WIMBLEDON, July 15, 2018 (by Michael Dickens)
As Saturday turned to dusk on Centre Court at Wimbledon, the seventh-seeded American duo of Mike Bryan and Jack Sock fought off Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand in five sets, winning 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, to capture the Wimbledon men’s doubles title.
Because of a hip injury to Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan was competing for the first time at Wimbledon with somebody other than his brother. Bryan, 40, became the oldest man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win the Wimbledon doubles title. Bryan added a record-tying 17th Grand Slam doubles crown, joining Hall of Famer John Newcombe of Australia.
They’ve done it! @JackSock and @Bryanbrothers defeat Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 to win the men’s doubles title 🇺🇸#Wimbledon #TakeOnHistory pic.twitter.com/Wy3kyBj6eK
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 14. Juli 2018
“It feels really good,” Bryan was quoted by the ATP World Tour website as saying after his victory. “I mean, it’s obviously a long fortnight. I think we were on court for almost 20 hours, down match points in the third round, down break points to be out of here in the fifth set of the semis. I think we were down a break point in the third set tonight.
“I told him it was like a mental training kind of two weeks. It’s going to toughen us both up for the future. But a blast to play with Jack. He’s got so many skills. I was in awe a lot of the time. He hit some amazing shots.”
It was Sock’s second major title after winning the 2014 Wimbledon men’s doubles crown with Vasek Pospisil of Canada. Bryan and Sock became the third and fourth players to win Wimbledon with multiple partners in the Open Era, joining Todd Woodbridge and John McEnroe.
Krejcikova, Siniakova win second straight doubles major
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, seeded third, won their second straight major title by winning the Wimbledon women’s doubles title Saturday on No. 1 Court. They defeated compatriot Kveta Peschke and Nicole Melichar of the United States, seeded 12th, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
Krejcikova and Siniakova, both 22, became the first pair to complete the French Open-Wimbledon double since Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama won both titles in 2003. The Czech victory came 20 years after the late Hall of Famer Jana Novotna, a former coach of Krejcikova, won both her lone singles Grand Slam and her fourth Wimbledon among 12 Grand Slam doubles titles at the All England Club.
Five years ago, Krejcikova and Siniakova teamed to win the Wimbledon girls’ doubles title.
“I think it’s not easy,” Siniakova told Vivienne Christie of Wimbledon.com. “Every match is really tough. In the beginning of the tournament, I wouldn’t (have) expected this. Now I’m here, and we have two titles. It feels just amazing.
“When we went on court, we were expecting a really tough match … I think it doesn’t matter if it’s first one or second one, it’s still the final. You (are) just fighting to win the title “
