Brad Zellman of Scotland has made history by being crowned the first ever Wimbledon eChampion, following a seeded knockout tournament played on TopSpin 2K25 at the All England Club.
Zellman came out on top after weeks of open qualifiers led him to the live in-person finals at Wimbledon. There, overlooking the Championships courts, he emerged victorious after competing against seven other finalists from across the world.
As Wimbledon eChampion, Zellman will be able to take his seat at Centre Court next year with an all-expenses paid trip to watch the gentlemen’s singles final at The Championships 2025.
He was also presented with a unique gold-plated PlayStation 5 and had his name and historic achievement etched into it. This was first announced back in June: One-of-a-kind golden PS5 to be awarded to winner of new tennis esports LAN tournament.
Zellman’s brother Gareth also qualified to represent the UK and watched on as his younger brother claimed a straight sets victory over Pio Cesarano of Italy.
It was Gareth who introduced his younger brother to TopSpin 2K25 and the brothers trained daily to make sure the gold-plated PlayStation 5 and title of Wimbledon eChampion came home with them to Dunfermline.
Zellman commented:
“It feels surreal, I can’t believe I’ve won, I never expected to win the whole thing. It’s been a crazy experience as this is my first time entering an esports tournament.”
Brad Zellman
As the first ever Wimbledon eChampion, he will also be a guest at next year’s gentlemen’s single’s final, and there was only one choice for who would go with him.
“I made my brother a promise that I’d take him with me to the Wimbledon Gentleman’s Singles final if I won,” Brad said. “A lot can change in a year but it’s only right I take him.”
The eChamps was Wimbledon’s first ever official esports tournament and the maiden tennis esports tournament using TopSpin 2K25. The Wimbledon eChamps presented by American Express, Official Partner of The Championships since 2019, kicked off open qualifiers during this year’s Championships. The ranked qualifying competitions ran across five countries in Europe, as well as North America, covering UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Canada and the US.
The Wimbledon eChamps presented by American Express was run by Blast, the esports producers behind other esports tournaments, including London’s Counter-Strike Blast Premier Spring Final 2024 and the Rocket League RLCS London Major, won by G2 Stride.
Fans can catch up on the action with highlights of the esports tennis broadcast on Wimbledon’s YouTube, Twitch and TikTok channels.
Related posts:
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
