Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July Coverage: Live on BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, connected TVs and mobile app.
Britain’s Neil Skupski and American Desiree Krawczyk retained their Wimbledon mixed doubles title with a straight set victory over Australian duo Matthew Ebden and Sam Stosur.
Skupski and Krawczyk took a tight opening set before dominating the second to win 6-4 6-3 on Center Court.
They are the first pair to defend the title since Czech sibling Kiril Suk and Helena Sukova in 1997.
They defeated Britain’s Harriet Dart and Jo Salisbury in the 2021 final.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Skupski, 32, after winning his second Grand Slam doubles title. “It’s especially nice that my parents are here, they couldn’t come last year.
“I got a late call from Des to play so the squad is only for two weeks but we’ll have to go for three next year – if she plays with me.”
Earlier, Ebden and fellow Australian Max Purcell played out a five-set epic in the men’s doubles semi-finals to beat Britain’s Salisbury and American Rajiv Ram.
The mixed doubles final traditionally closed the tournament on Sunday evening, but was moved forward three days for this year’s edition.
It’s unlikely the planners thought the switch would see a player spend nearly six hours on court in one day, but that’s how things turned out for Ebden.
After playing four hours and 20 minutes in the men’s doubles semi-final, he was given a 90-minute break before taking to center court for the mixed final at 19:00 BST.
A grueling 17-minute game in the first set didn’t help Ebden’s cause, especially after Skupski and Krawczyk survived two break points and 10 deuces to hold serve.
In contrast, Ebden and Stosur, the 2011 US Open women’s singles champion, tied three times only to be broken 5-4 down as the second seed picked the perfect time to strike.
Both pairs traded a break in the second set, before a leg error by Ebden contributed to a break at love that proved decisive as Skupski and Krawczyk served out the match.
A high quality game ends in a heartbreaking loss for Salisbury & Ram
Joe Salisbury (right) and Rajiv Ram have now lost three semi-finals at Wimbledon
Salisbury and American Rajiv Ram failed to convert five match points as they missed out on the first Wimbledon men’s doubles final.
The top seeds were dominant until Australians Ebden and Max Purcell staged a final fightback to win 3-6 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-2.
Salisbury and Rahm were chasing a third Grand Slam title together and were dominant on their way to the first two sets.
After rallying from a run down in the third to tie the game at 4-4, they were just two games away from victory.
The Briton was broken eight times in a marathon service game that took almost 15 minutes and they saved four break points to hold and move even closer to victory in a high-quality encounter.
But the Aussies forced a tiebreak and got an early mini-break before being leveled when Salisbury and Ram went on a five match point streak.
Some on a packed Court One could hardly bear to watch them come and go, with Salisbury’s double fault, a video challenge showing the shot was out and a lucky bounce off the frame of Purcell’s racket reducing their chances.
Rahm hit a powerful Ebdon return to send it into the fourth set, where the Aussie built on their momentum and broke in the 10th game to claim a decider.
Salisbury and the Rams fell behind in the top of the fifth, and although they had a few breakaway chances — including one in a thrilling 19-shot rally that included just about every type of hit in the book — they couldn’t find a way back.
The Briton went long on the Aussies’ second match point, prompting wild chest-bumps and dives from the 14th seed, who 90 minutes earlier had been on the brink of a set defeat.
For Salisbury and Ram, it was an agonizing third Wimbledon semi-final defeat in five years.
“We couldn’t have been closer to the finish and we both just screwed it up and couldn’t get over the line,” Salisbury said.
“It’s tough. We played some bad points the rest of the match, but obviously we made two bad ones per match point.
“Obviously there’s pressure, you’re serving to get into the final. There are extra nerves at the moment, but you still have to do better than that.”
In the other men’s doubles semifinal, defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic prevailed in a fifth-set tiebreak against Colombian pair Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Fara.
Croatian second seeds Mektic and Pavic won 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-0) 4-6 6-2 7-6 (10-4) after four hours and 22 minutes against the sixth seeds to arrange a final meeting with Ebdon and Purcell.
Midway through the epic contest, Pavic accidentally cut teammate Mektic’s lip with his racket as both players went for a ball during a point in the third set.
That prompted Mektic to take a selfie of his injury to the crowd’s amusement – with his opponent Farah even running to join him and Pavic for a photo in a moment of light relief on Court 1.
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