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Tennis: Zieliński and Hsieh win the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon!

14.07.2024 22:17
Pole Jan Zieliński and Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament in London. In the decisive match they defeated Mexico's Giuliana Olmos and Santiago Gonzalez from 6:4, 6:2.
Zieliński and Hsieh during the mixed doubles Wimbledon final
Zieliński and Hsieh during the mixed doubles Wimbledon finalKirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press/East News

Although the score doesn't clearly suggest it - the final of the mixed competition, played only during Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games, was a tight duel. Zieliński and Hsieh took the initiative from the beginning though, and broke their rivals in the first game of Sunday's match, converting their second break-point.

In the following games, a point-for-point fight broke out between the duos. The Pole and the Taiwanese had four more breakpoints, but they did not manage to convert any of them, including two set points. They won the set at last only when they served, winning 6:4 in the end.

In the second set, especially in its later games, Zieliński and Hsieh's domination started to show - although their rivals fought back. In the third game, the second-seeded Mexicans got broken again. Later though, they defended four breakpoints, preventing the seventh-seeded opponents from taking a 4-1 lead. From that point, however - the Mexican pair did not score a single point in the next three games, and the Polish-Taiwanese duo won 6:2 and claimed the title.

"It's an amazing feeling, playing in the Wimbledon final in only my third attempt at this tournament. I can't even put it into words. I dreamed of this moment, it's a privilege to play on this court" - Poland's Zieliński commented on his triumph.

"Jan, thank you for the opportunity to return to this court and to the Wimbledon finals. It's always great to experience playing in front of this crowd on Center Court" - Hsieh added in her part of the Champions' speech.

Zieliński was supported in the stands by, among others, president of the Polish Olympic Committee - Radosław Piesiewicz.

This is the second Grand Slam title shared by the 27-year-old Pole and the 38-year-old Taiwanese. In January this year, they won the Australian Open.

The Warsaw resident has a total of two mixed doubles Grand Slam victories with Hsieh now. He also lost the Australian Open men's doubles final with Monaco's Hugo Nys in 2023. Meanwhile, Hsieh won the Grand Slam ladies doubles title seven times.

Through the Sunday triumph, Zieliński gave Poland its 11th Grand Slam win - and became the second Polish player after Łukasz Kubot to win a senior title at Wimbledon, the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. In 2017, Kubot won the gentlemen's doubles category alongside Brazil's Marcelo Melo.

Apart from the eternal glory, for their Wimbledon mixed doubles triumph Zieliński and Hsieh will also claim a total prize of 130,000 GBP, as a pair.

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Source: IAR, PAP