LONDON, July 15, 2019 (by Michael Dickens)
On Saturday night, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, both from Colombia, made history at the Wimbledon Championships when they became the first from their country to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam title.
Cabal and Farah lifted the winner’s trophy following an epic Centre Court battle against Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Eduardo Roger-Vasselin that lasted four hours and 56 minutes and ended with the Colombians prevailing 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3, then collapsing to the grass with tears of joy.
The victory clinched the World No. 1 double ranking for Cabal and Farah, who played in their second Grand Slam doubles final together after teaming to reach the final at the 2018 Australian Open.
“I mean, I’m speechless,” said Farah, as quoted by Wimbledon.com. “Really, I kept watching the watch through the first and second set. I’m like, we finished the second set and it’s been two hours and 15 minutes play. This is ridiculous. How long is this? From there on, we just kept battling, kept battling, just focus on the game.
“To do this for Colombia … it’s just crazy. I mean, to be part of it is just amazing.”
Added Cabal: “The moment we’re living right now is just crazy.”
Strycova/Hsieh crowned ladies’ doubles champions
Third seeds Barbora Strycova from the Czech Republic and Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan won the Wimbledon ladies’ doubles title over No. 4 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Xu Yafan from China, 6-2, 6-4, on Centre Court Sunday evening. It was the first Grand Slam doubles title as a team for Strycova and Hsieh, who will be the new doubles World No. 1 on Monday.
“Oh, my God, there is no word to describe the feeling,” said Strycova, as quoted by Wimbledon.com. “I felt like this tournament, especially Wimbledon, from the first moment we step on the court together, we just laughed and we just enjoyed.
”We kept it through the whole tournament. I think that was also the biggest key we were playing the way we played.”
Strycova and Hsieh went the entire London fortnight without losing a single set, the first pair to achieve the milestone since Venus Williams and Serena Williams in 2009.
In moving to No. 1 for the first time, Strycova becomes the 43rd doubles No. 1 and the seventh to achieve the feat from the Czech Republic.
”I can’t thank her enough to help me pick up No. 1,” said Strycova of Hsieh. “It feels, again, unreal. It’s amazing. It was my goal at the beginning of this year, that I want to become No. 1. It was really big goal. It happens right now, especially here at this moment, this tournament, my favorite place.
”Yes, its a fairytale. It has been two weeks of amazing moments. I will never forget.”
“Champions together”@BaraStrycova and Su-Wei Hsieh close out this year’s Championships by winning the ladies’ doubles title, beating Dabrowski/ Xu 6-2, 6-4#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/kS09XJTbgC
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) 14. Juli 2019
Dodig/Chan win third mixed Grand Slam
Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Latisha Chan from Taiwan won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title over Robert Lindstedt from Sweden and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-2, 6-3, on No. 1 Court Sunday afternoon. The pair, who have played six majors together, have won three mixed trophies – including back-to-back French Open titles in 2018 and 2019.
“It feels great, it feels good on court, the vibes we have on and off court together,” Chan said, as quoted by Wimbledon.com. “The whole team has been really supportive. I’m happy that we did it today.”
Dodig added: “We have good chemistry; we’ve become good friends which is very important in a team sport.”
Japan’s Mochizuki wins boys’ singles title
On Sunday, Shintaro Mochizuki, 16, of Japan, defeated unseeded Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain, 6-3, 6-2 on No. 1 Court to win the Wimbledon boys’ singles title. Mochizuki became the first Japanese player to lift a Grand Slam boys’ trophy at Wimbledon.
Mochizuki was also the first Japanese player to win at Wimbledon since Kazuko Sawamatsu won the girls’ title in 1969.
Ukraine’s Snigur earns girls’ singles title
On Saturday, Daria Snigur from Ukraine won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title by defeating American No. 10 seed Alexa Noel on No. 1 Court. The 17-year-old Snigur hit 19 winners and outpointed Noel 67-53. She extended her winning streak on grass to 12 matches after winning the ITF trophy last week in Roehampton.
Czech team capture boys’ doubles crown
The top seeds Jonas Forejtek and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic won the Wimbledon boys’ doubles title over the No. 7 seeds Liam Draxl of Canada and Govind Nanda from the United States, 7-5, 6-4, on Court 18 Sunday.
Girls’ doubles won by United States pair
Savannah Broadus and Abigail Forbes, both of the United States, won the Wimbledon girls’ doubles title over Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva from Russia, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, on Court 18 Sunday.
Wheelchair finals
• Gentlemen’s singles – Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina beat World No. 1 Shinto Kundera of Japan, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to win his first Wimbledon men’s wheelchair singles title on Sunday. It was Fernandez’s third major victory this year to go with winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros, and it keeps alive his hopes of winning a calendar year Grand Slam.
• Gentlemen’s doubles – On Saturday, Joachim Gerard of Belgium and Stefan Olson from Sweden won the Wimbledon gentlemen’s doubles crown over the British team of Allie Hewett and Gordon Reid, 6-2, 6-2.
• Ladies’ singles – On Saturday, Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands beat her doubles partner, Diede de Groot, also from the Netherlands, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, to win the ladies’ singles title for her third career Grand Slam crown.
• Ladies’ doubles – Dutch top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot dominated their final against second seeds Marjolein Buis of the Netherlands and Giulia Capocci from Italy, winning 6-1, 6-1.
