Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson are devastated to suffer the painful loss of losing the Wimbledon men’s doubles final despite holding three championship points.
The Australian pair were close to continuing the rich tradition of Australian doubles champions at Wimbledon on Saturday evening, but then the title was snatched from them on Centre Court in a highly dramatic duel between Finland’s Harri Heliovaara and Britain’s Henry Patten.
In one of the greatest doubles finals of this grass slam tournament, the spectators in the main court cheered for their local hero Patten after the Anglo-Finnish team prevailed in a thrilling super tie-break with 6:7 (7:9), 7:6 (10:8), 7:6 (11:9).
The Sydneysiders, old friends, seemed to emerge victorious for much of the match, as they were so dominant on serve and did not allow even the hint of a break point.
Three times they were just one point away from becoming the seventh Australian men’s doubles team to win the title in the Open Era.
They had a championship point at 6-5 in the second set, and two more points were lost in the ensuing tiebreak. Thompson in particular seemed to suffer at 8-7 after one of the easier volleys he had missed all day.
“More than devastated,” he told the crowd on Centre Court, which was still in high spirits after the Briton’s triumph – and his sad admission was followed by a few giggles.
This prompted Purcell to intervene and tell them sharply: “Don’t laugh at him!”
Purcell, who won the title with Matt Ebden two years ago in what was then a five-set match, complained that Wimbledon organizers have since shortened the men’s doubles finals from five to three sets.
“It would have been nice to have two extra sets to play this time,” Purcell sighed.
“Tommo” later concluded: “Quite simply, it’s just rubbish. Match points, just one point away from winning the Wimbledon doubles.”
“Five to two, serving in the second set, I had the ball right in front of me, it just grazed the net cord and went over me, and then everything changed, and it changed quickly. That’s how tennis goes. It’s tough.”
In a match without breaks, the Sydney pair earned the only three break points and had the best chances to take the lead in the final set, but they were constantly thwarted by the dogged Heliovaara and Patten, who became increasingly motivated as the crowd really came to support them.
The Australian pair, seeded 15th, were considered hot favourites to beat unseeded opponents after winning three titles together this season.
Now Australia’s last hope of success at SW19 on the final day on Sunday rests with promising 16-year-old Gold Coast hopeful Emerson Jones, who became the first Australian to reach the junior final since Ash Barty 13 years ago.
Jones, the third seed, defeated sixth-seeded American Iva Jovic 7-5, 6-1 in her semifinal on Saturday to secure a rematch against Slovakia’s Renata Jamrichova, whom she defeated 6-4, 6-1 in the girls’ Australian Open final in January.
Jones, however, failed to reach the final in the girls’ doubles, as she and her Italian partner Vittoria Paganetti were defeated in the semifinals by Jovic and fellow American Tyra Caterina Grant 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).