Three Aussies suffered defeats in Wimbledon finals on Sunday.
On the back of men’s doubles heartbreak the day prior when Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson fell painfully short of winning the title after holding three championship points, the final day of Wimbledon saw more Aussie pain. Australian tennis legends Lleyton Hewitt and Ash Barty both lost their respective finals in the invitational doubles competition on Sunday.
Barty’s tennis comeback in the legends invitation doubles event alongside her best mate Casey Dallacqua ended in a 6-3 6-2 defeat to Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters. While Hewitt, and his partner Kevin Anderson, got a 6-1 6-4 hiding from iconic doubles duo the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, in the equivalent men’s final.
And in the Wimbledon girls final it was yet more Aussie heartbreak as 16-year-old Emerson Jones saw her bid to become the first Australian to win the Wimbledon girls’ title since Barty, scuppered by the same opponent who beat her at Melbourne Park earlier this year.
The Gold Coast teen, who is seen as one of the best Australian prospects since former Wimbledon senior champ Barty herself won the junior crown in 2011, went down to top seed Renata Jamrichova 6-3 6-4 on Sunday. It was yet another straight-sets defeat to the top junior Jamrichova, who smacked her 6-4 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in January.
“That’s the second Slam final I’ve lost to her but obviously but I played well but she was a bit too good, so can’t really complain,” said Jones, who turned 16 at the start of the Championships. “I made the final of junior Wimbledon, so that’s pretty exciting. Her serve was tough to handle, but in the second set, I felt like I got myself into it a bit more and was trying to figure out her serves, and felt I was getting closer to breaking her.”
Ash Barty says Wimbledon return ‘so special’
While she was accepting her defeat, her idol Barty fell short to Hingis and Clijsters, with the pair taking out the title for a third consecutive year. But the Aussie tennis great said she was thrilled to be able to get out onto the courts of the All England Club and was chuffed she could do it alongside her best friend.
“It’s been so special, this tournament means the world to me,” Barty said. “It’s been a long time since Casey and I have played together and it was a lot of fun throughout this week to rekindle a little bit of the magic. It’s just a little bit slower and a little bit worse for wear these days, but it is good fun nonetheless.”
Hewitt echoed similar sentiments after finishing runners-up in the men’s invitational doubles event. “It’s unbelievable to come back here,” the Wimbledon 2002 singles champion said. “My pace is there in my head, my legs just don’t go the same. But once a competitor, always a competitor. I still love coming out here and giving 100 per cent on the court.”
It was Hewitt’s second consecutive finals appearance in the men’s invitational doubles event, which was won by the American twins for a third year in a row. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Aussies with Mark Woodforde – the oldest of Australia’s nine players in the invitational events at age 58 – crowned champion in the mixed invitational doubles competition. He clinched the title alongside Slovak’s Dominika Cibulkova.
