Following their wins this past weekend, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek have been going viral for their dance at the Wimbledon Champions Dinner.
This has, somewhat unsurprisingly, led to Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams’ 2015 Wimbledon dance going viral once again.
The tradition had a longstanding history at SW19, however, in 1977 everything changed when the celebration moved to a different venue. A change in venue meant less space, and as a result, the champions’ dance faded away for a number of years.
After making a resurgence in the early 2000s, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams put forth what has since gone down in history as one of the most iconic performances in Wimbledon history.
You can see additional close-up footage below:
At the time, Djokovic was quoted by US News & World Report as saying that he was thinking the pair could dance the waltz. After talking things over with Williams, however, the two settled on dancing to Night Fever by the Bee Gees.
“I was thinking more of a waltz or something, I would say, more sophisticated, something that blends in, in the environment and the beautiful hall where we had the dinner yesterday. But Serena wanted to move a little bit more, so then we considered other options and ‘Night Fever’ came to life.”
Looking Back at When Carlos Alcaraz and Babora Krejcikova Revived Wimbledon Tradition
While Novak Djokovic and Serena William’s Night Fever dance at the 2015 Wimbledon Champions’ Dinner went viral at the time, years later the tradition died out once again.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to COVID-19, Djokovic and Ash Barty both claimed titles at SW19 in 2021; however, the pair didn’t dance following the tournament, with the post-event celebration notably scaled down due to the pandemic.
The following year, when Djokovic and Elena Rybakina picked up wins, the tradition was once again overlooked. It wasn’t until 2023, when Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova revived the tradition, that fans were treated to a new era of Wimbledon Champions Dances.
Carlos Alcaraz y Barbora Krejcikova bailando en la cena de ganadores de Wimbledon.
The following year, Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova kept the tradition going, creating some consistency surrounding the custom.
Sinner and Swiatek Keep Wimbledon Tradition Alive
On the heels of both Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner’s big Wimbledon wins last week, questions about the champions’ dance quickly surfaced.
Sinner laughed about the moment during his post-match press conference, joking that while he’s not good at dancing, he was confident he would be able to handle the situation.
As he explained in an interview with BBC Sport following the dinner celebration, the tournament organizers told the pair that dancing was optional.
As the world No. 1 recalled, however, the two decided to dance anyway citing tradition as one of the main reasons behind their decision.
Given that the past three Wimbledon champions have all kept up the tradition of dancing following their big wins, it’ll be interesting to see if next year’s winners follow suit.
Given that Djokovic and Williams both had several celebratory dances at Wimbledon over the years, if Sinner and Swiatek both win titles at SW19 in the future, we may see the pair take the stage again in the future.
Novak Djokovic & Serena Williams’ 2015 Wimbledon Dance Goes Viral Once Again