Britain’s Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara triumphed over Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 6-7(7) 7-6(8) 7-6(11-9) in an intense men’s doubles final at Wimbledon, securing their first Grand Slam titles.
The unseeded pair of Patten and Heliovaara, who only began partnering three months ago, defeated seeded teams on their way to the final. Their opponents had previously ousted the top seeds, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, in the semifinals.
Amazingly, there were no breaks of serve throughout the match, and each set was decided by a tiebreak. Patten and Heliovaara saved three championship points in the second set to push for a decider.
After nearly three hours on court, Patten, a former Wimbledon statistician, and his Finnish partner narrowly defeated the Australians, earning a standing ovation from the Centre Court crowd.
“You’re all amazing out there. It couldn’t have been a closer match. I can’t really remember what happened. I’m sure Harri’s the same,” Patten said.
Despite never advancing past the third round of a Grand Slam before, Patten, along with Heliovaara, who had reached two quarter-finals previously, was overcome with emotion, resulting in tears on the court.
“I admit we got a bit lucky today but sometimes we need luck to win a tennis match… The tears say it all, it’s very emotional,” Heliovaara remarked.
In a thrilling first set, the Australian duo dominated on serve, losing only two points, but Patten and Heliovaara held firm. The tiebreak saw Purcell and Thompson gain the upper hand after some errors from the British-Finnish pair, securing the set despite a late fightback.
The second set continued with strong serving from the Australians, increasing their ace count, while Patten and Heliovaara failed to find a breakthrough. At 6-5, Purcell and Thompson had a championship point on Heliovaara’s serve, but Patten’s volleyed winner forced another tiebreak.
Patten and Heliovaara saved multiple championship points in the tiebreak before claiming the second set, much to the crowd’s delight. The final set was fiercely contested, with both sides holding serve until the unseeded duo ultimately emerged victorious, sinking to their knees in celebration.
“I’m devastated. We were so close, we had championship points… This is the way tennis goes,” Thompson said.
Purcell, the 2022 Wimbledon doubles champion, commended their opponents, saying, “It would have been nice to have the extra two sets. But I’m super happy for these boys, they deserve it.”