Reviving a bygone tradition, Djokovic and Williams busted a move at the Grand Slam tournament’s annual champions’ dinner, dancing together to « Night Fever, » the Bee Gees’ disco hit from the 1977 movie « Saturday Night Fever » that starred John Travolta.
« I was very pleased, » Djokovic said at a news conference at the All England Club on Monday, a day after beating Roger Federer in the final to collect his third Wimbledon title and ninth at a major. « Serena is a great dancer. »
Williams, who won her sixth Wimbledon trophy and 21st at a major on Saturday, tweeted a link to a photo of her and Djokovic at the dinner, and wrote Monday: « congrats @DjokerNole we brought back the dance! »
There used to be a formal ball held each year at the end of the tournament, and the men’s and women’s singles champions would dance there — but the musical part of the proceedings was discarded decades ago.
Djokovic called it a « tradition that was a bit forgotten, » and said he suggested to Williams and the chairman of the All England Club, Philip Brook, that they bring the dancing back.
« They accepted it, fortunately, » Djokovic said.
As for the choice of song on Sunday night, Djokovic said: « 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. »
HOWARD FENDRICH AP (Tennis Writer)