- Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara won the men’s doubles final at Wimbledon
- They defeated Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 6-7 7-6 7-6 in almost three hours
- Patten became only the third British winner of this event during the Open Era
Henry Patten became only the third Briton in the Open Era to become Wimbledon’s men’s doubles champion. He and Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara defeated Australian duo Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson on Saturday.
Patten, 28, and Heliovaara defeated Purcell and Thompson 11-9 in a third-set tiebreak in front of a captivated crowd on Centre Court.
The previous two sets were also decided by breakers, with the Aussies winning the first set 9-7, before Patten and Heliovaara took the second set 10-8.
Patten and Heliovaara were unseeded at SW19 but knocked out three seeded pairs, including French Open champions Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic, in the quarterfinals.
Both players were in tears after the match, especially Heliovaara, who admitted during an on-field interview that he and his partner ‘got a bit lucky today’.
Henry Patten (right) and Harri Heliovaara are the 2024 Wimbledon men’s doubles champions
Britain’s Patten and Finland’s Heliovaara won in an epic final on Saturday evening
Patten is pictured celebrating on his knees after he and his partner won Saturday’s epic final
Heliovaara, 35, had tears in his eyes moments after the match, which was played on Centre Court
The champions embraced before receiving their trophies and giving post-match interviews
Patten then expressed his thanks to the runners-up and claimed the match was still a bit of a blur.
He added: ‘For me the most special thing is doing it for so many people who came through. So many of my family members, my best friends, thank you all.’
Before Patten, Neal Skupski in 2023 and Jonathan Marray in 2012 were the only British players to win the men’s doubles tournament at The Championships since Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey jointly triumphed in 1936.
