Salisbury and Dart make mixed doubles final as Lapthorne wins second Wimbledon title
Joe Salisbury and Harriet Dart are through to their first Wimbledon final after defeating Kevin Krawietz and Kveta Peschke 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in an hour and 54 minutes.
Salisbury will star in his third Grand Slam final of the season, while Dart will make her final debut on Sunday.
At 2-1 up in the first set the British pair piled on the pressure on Peschke’s serve. After being denied two break points, Salisbury landed a brilliant return down the channel before they were gifted an early advantage with a double fault.
With Peschke serving again to stay in the set, Salisbury took total control of the game with a number of inch perfect returns and forced the Czech to push her volley long when facing a third break point. First set to the Brits.
But Krawietz and Peschke weren’t going to go away easily. They pounced on an early chance to break Dart’s serve, which Peschke followed up with a much needed hold for 3-1.
Salisbury and Dart squandered a golden opportunity to break back late in the set and eventually Krawietz served out a perfect game to love – levelling the scores.
After a short break for the Centre Court roof to close – Salisbury had his first nervy moment of the match and had to serve his way out of two break points.
With the deciding set on a knife edge at 5-4, Krawietz stepped up to serve to stay in the match. The German had been almost impeccable on serve throughout the match but got caught on a couple of poor shots, giving the Brits a chance to seal their spot in the final. On their third match point, Dart rifled a return at Peschke who couldn’t find the angle on the volley, completing the victory for Salisbury and Dart.
They must wait until tomorrow to discover their final opponent, with Britain’s Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk taking on John Peers and Zhang Shuai in the other semi-final.
Andy Lapthorne won his second career Wimbledon title after he and David Wagner defeated Dylan Alcott and Sam Schroder in the wheelchair quad doubles final 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
Lapthorne and Wagner got off to a flyer, dominating from all areas of the court and preventing World No.1 Alcott from getting in to any sort of rhythm. But after losing the first set, the Australian, Dutch duo turned the match on its head – they steadied themselves and only needed the one break of serve to level the scores at one set each.
In a match of twists and turns, Lapthorne and Wagner wrestled to once again get hold of the match from 3-1 down in the final set. They broke both Alcott and Schroder as they edged into the lead and at 5-4, despite facing break points, served out the match, completing an incredible comeback.
Elsewhere there were more Brits through to finals as Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett, Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker will all challenge for titles this weekend.
Reid – who reached his second career Wimbledon singles final today – defeated third seed Gustavo Fernandez 6-4, 0-6, 6-2. Standing in the way of Reid lifting the title will be Joachim Gerard, who beat Stephane Houdet after upsetting Hewett yesterday.
Reid and Hewett will also compete for their seventh consecutive Grand Slam title after they knocked out Shingo Kunieda and Gustavo Fernandez 6-2, 7-5. Their opponents in the final will be Tom Egberink and Gerard.
Lucy Shuker and Kgothatso Montjane produced the upset of the day as they knocked out the two-time reigning champions and top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek Van Koot 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Shuker and Montjane reach their first Wimbledon final where they will face fellow Brit and four-time winners Jordanne Whiley and Yui Kamiji.
This will be the first time that two British players will play on either side of the net in a Wimbledon wheelchair women’s doubles final.
