All-England Club so we camped out across the street,” she recalled. “Now that @espn has the tv rights…it was quite different when I returned couple of years ago for @goodmorningamerica!!”
ESPN acquired exclusive broadcasting rights for Wimbledon in 2011. Roberts has continued her tournament coverage on GMA over the years, as ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney.
View this post on Instagram
Though Roberts seemingly skipped last year’s competition, she previously traveled across the pond with her fellow GMA host Lara Spencer to cover the event in 2023. Sharing her favorite Wimbledon memory, Roberts recalled watching Martina Navratilova hit the tennis court back in 1994.
“It was one of the rare times that I turned in my press pass. I brought a ticket because I wanted to sit in the stands, to be able to cheer,” she shared on the ABC morning show at the time. “Because you know in the press, you can’t show favoritism. You can’t cheer. But I do remember that in 1994.”
For Spencer, her favorite Wimbledon memory was interviewing Serena Williams on GMA at the tournament back in 2016. “It was her 22nd Grand Slam,” Spencer stated. “I think she was [as] in awe as we were of that moment. It was amazing.”
Before becoming one of morning TV’s most recognizable faces, Roberts grew up dreaming of becoming a pro athlete. “On that hot and steamy tennis court in Mississippi, I would dream of being at Wimbledon… Well, you know what? I did get to Wimbledon,” she told Essence in October 2020. “I didn’t have a tennis racket in my hands, I had an ESPN microphone. It still was every bit as gratifying.”
She continued, “I want to be a professional athlete … [but] there’s this little thing called ability and I didn’t quite have it. Everyone always says, ‘Follow your passion.’ Well, I’m passionate about sports. I had an interest in journalism and I thought I’d marry the two. Quickly it changed, though, to being passionate about journalism and storytelling and that sports was just one of my many interests.”
The 2025 Wimbledon Championships commenced on Monday and will conclude on Sunday, July 13.
From TV Guide Magazine
How 'Countdown' Recruited Jensen Ackles to Go Full 'Die Hard'
Countdown boss Derek Haas talks creating the character around Ackles, and the cast teases the “Avengers”-like team of the crime thriller. Read the story now on TV Insider.
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services