New King and Queen of Centre Court Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova celebrate their new Wimbledon titles at Champions Dinner (but the Czech winner keeps her trainers on for glitzy event)
The new King and Queen of Centre Court were unveiled at a glitzy Champions Dinner yesterday after Spain‘s Carlos Alcaraz won his maiden Wimbledon men’s singles title.
Alcaraz, 20, and Marketa Vondrousova, 24, who the day before won the women’s singles title, were seen posing with their trophies at a celebratory dinner after winning their finals at SW19.
Vondrousova on Saturday was congratulated by the Princess of Wales after the unseeded Czech became the first-ever unseeded Grand Slam champion.
And in a gripping men’s singles final yesterday, Alcaraz served his rival Novak Djokovic a crushing defeat in front of a very excitable Prince George and Princess Charlotte who punched the air in victory.
His stunning win came after two of the world’s best male tennis players battled it out during the gripping match, filled with outbursts of anger from both sides.
The annual champions’ ball is a longstanding tradition of the tournament. Winners and runners-up from that year will dress to the nines to celebrate the victors.
The new king and queen of Centre Court: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova pose with the winners trophies at the Champions Dinner
Marketa Vondrousova poses in a stunning black dress and trainers as she attends the Champions Dinner in Wimbledon last night
Carlos Alcaraz poses for pictures with an umbrella at the Champions Dinner last night
Marketa Vondrousova attends the Wimbledon Champions Dinner at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club yesterday
Carlos Alcaraz attends the Wimbledon Champions Dinner at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club yesterday
Ms Vondrousova emerged as one of the most unlikely champions at the All England Club and the first unseeded women’s winner with a 6-4 6-4 victory against favourite Ons Jabeur.
While her parents were not in London, the Czech player was able to celebrate with her younger sister and husband, who passed over cat-sitting duties to fly over for the final.
The couple were planning to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on Sunday with a special date at the Champions Dinner.
Ms Vondrousova’s best run at Wimbledon prior to this year had been in 2021 when she lost to Emma Raducanu in the second round.
Her game, though, built on touch, slice and angles rather than power, is a good fit for grass, making this victory slightly less unexpected than at first glance.
She credits an early coach and her slightness of stature for the way her game has developed, saying: ‘I had one coach in my home town who taught me how to slice and everything.
‘I just feel like I was always the smallest one and I just didn’t have that much power, so I had to do something else to win. You can use it really well and you have many options, so that’s a great thing to have.’
