In a Wimbledon women’s doubles final between the top two seeds, second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova were crowned champions.
In their second career championships appearance on Centre Court, the Czechs beat top-seeded Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-4 to win their second Wimbledon title.
Previously they were champions at the All-England Club in 2018.
The win is also the pair’s fifth grand slam doubles title and the second this year.
They won this year’s Australian Open title, defeating Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final.
Ebdeb & Purcell best
Australia’s Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell prevented the Croatian duo of Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic from winning back-to-back men’s doubles titles at Wimbledon with a 7-6 (5), 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-2) victory in the final on Saturday.
It was a long and arduous journey to the final for the Australians, with five of their six matches going to five sets while they saved a total of eight match points along the way.
It was also a first grand slam crown for the duo, who became the first all-Australian team in 22 years to win the men’s doubles at the All England Club since the famous Woodies — Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde — won their last title.
“Mark Woodforde was actually out on the warm-up court with us this (Saturday) morning,” said Ebden, who lost the mixed doubles final on Thursday.
“Todd Woodbridge has been chatting with us as well, so we definitely channelled the Woodies. They are great mentors.”
Pavic, a left-hander playing with a fractured bone on his right wrist, had it taped up and was trying his best to play with one hand, subconsciously tucking his right arm in during rallies and not opting for two-handed returns.
“It was tough to play, it was close. Obviously we were close, so it’s a bit frustrating. You’re not a 100 per cent,” he said. “They deserved to win. We gave our best, we gave them a fight. I think we can be very proud of ourselves.”
It was a double blow to Pavic, who, partnering Sania Mirza, had lost in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles.
In men’s doubles, with almost nothing to separate the pairs in two tight sets settled by tie-breaks, the Croatians gained the upper hand with the first break of serve in the match in the opening game of the third when Purcell double-faulted and they took the set.
The Australians, however, pounced at 5-4 in the fourth, switching tactics and going hard on their returns to fire a series of winners, clinching the set and forcing a decider as they encouraged the crowd to raise the volume at Centre Court.
