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Italy's Jannik Sinner greets his team in the players box as he celebrates after beating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain to win the men's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. (AP)
Jannik Sinner had to stop his serve to pick a champagne cork that fell on the court from the stands in the fourth game of the second set of the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner would quietly pick it up and hand it to the ballgirl, while Alcaraz was visibly upset, spreading his arms in exasperation.
“Only here at Wimbledon, but that’s exactly why we love playing here,” said Sinner about the champagne incident in the post-match chat on court. “It’s a very expensive tournament, you know.”
The curious incident occurred with the score in the second set with Jannik holding the advantage 2-1, and looking to close out his service. A noise popped out, and Sinner pulled out of his service motion. He turned, bent down to pick something up from the grass and hand it to the ball-girl. It was a champagne cork that had flown down from the stands.
The chair umpire issued a warning, urging those present to behave more politely: “Please don’t open bottles while the players are about to serve.”
If you want to know who can afford Wimbledon tickets, …a spectator just popped a champagne bottle, the Cork landed on the court and stopped play#Wimbledon #sinner #alcaraz pic.twitter.com/DuA1kusbym
— pat (@PatelBropodcast) July 13, 2025
Incidentally, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. During the match between the American Amanda Anisimova and Czech Linda Noskova, a fan had opened a bottle of champagne. It had occurred just before the Amand was about to serve and she said aloud, “Why are you opening it now?”
The All England Club’s conditions of entry to the grounds state: “All corked bottles, including bottles of champagne and sparkling wine, must be opened prior to being taken into the stands of any court.”
The fans popping champagne in the stands, though, is a regular event at the Wimbledon tournament. In 2023, just as action got underway between Anastasia Potapova and Mirra Andreeva on Court Three, one fan decided to mark Middle Sunday by uncorking a bottle of champagne. “Ladies and gentlemen, please, if you are opening a bottle of champagne, don’t do it as the players are about to serve,” Australian umpire John Blom had said on the microphone.
For the 138th edition of Wimbledon this year, the champagne brand Lanson, which holds the right for this tournament, had unveiled a new case for its two brands of champagne that it sells here: Le Black Création and Le Rosé Création. At the launch, the promotional line had read: ‘A nod to the immaculate elegance of Wimbledon, to be savored at your most sparkling moments’. It turns out of one such sparkling moment is when Sinner is about to serve in the Wimbledon final.
English (US) ·