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Bill Tilden, Vic Seixas, Tony Trabert, Alex Olmedo, Rod laver, Chuck McKinley, John Newcombe, John McEnroe. Who came next in this very specific context?

P.S I am guessing it is linked to Wimbledon tennis championships.

I think each of the listed players has held the world record for the speed of their serve. Andy Roddick currently holds that record.

I could be wrong.

If that was the case, John, Roscoe Tanner would have to be included in that list.

I think I finally got there. It's a list of winners of the mens' singles at Wimbledon that were unseeded, in chronological order. I reckon the next one is R.P.S. Krajicek in 1996.

I agree with Caravaggio. Mention fastest servers and I immediately think of Roscoe Tanner and Greg Rusedski.

Some of the names on that list I haven't heard of and I don't know what connects them but I doubt it is the fastest serve record.

What about Boris Becker? Wasn't he an unseeded 17-year-old winner in 1985?

Your query Sammy made me revisit the list I'd seen and I realised that I have misread it. The players listed in the question were not actually unseeded winners - they all beat players who were unseeded in the final. So I guess the correct answer is therefore M.O Washington in 1996 who Krancijek beat in the final.

Interesting, Crypto. Krajicek was unseeded, so both finalists were unseeded that year.
That is very unusual in itself.

Just been sat in the garden and realised I should have stuck with the earlier answer I gave which was Richard Krajicek. All the others listed in the question were the winners against an unseeded opponent in the final. Krajicek beat the unseeded Mal Washington in 1996. That was the first time it had happened since 1983 when McEnroe beat the unseeded Lewis.

I'll keep taking the tablets!

I realised that too, Crypto - after I'd posted! It wouldn't have made sense to say Mal Washington should have been on the list, since the others on it were all winners. Confusing isn't it?
I also think it was a very difficult question. Where would you find a list of who beat unseeded players, even if you managed to hit on the possibility of that being the answer? I'd never have got it. When you posted MO Washington, my reaction was "Who?" and the same when you mention Lewis. We do generally remember only the winners, as the saying goes.