Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei wins third women's doubles title at Wimbledon
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic became the first all-Croatian pair to capture a Grand Slam men's doubles title when they outclassed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-5 at Wimbledon on Saturday.
On their second championship point, Mektic and Pavic made three unsuccessful attempts to smash the ball away for a winner before a running forehand long from the Spanish-Argentine duo handed the Croatians victory on a floodlit Centre Court.
Twenty years after Goran Ivanisevic hoisted the Challenge Cup at the All England Club after winning the men's title in a rain-delayed Monday final, his compatriots claimed the doubles trophy at the grasscourt major.
"That ball falling long in the last point was the best feeling of my life," Mektic, who was contesting his first major final with Pavic, said with a laugh.
"The last three matches we played were the best of my life."
An emotional Pavic, with his voice quivering, added: "This is something special.
"We all grew up with Goran, it's been 20 years now since he won that Monday final, and this is the first time since Croatia is winning another trophy here. I know it's doubles but still it's Wimbledon. I am super happy."
It was a third men's doubles title for Pavic, who had previously triumphed at 2018 Australian Open and 2020 U.S. Open with different partners.
Hsieh wins third Wimbledon doubles title, this time with Mertens
Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei claimed her third Wimbledon doubles title with a third different partner as she and Elise Mertens hung on to claim victory in a marathon final against Russian duo Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina on Saturday.
The Taiwanese-Belgian duo saved match points on the way to claiming a 3-6 7-5 9-7 win on Centre Court.
It was the second successive Wimbledon doubles crown for Hsieh who joined forces with recently-retired Barbora Strycova to win the title in 2019.
She also won the title in 2013 with Peng Shuai.
This time it was Mertens, the newly-installed No.1 ranked women's doubles player, who she teamed up with to great effect.
Unseeded Kudermetova and Vesnina had two match points at 5-4 in the second set, the second one producing an incredible rally that Hsieh eventually won with a volley.
As the third set went on and on, the 35-year-old Hsieh then finished off a gripping contest with a backhand winner.
"That felt like seven hours," Mertens said of the two-and-a-half hour battle on a packed Centre Court.
"There were nerves but we managed it well in the end. "We are very happy that we could close it out."
