By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Henry Patten defeated Neal Skupski in the semi-finals to reach a maiden Grand Slam final alongside Harri Heliovaara
- Hannah Klugman led the British exodus from Juniors while Alfie Hewett has a chance at a Wimbledon double
LONDON, ENGLAND – Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara are into a first Grand Slam final after defeating Neal Skupski and Michael Venus as all British Juniors exited the singles events before the quarter-finals.
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Patten defeats Skupski to reach maiden Wimbledon final
It’s been an incredible tournament for Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara as they are now into their first Grand Slam final with a straight sets win over Neal Skupski and Michael Venus.
Patten and Heliovaara defeated fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic to get to the semi-finals and they wasted no time in getting to work on Court One as they broke Venus’ serve early on in the match.
Meanwhile Skupski and Venus defeated Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens in two tiebreaks to reach the last four and the ninth seeds started the match slowly as it took them time to find confidence on serve.
It was Venus in particular who was having a rough time on serve as he was forced to save another break point in the fifth game to prevent a double break deficit.
Meanwhile, Patten and Heliovaara worked effectively as a team being aggressive on serve and at the net to seal quick holds of serve as they took the opening set 6-4.
In the second set, Skupski and Venus were re-energized and focused as they looked more alert in the second set with Skupski looking unbeatable at the net.
A confidence-boosting hold from defending champion Skupski seemed to have put them in control as the Brit saved break points and in the sixth game, the ninth seeds applied some returning pressure.
However, Patten was clutch on the big points as he survived the tough service game with the second set going to a tiebreak.
There was no hesitation from the unseeded pairing in the tiebreak as they dominated to win it 7-1 and seal their place in the Wimbledon final.
Now the duo will take on 16th seeds Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson for an opportunity to win their first Grand Slam title.
Skupski’s day didn’t get much better later on in the day as he lost to his doubles partner Venus in the mixed doubles.
Teaming up with Desirae Krawczyk, the former champions lost to Venus and Erin Routliffe in the quarter-finals.
There are no Brits left in mixed doubles as Marcus Willis and Alicia Barnett’s amazing run came to an end against Santiago Gonzalez and Giuliana Olmos.
While Jamie Murray and Taylor Townsend lost in three sets to Jan Zielinski and Su-Wei Hsieh with the seventh seeds also knocking out Joe Salisbury and Heather Watson in the previous round on Centre Court.
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Klugman suffers shock defeat in second round
There are no more Brits in Juniors singles left after there were some shock exits including Hannah Klugman’s defeat.
The fifth seed went out to Monika Stankiewicz with the Pole also knocking out Hephzibah Oluwadare in the third round as Klugman couldn’t capitalize on her form that nearly saw the Brit qualify for the women’s singles.
There was also a shock exit for eighth seed Mingge Xu who lost in three sets to Rositsa Dencheva while Mika Stojsavljevic lost in a last set tiebreak to 15th seed Teodora Kostovic. The duo are still in the doubles though as Xu and Stojsavljevic have reached the semi-finals after defeating top seeds Alena Kovackova and Laura Samson in the quarter-finals.
An honourable mention goes to wildcard Flora Johnson who reached the third round in an impressive tournament but eventually lost to tenth seed Jeline Vandromme.
In the Boys event Charlie Robertson knocked out ninth seed Jangjun Kim in the second round before exiting the tournament to Mees Rottgering in the third round.
There was also a great run to the third round from wildcard Mark Ceban before the Brit eventually went out to tenth seed Maxim Mrva in three sets.
In doubles, Viktor Frydrych lost his doubles quarter-finals alongside singles semi-finalist Nicolai Budkov Kjaer as they were defeated by American duo Kaylan Bigun and Jagger Leach.
Hewett battles to singles final
The wheelchair events have started and Alfie Hewett is into the singles final after he battled past Gustavo Fernandez in a three set classic in the semi-final.
Prior to the semi-finals Hewett had beaten Ben Bartram and Stephane Houdet in straight sets but had struggled with a shoulder injury.
That was evident in the opening set against Fernandez who played some aggressive tennis in the first set and a half to dominate the match.
However, Hewett changed the tide to take the second set before a rollercoaster deciding set unfolded on Court Three.
Both players produced high-quality tennis in a brutal encounter with Hewett needing a second opportunity to close out the match.
After being broken when serving for the match once, Hewett managed to convert his sixth match point to secure victory and reach another final.
Hewett will now face arch fourth seed Martin De La Puente after the Spaniard knocked out top seed Tokito Oda.
Meanwhile Hewett is also in the doubles as he and Gordon Reid are into the final after they beat Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers in the semi-finals.
Hewett and Reid will aim for another Wimbledon title after Reid lost to Fernandez in singles.
There was also singles and doubles defeat for Luch Shuker while Andy Lapthorne is into the semi-finals of the Quad Wheelchair Singles and the final of the doubles event.
Lapthorne will play Sam Schroeder in the semi-finals of the singles and returns to play Schroeder in the doubles final as Lapthorne teams up with Guy Sasson to take on Schroeder and Niels Vink.
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