Doubles Take: Wrapping up Wimbledon

Wimbledon, perhaps the most prestigious tournament in tennis, is all done. Doubles Take looks back at the winners of the year’s third Major.

THE KINGS OF GRASS

Heading into Wimbledon this year, two teams were undefeated on grass in 2017: Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, and Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot. Both teams established themselves as co-favorites at the All England Club.

While Murray and Soares fell early, Kubot and Melo kept their momentum going, all the way to the final, which they won in an epic battle against Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic (no slouches on grass this season, either) 13-11 in the fifth set.

It’s the second Slam for both Kubot and Melo, and their first together as a team.

And not only that: They accomplished something even Bob and Mike Bryan—the standard-bearers in men’s doubles—haven’t pulled off: winning three doubles titles in a season on grass.

BAGELS FOR BREAKFAST AT WIMBLEDON

Even though it had been three years since their last Grand Slam victory, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina were still considered a title threat at any tournament. Winning the Olympics and season-ending championships last year only reinforced that.

At Wimbledon this year, they finally added another Slam to their career title haul—in dominant fashion.

The second-seeded Russians beat Monica Niculescu and Hao-Ching Chan, 6-0, 6-0. It’s the first time in more than 60 years the women’s doubles has been decided by such a lopsided scoreline.

TWICE AS NICE

Roger Federer wasn’t the only Swiss legend to come away with a Wimbledon title this year.

Martina Hingis lost in the quarterfinals of women's doubles, but teamed up with Jamie Murray for mixed, earning a top seeding. The duo defeated the defending champions Henri Kontinen and Heather Watson for the crown, 6-4, 6-4.

It's Murray's second Wimbledon mixed doubles title, having won his first with Jelena Jankovic 10 years ago. Hingis is more familiar with the winner's podium on Centre Court, having won the mixed title in 2015 (with Leander Paes), three doubles titles and the singles in 1997.

NEWS & NOTES

Perhaps the biggest news that happened in the doubles world in London was the ghastly injury suffered by women’s No. 1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands on the singles court. The Grand Slam bid for Team Bucie (Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova) was over early, but they’re showing they’re ready to tackle this latest fight head on.

A LOOK AHEAD

There’s one more grass-court tournament for the men this season, in Newport, RI.  The top-seeded team is Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Rajeev Ram, followed by Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky.

The men also have two clay-court events this week. In Umag, former partners Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor are leading the charge, while in Bastad, it’s U.S. Clay Court champs Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos on top of the draw sheet.

For the women, hometown favorites Irina-Camelia Begu and Raluca Olaru are the top seeds in Bucharest on clay. In Gstaad, Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson lead the field, while second seeds Nicole Melichar and Anna Smith will be going for their second title of the season.

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