Duo becomes first all-British pairing to win All England Club trophy since 1936
\n LONDON
\nFifth seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool capped their dream summer with the Wimbledon crown and first Grand Slam title as a pair when the British team downed Rinky Hijikata and David Pel 6-2 7-6(3) in the men\u2019s doubles final on Saturday.
\nQueen\u2019s Club and Eastbourne champions Cash and Glasspool became the first all-British pairing to win the All England Club trophy since 1936, when Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey defeated their compatriots Charles Hare and Frank Wilde in the final.
\n\u201cWhen you say it, it sounds incredible,\u201d said Glasspool.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had a Brit win it last year [Henry Patten], the year before that (Neal Skupski) so I didn\u2019t think too much of it, but now we needed to give you two so we did our best.\u201d
\nThe local favourites shot out of the blocks after an early break thanks to a poor service game from Pel and raced through the opening set with minimum fuss, leaving fans buzzing on a sun-drenched Centre Court.
\nThe Australian-Dutch duo of Hijikata and Pel saved a break point at the start of the second set and applied pressure in the fourth game but their opponents were equal to the task and took a step towards the title when they went 4-2 up.
\nHijikata and Pel, who entered the tournament as alternates and survived match points in their first two rounds, drew level after eight games before Cash and Glasspool moved up a gear in the tiebreak to prevail and spark huge celebrations.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve played a crazy amount of tennis on the grass, every match we possibly could,\u201d said Cash.
\n\u201cSo a lot of people were talking, coming into this event. There was a lot of pressure on our shoulders. And the fact we\u2019ve been able to do what everyone was talking about is surreal.\u201d
\nThe runners-up cut cheerful figures despite the defeat.
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t even meet before the tournament,\u201d the 34-year-old Pel said. \u201cI mean, it was our first time speaking on the day the tournament started.\u201d
\nHijikata, who won the 2023 Australian Open title with Jason Kubler, called his All England Club adventure a \u201ccrazy ride\u201d.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been so much fun playing with David,\u201d Hijikata said.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s brought such great energy on the court. He\u2019s made it very easy for me out there. It\u2019s a dream come true to be playing on Centre Court. A bit shattered, but it was a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Duo becomes first all-British pairing to win All England Club trophy since 1936 LONDON Fifth seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool capped their dream summer with the Wimbledon crown and first Grand Slam title as a pair when the British team downed Rinky Hijikata and David Pel 6-2 7-6(3) in the men\u2019s doubles final on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-490138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n