Latest news with #mensdoubles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Doubles champion Patten 'OK about not being recognised'
Henry Patten and partner Harri Heliovaara reached the quarter-finals of the French Open at Roland Garros [Getty Images] Defending Wimbledon men's doubles champion Henry Patten is happy to remain out of the limelight compared to his fellow British singles players. Patten and partner Harri Heliovaara have won two Grand Slam doubles titles in the past 12 months, at Wimbledon 12 months ago and the Australian Open in January. Advertisement The pair return to defend their title at the All England Club next week, and the 29-year-old from Colchester is philosophical about the relative lack of attention he receives. "If Jack Draper goes and wins a couple of Grand Slams, then that's a much bigger deal and I am completely OK with that, " he told BBC Look East. "I am completely OK about being able to walk down streets and not being recognised. But more people are coming up to me and asking for an autograph and a chat which I really enjoy engaging with." Patten doubled his career prize money in a fortnight alongside Heliovaara last year, when they beat Australian 15th seeds Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in the final on Centre Court. Advertisement "It's surreal, it feels like yesterday, I don't think it's sunk in," Patten admitted. "At the end of tournaments it's very quiet but when we go back there it's going to be carnage because it will be so much busier. But I can't wait for my first hit on the grass again. "It will hit me when I see my name on the winners' board. I'll go and see the trophy again and it'll bring back lots of great memories." Patten's success with Heliovaara in Melbourne proved their Wimbledon title was no fluke. The pair defeated Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori after more than three hours on court, the match finishing at 2:00am. Advertisement "I'm so pleased we backed Wimbledon up," said Patten. "I had to keep taking coffee all night. By 1:00am people had started to filter out but we had some loyal supporters left. "It cemented us near the top of the world rankings." Choosing tennis over accountancy Patten and Heliovaara let victory sink in following last year's Wimbledon men's double final [Getty Images] Patten's life could have been very different. After studying finance at university in the United States, he was offered a job with Ernst & Young during the Covid pandemic. But he was also given an opportunity to play a few professional tennis tournaments and chose that route instead. "Thank God I made that decision," he said. "I am so relieved I did." Advertisement "I remember I played in India at some 15k events to start with and it's been quite a journey." He joined forces with Heliovaara in April last year and they won their first ATP title together in Marrakech. "We get along really well," said Patten. "As a tennis player you talk a lot with your partner and we are best friends. That's the secret." Patten's two Grand Slam trophies are kept on the top shelf at home and admits they badly need a polish as he pursues the target of becoming the world's number one ranked doubles player. "It's been a wild ride," he added. Advertisement "We are trying to keep pressing on and are hunting the world number one spot [together] and I am currently three. "There will be high pressure to defend the trophy, but I am incredibly excited. There are lots of ranking points to defend but my name will always be there however we do."
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Doubles champion Patten 'OK about not being recognised'
Defending Wimbledon men's doubles champion Henry Patten is happy to remain out of the limelight compared to his fellow British singles and partner Harri Heliovaara have won two Grand Slam doubles titles in the past 12 months, at Wimbledon 12 months ago and the Australian Open in pair return to defend their title at the All England Club next week, and the 29-year-old from Colchester is philosophical about the relative lack of attention he receives."If Jack Draper goes and wins a couple of Grand Slams, then that's a much bigger deal and I am completely OK with that, " he told BBC Look East."I am completely OK about being able to walk down streets and not being recognised. But more people are coming up to me and asking for an autograph and a chat which I really enjoy engaging with." Patten doubled his career prize money in a fortnight alongside Heliovaara last year, when they beat Australian 15th seeds Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in the final on Centre Court."It's surreal, it feels like yesterday, I don't think it's sunk in," Patten admitted."At the end of tournaments it's very quiet but when we go back there it's going to be carnage because it will be so much busier. But I can't wait for my first hit on the grass again."It will hit me when I see my name on the winners' board. I'll go and see the trophy again and it'll bring back lots of great memories."Patten's success with Heliovaara in Melbourne proved their Wimbledon title was no pair defeated Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori after more than three hours on court, the match finishing at 2:00am."I'm so pleased we backed Wimbledon up," said Patten."I had to keep taking coffee all night. By 1:00am people had started to filter out but we had some loyal supporters left."It cemented us near the top of the world rankings." Choosing tennis over accountancy Patten's life could have been very different. After studying finance at university in the United States, he was offered a job with Ernst & Young during the Covid pandemic. But he was also given an opportunity to play a few professional tennis tournaments and chose that route instead. "Thank God I made that decision," he said. "I am so relieved I did.""I remember I played in India at some 15k events to start with and it's been quite a journey."He joined forces with Heliovaara in April last year and they won their first ATP title together in Marrakech."We get along really well," said Patten."As a tennis player you talk a lot with your partner and we are best friends. That's the secret."Patten's two Grand Slam trophies are kept on the top shelf at home and admits they badly need a polish as he pursues the target of becoming the world's number one ranked doubles player."It's been a wild ride," he added."We are trying to keep pressing on and are hunting the world number one spot [together] and I am currently three."There will be high pressure to defend the trophy, but I am incredibly excited. There are lots of ranking points to defend but my name will always be there however we do."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sussex tennis player makes history with Queen's Club win
