Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and Czech Barbora Krejcikova won the men’s and women’s singles tournaments at Wimbledon this year. The traditional Champions Ball was held in London after the tournament.
Alcaraz and Krejcikova danced together to Dua Lipa’s Dance The Night. In this case, Carlos took the initiative like a gentleman and invited Barbora along.
From the outside, it seems that the Spaniard and the Czech were a bit uncomfortable. This point was pointed out by the legendary Russian tennis player, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
“Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova danced at the Wimbledon Champions Ball to Dua Lipa’s song from the movie “Barbie” Dancing The Night – it was a bit awkward, the song doesn’t seem to be intended for such a dance, well, not at all. But they both play tennis perfectly! By the way, the start time of the ball had to be brought forward a little so that Carlos could watch the final match of Euro 2024, which his compatriots won. In a very good mood and in a great tuxedo, the 21-year-old champion went to dance,” Kuznetsova wrote on her Telegram channel.
Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova dance at the ball
Photo: Wimbledon Press Service
The main thing is that Alcaraz and Krejcikova still paid tribute to a long-standing tradition, because in recent years the Champions Ball has become less common. Wimbledon has been held since 1877 and is the oldest Grand Slam tournament. The Champions Ball has been included in the competition programme since 1934 in honour of the victory of the British Fred Perry, who brought the country its first title in a quarter of a century.
Gradually, the tradition of men’s and women’s individual dance champions became entrenched at the gala event. Not all tennis players liked it. Many were irritated by the mere fact of participating in the dinner after working hard for two weeks of the tournament. Not to mention the need to waltz in front of everyone’s eyes.
In the early 1990s, the champions stopped dancing together. No one really complained except Andre Agassi. He won the tournament in 1992 and was eager to waltz with Steffi Graf. Then Andre dressed extremely shockingly and had a punk hairstyle. Steffi did not take him seriously, rejected any sign of attention and refused to dance. Who would have thought that seven years later they would start dating, two years later they would get married, raise two children and live in complete harmony for a quarter of a century.
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After Agassi, no one showed enthusiasm for wanting to dance at the Wimbledon champions’ ball for more than a couple of decades. The tradition was revived by Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams in 2015, when they danced to a romantic song from the film “Saturday Night Fever.” But subsequent champions did not always follow the example of the Serb and the American. For example, Serena did not dance with Andy Murray in 2016.
In 2017, Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza was eager to dance with Roger Federer, who had just won a record eighth Wimbledon title. But not fate.
Garbiñe Muguruza couldn’t dance with Roger Federer, even though she was going to do so
Photo: AELTC – Pool/Getty Images
The problem is that the organizers of the dinner did not bother about the presence of music. Of course, if you wanted, you could think of something, but Muguruza decided not to bother Federer about this.
“That’s how it was. I was very happy to have the opportunity to dance, but it all turned out to be much more serious than I thought. The British are very serious. Everything was perfect, very beautiful, but there was no music. How am I supposed to dance if there’s no music? So there was no dancing. Although I was looking forward to it,” Muguruza said.
After Federer, Novak Djokovic has won four consecutive titles. He only danced with German Angelique Kerber in 2018, and it was partly spontaneous and very short at the request of the dinner host. But with Simona Halep, Ashleigh Barty and Elena Rybakina, Novak did not even do a mock dance.
Angelique Kerber and Novak Djokovic dancing in 2018
Photo: Thomas Lovelock/AELTC – Pool/Getty Images
In 2023, Djokovic’s hegemony at Wimbledon was interrupted by Alcaraz. He did not dance with the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, but a year later he invited his compatriot Barbora Krejcikova. The Champions Ball is held on the day the men’s final ends and usually starts at 8:30 p.m. local time. But for the sake of Alcaraz, this year the organizers deviated slightly from the principles. The ball took place after 10 p.m., when the final of the European Football Championship Spain – England (2-1) had already ended.
Carlos was clearly in a very good mood and decided to ask Krejcikova to dance. Perhaps Alcaraz will win Wimbledon more than once and consistently adhere to this tradition without such high-profile occasions as Spain’s victory at the European Championships. It would also be good if other tennis players followed Carlos’ example. There are many archaic customs at Wimbledon, but the champions’ dance is far from the worst of them.
