Eighth seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens battled back from a set down to claim their first Grand Slam together, defeating Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko 3-6 6-2 6-4 in the final of Wimbledon women's doubles on Sunday.
It was the first major title for Russia's Kudermetova, who was on the losing side in the 2021 final against Mertens and Hsieh. The second Wimbledon crown for Belgian Mertens took her to five Grand Slam doubles titles.
"It's been incredible," a tearful Mertens said as she summed up a memorable Wimbledon campaign, having also reached the fourth round in the singles.
In the opening set, Kudermetova served to be 3-1 ahead but the fourth seeds then reeled off five consecutive games. The 28-year-old Russian led the charge in the second set as well, holding twice before the pair took three consecutive breaks to trigger a third set.
Hsieh, a seven-time major champion in women's doubles and a four-time Wimbledon champion, came out on top in a long rally with Kudermetova from the baseline to earn the opening break of the third set, and Ostapenko took it from 4-2 without dropping a point.
But faulty returns from Hsieh struck the net as the eighth seeds rallied, and Kudermetova held to lead 5-4 before Ostapenko went long to lose a 26-shot rally and set up match point.
Kudermetova's backhand from the baseline sliced across the court to win the match, at last realizing her dream to raise the trophy at the All England Club.
"A few years ago I was playing in the final here against Elise... I lost that final and it was so painful. Today I said to myself, I really want this," Kudermetova said.
