Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig are back-to-back Grand Slam champions after capturing their maiden Wimbledon mixed doubles title together on Sunday.
The Chinese Taipei/Croatian combination backed up a successful defence of their Roland-Garros title last month with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 victory over scratch pairing Robert Lindstedt and Jelena Ostapenko on No.1 Court.
In only their sixth major in tandem it takes their trophy haul to three and focus now shifts to Flushing Meadows where they will attempt to complete the third leg in a non-calendar year Grand Slam.
“It feels great, it feels good on court, the vibes we have on and off court together,” Chan said. “The whole team has been really supportive. I’m happy that we did it today.
“Obviously they’re very fast and hit really heavy. Thanks to my partner he had good serves so I wasn’t worried. We had this talk before the match and we were prepared for them.”
The victory hands former WTA doubles No.1 Chan her fourth major, having also captured the 2017 US Open women’s doubles with Martina Hingis. For Dodig, this was also his fourth, having claimed the 2015 French Open men’s doubles crown with Marcelo Melo.
We have good chemistry, we’ve become good friends which is very important in a team sport
“I think we had a great run from Paris. Me and Latisha really are feeling great on the court together,” Dodig said. “We have good chemistry, we’ve become good friends which is very important in a team sport.”
Chan and Dodig burst out of the gates to break Lindstedt’s opening serve and promptly secured the double break for 4-0.
It took 21 minutes but Lindstedt avoided the bagel set two games later on serve when Chan’s return found the net.
For Ostapenko, the 2014 girls singles champion at Wimbledon, this was a chance to add a second Grand Slam trophy to her haul following her 2017 Roland-Garros triumph.
While for Lindstedt, it was a chance to add a second major to his 2014 Australian Open trophy he secured with Poland’s Lukasz Kubot.
But if the unseeded Swedish-Latvian duo was going to prevail it would have to come from a set down. A double fault and a backhand fired long proved costly as Ostapenko was broken serving to keep the opening set alive.
The No.8 seeds kept the foot down early in set No.2 and when Chan rifled a backhand return winner with Ostapenko serving at 3-4, it piled the pressure on the Latvian. Back-to-back errors proved a terminal blow as the Latvian was broken for 5-3.
On the brink of defeat, Lindstedt conjured his finest to end a captivating all-court point with a sharp angled backhand volley drawing the error from Chan.
But the response was swift. A body-jamming serve from the Croat was the perfect response as he brought up two Championship points. One final backhand error from Ostapenko sealed the result two points later. Hard-court major trophies at Flushing Meadows and Melbourne Park were now firmly on their radar.
“It’s definitely our goal, our challenge,” Dodig said. “We know it is not easy in mixed. It’s very challenging, very tough, many good teams. Small things are very important. We’re one of the better teams, hopefully we can make two more.”
There came a lighter moment in the post-match trophy shoot when Lindstedt swapped his runner-up salver with Dodig's trophy. This was the Swede’s fourth defeat in a Wimbledon final following three runner-up showings in gentlemen’s doubles.
“I knew he played three finals here and now the mixed,” Dodig said. “He’s a great player here on the grass, in general he’s a great player his entire career.
“He’s still fighting with young guns at his age, he’s very fit. It’s a pity for him not to have especially Wimbledon where he’s always performed his best. Hopefully he will hold that trophy one day.”