Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool become first all-British Wimbledon men's doubles champions in 89 years

New York Times

a day ago

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool won the Wimbledon men's doubles final Saturday, making them the first all-British team to win the event since 1936.
In doing so, Cash, 28, and Glasspool, 31, won their maiden Grand Slam title as they dispatched Rinky Hijikata and David Pel in straight sets. The British pair had never reached a final of a Grand Slam ahead of their Wimbledon run, where they were ranked as No 5 seeds.
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Cash and Glasspool became the first men's doubles team to take the title at the All England Club since Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey beat Charles Hare and Frank Wilde in five sets 89 years ago.
Cash and Glasspool had already made history, becoming the first all-British men's pair to reach the final of the tournament in 65 years.
'I mean it's something we spoke about going into the year,' Cash said. 'We had two goals. One was to make it to Turin, another was to win a Slam. A lot of people probably wouldn't have believed us. Our team backed us all the way. To do it here, I mean it couldn't mean more. To do it on the most special court in the world? Incredible.'
The Brits seized upon a sloppy service game from Pel to clinch an immediate break to love in the opening exchanges, and when the 34-year-old Dutchman's serve rolled around again, Cash and Glasspool exerted real pressure, gaining a double-break advantage for 4-1 after missing their first two break-point opportunities, holding to a comfortable set lead.
Pel began the second set on serve and despite giving away a break-point opening with a double fault, rallied to overturn the scare and hold for his first time in the match, smashing twice before Hijikata showed great touch with a low volley to avoid falling behind early once again.
Though Pel's serve was broken for a third time, the Brits carved two break points and, when Hijikata's overhead smash went rogue, a victory for the home favourites seemed on the horizon.
Cash and Glasspool perhaps showed their first sign of nerves when they were broken for the first time for 4-4, and were forced all the way to a tie-break. But after trading two mini-breaks apiece, the British pair gained a decisive two-point advantage, aided by a Pel double-fault, and served out their first of three championship points.
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The Wimbledon victory represents a continuation of some strong recent form for Cash and Glasspool. Their title at the All England Club is a third on British soil this season, having clinched doubles titles at Queen's and Eastbourne during a run of 14 straight victories. They also finished runners-up at 's-Hertogenbosch, where they were defeated by Australian pair Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson.
Cash and Glasspool made relatively easy work of their difficult run to the Wimbledon final. They overcame the second-seeded duo of Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten in the quarter-finals, during which they dropped their only set of the tournament, while also beating the fourth-seeded team of Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.