• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 6, 2007

Despite a lack of American men making much of a Wimbledon splash recently, NBC will continue to offer one of the world's premier tennis events under a new long-term deal.

As with most sports rights deals now, NBC receives the ability to expand coverage beyond linear TV to the Web and on mobile devices.

NBC has carried the tournament for 39 straight years, and the men's final live since 1979, when Roscoe Tanner faced off against Bjorn Borg in the first "Breakfast at Wimbledon." The concept is now a fixture for both the men's and women's championship matches.

"Breakfast at Wimbledon" has become a tradition in American sports and part of the lexicon in American culture," said Dick Ebersol, head of NBC Sports. "I'm extremely pleased that we'll be continuing our wonderful relationship with the All England Club, into its 40th anniversary and beyond."

But while "Breakfast at Wimbledon" had some blockbuster offerings, the Americans haven't had a winner since Pete Sampras retired. In the 1980s, we watched Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. The ever-popular Boris Becker was in the final seven times, and Sampras dominated the sport in the 1990s. But since then, the Americans haven't produced a champ, though Andy Roddick has made the finals twice.

Conversely, the women's draw has been a boon, with American Venus Williams winning four years in a row this decade and five times total. Also, winning was the charismatic Maria Sharapova in 2004. Sharapova, who is Russian but trains in the U.S., doesn't seem to be fading any time soon; neither do the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena.