Wimbledon women’s final live reaction (2024)

• Barbora Krejcikova (31) beats Jasmine Paolini (7) in the singles final
• Brit Henry Patten/Harri Heliovaara win in the men's doubles final
• Townsend/Siniakova (4) beat Dabrowski/Routliffe in women's doubles
• Alcaraz (3) and Djokovic (2) in mouthwatering men's final on Sunday
• Watch on the BBC in the UK, ESPN and ABC in the US

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The next match along on Centre Court, the women's doubles final, has begun too.

American Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova, the fourth seeds, facing second seeds Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski.

That's 2-1 to the former pair on serve in the first set.

Henry Patten was working as a statistician at Wimbledon eight years ago.

Today, he's lifting silverware on Centre Court.

Follow your dreams, kids.

Harri Heliovaara, speaking after winning alongside Henry Patten, said: "I admit we got a little lucky today but sometimes you need luck to win a tennis match. We will definitely enjoy this. The tears say it all, it's very emotional."

Patten added: "You're all amazing out there. I can't really remember what happened to be honest, I'm sure Harri's the same.

"For me, the most special thing is to do it in front of so many people who have come over. My family members, my friends - thank you all."

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, speaking after losing the men's doubles final on Centre Court, were sporting in their post-match words.

Thompson said: "I'm devastated. We were so close. Championship points. This is the way tennis goes and it's tough."

Purcell added: "I'm glad it was a great match for the crowd and I'm super happy for the boys. Enjoy it guys, you don't know how many times you'll be back out here."

What makes it even more satisfying is that the Aussies in the media centre are absolutely gutted after watching the end of that match.

They're jokingly trying to play it off though.

Don't worry lads, we see you. That's for the Ashes, yeah?

I don't believe it!

After a topsy-turvy tiebreak at the end of a topsy-turvy match, Henry Patten and his partner Harri Heliovaara, the unseeded British-Finn duo, have beaten the 15th seeds Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell in a brilliant final.

They wrap it up, 6-7(7), 7-6(8), 7-6(9) after three tense tiebreaks. Thompson and Purcell saved one championship point against the home favourites, but a rip-snorting serve from Patten, from Colchester, England, saw Thompson net.

The winning pair erupt with sheer euphoria. Heliovaara is in tears. The two Australians sit, distraught, slumped on their chairs.

Of course, the third set in the men's doubles final between Brit Henry Patten/Harri Heliovaara and Jordan Thompson/Max Purcell went entirely on serve.

6-6, and now into a match tiebreak. Patten/Heliovaara, the home crowd's favourites, won the second after the Australians won the first.

Now, it's 4-4.

Finely poised. Both duos are just six points from lifting the trophy.

Wimbledon's X account with a pun I came up with three days ago.

I guess there's no copyright on it, so I'll let them off.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are at opposite ends of their careers. There is one big way in which they are eerily similar.

They are both so much better than nearly everybody else that they often draw motivation from something more than winning another match or another title. They embark on quests that few other players can even consider. Sometimes they are small ones.

On the verge of two set points, with every option available to him, Alcaraz tried to hit an ill-advised drop smash in his semifinal win over Daniil Medvedev on Friday. It didn’t work, but attempting that shot, and so many other trick shots like it, is one of Alcaraz’s strategies for staying present.

Djokovic will pick out spectators — or even a whole stadium — who are pulling for his opponent, as he did in the dying moments of his win over Lorenzo Musetti on the same day, feeding off their perceived assault on his character.

On Sunday, Djokovic and Alcaraz will come onto Centre Court for their second consecutive Wimbledon final with two more duelling quests, both bigger than hitting trick shots or fighting against perceived injustices. They are also borderline absurd. Read more below.

What a ripping end to that second set. Fascinating stuff, such see-sawing action.

Brit Henry Patten and partner Harri Heliovaara, facing Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, played their way through another set without a break, 6-6, though they saved a set/match/championship point in the 12th and final game to take it into a tiebreak.

Once again, they were behind early, 5-2 down, fought back to 6-5 up and a set point, conceded two more championship points, saved them both, the latter after Jordan Thompson could have smashed it away but instead tried an ill-advised drop shot that he rather telegraphed.

Harri Heliovaara got there and whipped it down the line for 8-8, before a big Patten serve saw the Aussies net and Patten/Heliovaara take the second set, 7-6(8). A thriller of a set.

Now we're into a decider on Centre Court...

Barbora Krejcikova's last 12 months and her career resumé are worlds apart, and it showed today.

Meanwhile, Jasmine Paolini has lost two Grand Slam finals in a row — and is probably kind of okay with that.

A great final.

Much has been made of Paolini’s unlikely run to the final, but Krejcikova winning the title here would have felt similarly outlandish just a few months ago. She reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in January, but a back injury, so debilitating to a tennis player, then kept her out from the start of February to mid-April.

But Krejcikova has come alive at Wimbledon. Beating Paolini today secures Krejcikova her second Grand Slam in singles, taking her above much more heralded players like Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina.

Throughout the match, aside from during the second set, she looked like a player who had been on this stage many times before, and her singles record only tells a part of the story. She has won 10 Grand Slam doubles titles, seven women’s and three mixed, and she has lost just one Grand Slam final.

Krejcikova has spoken about being overlooked when it comes to conversations about the top players in women’s tennis, and that will surely be a lot harder to do after this success.

One player walked onto Centre Court Saturday as a Grand Slam champion. The other walked onto it as a new crowd favorite, which can be amazing and dangerous at the same time, especially on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

A few days ago, much of the tennis-viewing public barely knew Jasmine Paolini, even though she made the final of the French Open a month ago. During the past five days though, Paolini became something of a folk hero, a 5ft 3in (160cm) bullet who blitzed her way through seemingly more powerful players.

She was all fist-pumps and bounce. The Centre Court faithful adopted her as one of their own. She was no longer just a tennis player, but a beloved character in an irresistible tennis drama.

That can be thrilling and crushing all at once. Ask Ons Jabeur, a finalist the past two years, trying to become the first Muslim player and woman from Africa to win a Grand Slam title. It crushed her. Becoming and rooting for a folk hero can be seductive. In both cases, be careful.

Paolini played some great tennis in the second set and was rewarded.

But she lost the third 6-4, and with it, the match, and the final.

What a tiebreak!

After a first set of no breaks in the men's doubles final, we moved into a tiebreak at 6-6.

Brit Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara were 6-1 down - offering up five set points - but got it back to 6-6 and even took a set point of their own at 7-6.

But Heliovaara went long with a serve return, Australians Purcell and Thompson conjured another set point, and Heliovaara pulled a lob return narrowly wide. He challenged, but it was unsuccessful.

First set to the men from Down Under, 7-6(7). Aussie tennis icon Lleyton Hewitt, in their box, pumps his fist in celebration.