Julian Cash has made history as part of the first all-British pairing of the Open era to win the men's doubles title at the Queen's Club Championships (Image: BBC) A tennis player from Sussex has made history as part of the first all-British pairing in the Open era to win the men's doubles title at the Queen's Club Championships. Julian Cash, 28, alongside teammate Lloyd Glasspool, achieved this feat on Sunday with a thrilling win against Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus. Advertisement The duo secured their victory with a score of 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 10-6, thereby clinching their third ATP Tour trophy of the current season and their fourth since their partnership began last year. Cash, who grew up in Sussex and studied at St Bede's, began focusing on professional doubles in 2022 after coming through the US college system. 'It's been a great year so far,' he said. 'It's really nice to start the grass season strong. Hopefully we can push on to a good run at Wimbledon.' The pair displayed a solid start in the final, clinching the first set and securing a break in the second. However, their opponents managed to push the match into a tie-break. Advertisement Despite this, Cash and Glasspool regained control and won the deciding match tie-break on their first match point. Glasspool, who was a runner-up at Queen's in 2022, said: "I think we've been a really strong team this year and hopefully he [Julian] can continue making these tie-breaks a lot easier when he serves and the ball doesn't come back." The partnership formed after both players parted ways with their former teammates Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara, who later won Wimbledon last year. Their Queen's victory follows their runner-up finish at the Libéma Open in 's-Hertogenbosch the previous week. Cash and Glasspool are now set to compete in the Eastbourne International as part of their preparation for Wimbledon.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
GB's Glasspool and Cash win historic Queen's doubles title
Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool became the first all-British pairing to win the men's doubles title at Queen's in the Open era with victory in a match tie-break over Nikola Mektic and Michael and Glasspool won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 10-6 to earn their third ATP Tour title of the season and their fourth since beginning their partnership last year."It's been a great year so far," Cash said. "It's really nice to start the grass season strong. Hopefully we can push on to a good run at Wimbledon." The Britons dominated the first set and were on course to wrap up victory with a break in the second before Croatia's Mektic and New Zealand's Venus fought back to take it to a tie-break, which they edged. But in the match tie-break - played to 10 points and in lieu of a deciding third set - Cash and Glasspool got an early mini-break and then broke again before sealing victory on their first match point. "I think we've been a really strong team this year and hopefully he [Julian] can continue making these tie-breaks a lot easier when he serves and the ball doesn't come back," said Glasspool, who was runner-up here in 2022 with Finland's Harri Heliovaara. The victory marks a successful couple of weeks on grass for the pair after they also reached the final in 's-Hertogenbosch last weekend and they will continue their warm-up for Wimbledon by competing at Eastbourne next to have won the doubles title here include Andy Murray, Neal Skupski and Jamie Murray but the only other all-British team to contest the Queen's men's doubles final in the Open era (since tennis went professional in 1968) were 1978 runners-up David and John was more British doubles success on grass in Germany, where Olivia Nicholls and her Slovak partner Tereza Mihalikova won the Berlin Open women's came from behind to beat Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 4-6 6-2 10-6 to win their first title as a pair.
Asharq Al-Awsat
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Granollers and Zeballos Break Duck with French Open Men's Doubles Crown
Fifth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos bagged their maiden Grand Slam trophy as a pair by battling past British duo Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 6-0 6-7(5) 7-5 in the French Open men's doubles final on Saturday. Playing in a fourth Grand Slam final together, Granollers and Zeballos looked on track to quickly break their duck when they blanked their eighth-seeded opponents in the opening set before being dragged into a dogfight in the next, Reuters reported. Salisbury and Skupski, who won the only previous tour-level encounter between the two teams in the Rome quarter-finals last month, edged the second set tiebreak and were close to building a 4-3 lead in the decider before a moment of magic. Zeballos hit the shot of the match to level at deuce in the next game, chasing down a dipping ball and squeezing it around the post at ground level to draw loud cheers from a small crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier. Salisbury and Skupski, who became the first British men's doubles finalists at Roland Garros since 1936, were in no mood to fade away on the historic occasion as they fought on before being caught off guard in the 12th game. Granollers and Zeballos broke to love to secure victory and fell to the ground in celebration.
