Here come the players
Now the moment we’ve been waiting for.
Carlos Alcaraz. Novak Djokovic.
They have made the nervy walk along the corridor from the changing rooms and have that wait behind the doors to Centre Court.
Djokovic first, followed by the defending champion.
Few shouts of “come on Carlos”.
First huge cheer
The first massive cheer of the afternoon – and it is a special one indeed.
Princess Kate has made her way into the Royal Box and takes her seat front and centre.
A wonderful reception for the Princess of Wales, who is undergoing cancer treatment.
From Spaniards to Spaniard
Carlos Alcaraz has been sent some messages of support from the Spanish football team.
La Roja, of course, face England in the Euro 2024 final tonight.
The overriding message: vamos!
Huge increase
Rovell claimed on X: “Djokovic-Alcaraz Wimbledon final will be the most expensive get-in finals tickets in the history of sports.
“Right now, WORST SEAT for Sunday is more than $10,000.”
At face value, most tickets inside Centre Court cost punters £275 – however, the back six rows of the stadium were a bit cheaper at £230.
Wimbledon do have a strict policy on tickets in an attempt to make the ballot the fairest way of securing seats at the home of tennis – with only special debenture tickets legally exchanged.
It’s a Djok
The Wimbledon final is reportedly the hottest ticket in town EVER.
Novak Djokovic will try and wrestle back the Wimbledon trophy from Carlos Alcaraz this afternoon.
Today, just five weeks on from surgery on his knee, the Serbian can match Roger Federer’s haul of eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon – and secure a record-breaking 25th singles Major.
And for the 15,000 fans inside Centre Court, some of them will have paid an absolute fortune to be there.
According to sports business analyst and former ESPN reporter Darren Rovell, the cheapest resale ticket available on Friday once the all-star Wimbledon final was confirmed was a whopping £7,800 – or $10,000.
And that is said to be a new record.
Heliovaara on Wimbledon triumph
Harri Heliovaara quit tennis aged just 23 due to a series of back issues. Having attempted to become a pilot, he eventually returned to the sport in 2017.
Now 35, he achieved a childhood dream by winning Wimbledon alongside Brit Henry Patten in the men’s doubles yesterday.
On his journey to glory, he said: “I stopped playing when I was 23. I didn’t play for five years.
“Before that, I had achieved to play in the qualies of Wimbledon in the singles. I won one match in singles qualies. I thought that was very special. Very proud of that.
“I was working also in other jobs. For example, working for the Finnish Tennis Federation. (My uncle) asked for tickets to Wimbledon 10 years ago. I came here as a tourist with him. I realised there are many friends of mine playing the doubles.
“I think that’s one of the reasons that I started playing again, the trip to Wimbledon almost 10 years ago, after a five-year gap.
“I never thought I’d be here. I was dreaming of being a top-100 player in doubles, maybe making it a career. I never thought it would be this good. I can be proud of that.”
