From the flower girls that escort the competitors to their chairs on Centre Court to the Ball Girls’ specially plaited hair, the ladies’ singles final is undoubtedly a splendid occasion in the summer sporting calendar, presided over on Saturday by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. In a nice touch, the Patron of the All England Club mirrored the players’ dress code in a timelessly elegant tailored ivory jacket and pleated skirt.
Lady Helen Taylor, accompanied by her daughter Estella Taylor, was also in the Royal Box on Day 13, representing a historic continuum as both her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, were for several decades associated with presenting the trophies on finals day.
As per tradition, diplomats from the countries represented by the ladies’ singles finalists took their seats to support their compatriots. In Amanda Anisimova’s corner was Warren Stephens, who serves as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, while Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon journey was marked by the presence of Jerzy Boczkowski, the Polish Charge d’Affaires in the UK.
Also in the house were politicians Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition since November 2024 – who was born in a Wimbledon maternity hospital in 1980 – and Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since 2024.
Representing the Armed Forces were Major General James Bowder of the Household Division (nominated Senior General Lead for Wimbledon’s uniformed service stewards); Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of Air Staff, RAF; General Dame Sharon Nesmith, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff; and General Sir Roland Walker, Chief of the General Staff.
Within their ranks was a collective of champions that conjured memories of 21 ladies’ singles finals victories. Sixty four years ago, Christine Truman Janes left Centre Court with the runners-up salver, having lost to Angela Mortimer in the last all-British Wimbledon final.
Sticking with chronology, there was Billie Jean King, who dominated the late 1960s and early ‘70s with wins in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975, and remains the last player, male or female, to win the “triple crown” – singles, doubles and mixed doubles in one year – which she did in 1967 and 1973.
Ann Jones claimed her 1969 victory in the middle of King’s dominant run, avenging her defeat in the final two years earlier, while Martina Navratilova picked up the baton in the late 1970s and ended up, not just with nine ladies’ singles titles, but 11 doubles crowns, thus sharing with King the record for the most Wimbledon titles (20).
The Czech-born American’s titles came in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1990, when she was 34, but her final Wimbledon title came in 2003 when she claimed the mixed doubles title with Leander Paes at the age of 46, which put her in the record books as the oldest player to win a Wimbledon title.
After her courtside stint as Mirra Andreeva’s coach, Conchita Martinez, the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1994, was reunited with another former charge: Garbiñe Muguruza, who beat Venus Williams in straight sets for her memorable triumph in 2017. Two years earlier, Muguruza had been runner-up to Serena Williams.
Three years after Martinez, it was Martina Hingis’s turn to grab the headlines. The “Swiss Miss” held aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish at the tender age of 16 years and 278 days, making her the youngest winner of the singles title since Lottie Dod in 1887. Remarkably, she already had one Wimbledon title under her belt – the ladies’ doubles, which she won partnering Helena Sukova.
What is it about Martinas and tennis longevity? In 2017, 20 years after her singles victory, Hingis again became a crowd favourite, partnering Jamie Murray to triumph in the mixed doubles.
From courtcraft guile to the intense aggression of Marion Bartoli. In 2007, the Frenchwoman – now a stalwart of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage – reached the final, losing to Venus Williams, but returned six years later to claim her title by defeating Sabine Lisicki.
Concluding the chronological roll call was Simona Halep, the popular former world No.1 from Romania who defeated Serena Williams in 2019 in a display that was hailed as “point perfect”.
Claudia Santana, widow of Manuel Santana, the 1966 men’s singles champion, also returned to a court that holds such strong memories.
Other dramatis personae in the latest edition of Wimbledon ladies’ singles history included leading ladies from the world of “roll, camera, action” – Greta Gerwig of Little Women fame and Christiane Amanpour, the Chief International Anchor for CNN – while their male counterparts numbered film and stage director Sir Sam Mendes, character actor and cocktail maestro Stanley Tucci, and BBC newsreader and Mastermind host Clive Myrie.
Achievements in Olympic sport were represented by Lord Coe, President of the IAAF and a two-time Olympic gold middle-distance medallist; long-distance athlete Sir Mo Farah; track cyclist Emma Finucane; and three times breaststroke gold medallist, Adam Peaty.