Wimbledon final 2025 LIVE: Latest score and game-by-game updates as the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is DELAYED – as world No1 and No2 prepare to go head-to-head in a thriller at SW19

Start as you mean to go on, they say, and Alcaraz wins the first point of the Championship with an ace. He will hope he wins the last, too.

Alcaraz joked during his run at Queen’s that he had become a ‘serve bot’ due to his improved dominance in his service game, and there’s a good case to be made for that here. Sinner can’t string a rally together as Alcaraz thunders his way to an opening hold, to love.

Include the family of the late Arthur Ashe, including his wife Jeanne and daughter Camera.

The trailblazing Ashe won his Wimbledon title in a breathtaking match against long-time rival Jimmy Connors 50 years ago. He’s rightly celebrated by the Centre Court crowd as the announcer acknowledges the VIPs.

They’re greeted by a huge roar from the crowd, with not a seat to be had in the packed stadium.

Alison Hughes the umpire is waiting at the net for the players to pose for their photo and complete the coin toss.

Sinner springs on his toes, then Alcaraz does the same, flipping his racquet from side to side and doing a few Nadal-like jumps. Both of them seem springy and energetic, neither of them wanting to be caught sleeping.

Alcaraz calls the coin toss… and Sinner wins – he opts to receive serve.

… but first, the Prince and Princess of Wales chatted to history-makers Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, as well as some select ball kids and representatives from Wimbledon.

Alcaraz and Sinner are making their way through the hallowed halls of the All England Club as they prepare to step out onto a sun-spilled Centre Court.

The two players’ personalities couldn’t be more different – as Alcaraz in the lead recognises the fans waving at them through the windows with a beaming, calm-as-you-like smile, Sinner is all business, head down, cool and composed.

Fire and ice. And just a few moments until we see them in action.

Massive queue for the hill. They’ve only just opened it up again to let people through. Had stopped people going up there for ages. ‘All to watch it on tv’ said one punter in the line.

Schlocky tennis rom-com Wimbledon (underrated in this writer’s opinion) would have it that ‘love means nothing in tennis’, but one couple has refused to read too deeply into the sport’s terminology, with the groom-to-be popping the question on Henman Hill.

It’ll be a memorable day for more than just Jannik and Carlos, then.

While Centre Court might have become a second home to Alcaraz, Sinner is less used to the cushiony grass of the All England Club’s show court.

But after securing the Australian Open in the first Grand Slam of the year, Sinner has had a miraculous year despite having been suspended until the Italian Open due to his doping ban.

Since his return, Sinner has had two shots at titles – in Rome, and in Paris – and twice, Alcaraz has thwarted him. Can he do it a third time, on his least favourite surface?

The Wimbledon men’s final has been delayed from 4pm to 4.10pm after the women’s doubles final ran on. The All England Club’s decision to switch the time of the finals from 2pm to 4pm in order to better target TV audiences for the first time has already been caught out.

Yes, it is only 10 minutes but there is no way a singles Grand Slam final should be scheduled in such a way that a delay to the start time is possible.

Winning the French Open is an achievement that might take everything else from you in the aftermath – ask Coco Gauff. The American starlet lost her one Wimbledon warm-up match in Berlin, and then was summarily knocked out at the All England Club in the first round.

But if you’re Alcaraz, you have a post-Paris routine down pat. First up, a trip to Ibiza to blow off steam.

Then, somehow, you win Queen’s, your Wimbledon warm-up, and then you have a spare week to get used to the grass on the practice courts at Aorangi.

Then, a few weeks later… you step onto Centre Court to defend your title.

… it’s a different story. Yes, their last meeting came well before Alcaraz’s dominance on the surface, but Sinner will be lethally motivated after their showdown in Paris.

How does Alcaraz fuel his winning runs in SW19, you might wonder? With everything served to him at Cambio de Tercio.

