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Su-wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens survived a thriller final to lift the Wimbledon women's doubles title. Hsieh and Mertens edged out Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina 3-6 7-5 9-7 in the Wimbledon women's doubles final. Kudermetova and Vesnina claimed the first break of the match in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead but got broken back in the following game.
After blowing their first break, Kudermetova and Vesnina kept their focus as they broke Hsieh and Mertens again in the eighth game, before serving out for the opener in the ninth game. After winning the first set, Kudermetova and Vesnina broke Hsieh and Mertens in the fifth game of the second set to take a 3-2 lead.
At 5-4 in the second set, Kudermetova and Vesnina had two match points but failed to serve out for the match as Hsieh and Mertens claimed breaks in the 10th and 12th game to overturn the deficit and force a decider. Hsieh and Mertens earned the first break of the third set in the eighth game but failed to serve out for the title in the following game.
Kudermetova and Vesnina broke Hsieh and Mertens in the 13th game but for the second time in the match failed to serve out for the title. Kudermetova and Vesnina paid the price for failing to serve out for the title twice as Hsieh and Mertens broke the Russian duo in the 16th game to win the title.
Hsieh and Mertens win team title No. 1
Hsieh and Mertens, who debuted as a pair in in May at the Madrid Masters, won their first team title on the biggest possible stage. Earlier in the day, No. 1 seed Ashleigh Barty won the Wimbledon singles title.
“It took me a long time to verbalise the fact that I wanted to dare to dream it and say I wanted to win this incredible tournament,” said Barty. “Being able to live out my dream right now with everyone here has made it better than I ever could have imagined.
I didn’t sleep a lot last night, I was thinking of all the ‘what ifs’ but I think when I was coming out on this court, I felt at home in a way”. Barty beat Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-7 (4) 6-3. “Just keep fighting,” said Barty, after being asked how she responded to the disappointment of set two.
“Kaja is an incredible competitor. She brought out the very best in me today and it was an exceptional match from the start and I knew I brought my very best level. I was really proud of myself the way I was able to reset and just keep going. Just keep chipping away at the start of the third set and hold my nerve at the end”.