Henry Patten completed a remarkable Wimbledon run by becoming the first British winner of this year’s Championships with men’s doubles success alongside Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara.
The unseeded duo only teamed up in April, but dumped out a succession of seeds on the way to a maiden grand slam final where they faced Australian pair Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, who had knocked out top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the semi-finals.
Remarkably, the match had no breaks of serve as each set went into a tie break. Patten and Heliovaara saved three Championship points in the second set before they sealed a superb 6-7 (7), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (11-9) victory in front of a jubilant Centre Court crowd.
It made Colchester-born Patten only the third British player to win the men’s doubles Wimbledon title in the Open era after Neal Skupski (2023) and Jonathan Marray (2012). They were also the first unseeded pair to win the men’s doubles since 2014.
Back from the brink 🤯🫨
Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten save three Championship points to defeat Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell 6-7(7), 7-6(8), 7-6(11-9) and win the Gentlemen’s Doubles title 🏆#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/uAiSc5Jj14
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2024
“Obviously [it] couldn’t have been a closer match and I can’t really remember what happened to be honest,” Patten said. “For me the most special thing is to do it in front of so many people who have come over, my best friends, my family. Thank you all.”
Heliovaara added: “I admit we got a little lucky today but sometimes you need luck to win a tennis match. We will definitely enjoy this. The tears say it all, it’s very emotional.”
For Purcell and Thompson the defeat was hugely disappointing, with Thompson saying: “I’m devastated. We were so close. Championship points. This is the way tennis goes and it’s tough.”
Patten’s only previous playing appearance at Wimbledon had resulted in a first-round exit alongside Julian Cash two years ago, but he had lasted the whole fortnight in 2016 and 2017 when he worked for IBM totting up statistics on the outside courts.
The Telegraph