He’s a ‘perfect, fantastic eater’, says Abel Lusa – why not take a look at how Lusa’s restaurants made him the unofficial epicentre of the tennis tour, below.

As if by Matthew Lambwell-magic, Kudermetova and Mertens have done it in three sets, over nearly two-and-a-half hours, and it’s time to get this ceremony on the road.

I imagine the carpet is being rolled out double-quick…

We are in serious danger of a delay to the men’s final here – in the first year of Wimbledon’s switch to a 4pm start. The women’s doubles final – Su-Wei Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko vs Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens – began at 1pm and is now 4-5 in the third set with just 35 minutes to go until Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner due to take the court.

Given the amount of time which will be taken up by the trophy presentation and speeches, this is going to be touch and go. It would be an embarrassment for Wimbledon if they are forced to delay – there is absolutely no way a Grand Slam singles final should have a delayed start.

Alcaraz had his toughest outing, unbelievably, first up against Fabio Fognini, with the firebrand Italian veteran forcing him into a five-set tussle in the searing opening day hint. After a match so good that Fognini brought forward his retirement, Alcaraz then breezed past plucky Brit Oliver Tarvet, Jan-Lenard Struff, Andrey Rublev, Cam Norrie, and Taylor Fritz ahead of today’s clash.

Sinner was forced to knockout compatrior Luca Nardi, before defeating Aleksandar Vukic and Pedro Martinez with minimum fuss. Two sets down in his fourth-round tie, Sinner may in part owe his place in the final due to the tragic retirement of an injured Grigor Dimitrov. Two confident wins against Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic helped push that thought from most people’s minds, however.

Defending champion Alfie Hewett went looking for a chance to avenge his own Roland-Garros defeat against rising star and No1 seed Tokito Oda in the wheelchair singles.

Oda got the better of Hewett a second time, but the Briton remains the very model of a champion – and will be even hungrier for revenge when they meet again.

The Royal Box will be crowded with star power, but the great and the good of screens big and small will be piling into hospitality seating and general admission seats too in a bid to watch what we hope will be another all-time classic.

Keep an eye on comings and goings, below.

Also in attendance in the Royal Box, although perhaps not staying for the men’s final – newly minted Ladies’ singles champion Iga Swiatek.

Fresh from her merciless beatdown of the positively frozen Amanda Anisimova, Swiatek showed off her trophy with a quick photoshoot featuring the court where she triumphed as a background.

Swiatek also flashed another part of her prize for claiming glory in SW19 – her member’s badge, which entitles her to two Centre Court tickets for each day of the tournament in perpetuity.

An early illustration of the contrast between the two finalists: Jannik Sinner warmed up at Aorangi Park away from prying eyes; Carlos Alcaraz at the epicentre of Wimbledon on Championship court 14 – absolutely packed with fans.

Sinner and Alcaraz are likely to get sick of the sight of one another as they scythe through their respective draws at Grand Slams for years to come, but at least the finals this year have shown that rankings hold water.

Not that Alcaraz and Sinner contested the title in the Australian Open at the start of the year, however – it was former world No2 Alexander Zverev who was downed by the Italian on Rod Laver Arena.

But don’t trust me on it. Why not have a leaf through Mail Sport’s tennis correspondent Matthew Lambwell’s thoughts on the matter?

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s comprehensive coverage of the one we’ve all been waiting for – it’s the Gentlemen’s singles final, the crescendo of two weeks of piping-hot Wimbledon action, live and direct from SW19.

This year’s showing is primed to be unmissable. Will defending champion Carlos Alcaraz secure his three-peat, becoming the first man since Roger Federer to keep hold of the trophy back-to-back-to-back (although Novak Djokovic may feel aggrieved he’s ruled on a Covid-19 technicality)?

Or will world No1 Jannik Sinner get revenge on the Spaniard after he waltzed away with the French Open title in their five-set epic in Paris last month?

Stay tuned here, as we bring you all the build-up and more before proceedings get underway at 4pm.