Wimbledon 2021: Croatia's Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic clinch men's doubles title; Hsieh Su-wei, Elise Mertens win women's doubles

London: Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title on Saturday with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.

The top seeds triumphed for the first time as a team at the Grand Slams.

For Pavic, it was a third major victory after the 2018 Australian Open with Oliver Marach and the 2020 US Open partnering Bruno Soares.

They became the third and fourth Croatian men to win a Wimbledon title after Goran Ivanisevic, who won the men’s singles title in 2001, and Ivan Dodig, who won the mixed doubles in 2019 alongside Latisha Chan.

Third title for ‘magician’ Hsieh Su-wei as she and Mertens celebrate

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei won her third Wimbledon women’s doubles title on Saturday when she and Belgian partner Elise Mertens defeated Russia’s Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova in the final.

Hsieh and Mertens, the third seeds, saved two match points in the second set to win 3-6, 7-5, 9-7.

“Some of her volleys, I can’t do. She’s a magician,” said Mertens, the world’s number one doubles player, of Hsieh.

Hsieh won the 2013 title at Wimbledon with China’s Peng Shuai and the 2019 trophy alongside Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

With Peng, she also claimed the French Open title in 2014.

Mertens won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open titles with Aryna Sabalenka.

Vesnina and Kudermetova had reached the final by saving four match points to defeat top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova and three more in the semi-final against Caroline Dolehide and Storm Sanders.

“It’s not always easy to play in the final, and the opponent will fight super hard,” said 35-year-old Hsieh.

“We all know it’s the last match so we will fight until the last point definitely.”