June 19, 2022 - After a big drama, the Croatians and the world's best tennis couple Mate Pavić and Nikola Mektić celebrated winning the Queen's Club, beating the British Lloyd Glasspool and Finn Harri Heliovaaru in the final.
It started badly for Pavić and Mektić, as they lost 3: 0 right at the start and the first set went to Glasspool and Heliovaara 6: 3, reports tportal.hr.
But after the Croatian tennis players lost the first set, they won the second set in the 'tie-break' 7: 6 (3), and the decision on the winner fell in the extended period, called 'super tie-break'. Pavić and Mektić did not allow any surprises and in the end, they celebrated 10: 6, thus winning the third title this year after Rome and Geneva.
It was also the 12th joint title for Mektic and Pavic, and their 15th victory in the last 16 matches. This is great preparation for Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament of the season where they will be defending the title. Before Wimbledon, they will play in the ATP tournament in Eastbourne next week, where they have the status of the first holders.
2021 was an absolutely incredible year for Croatian tennis, due mainly to the success of the doubles team Mate Pavić and Nikola Mektić. Not only did these two win Wimbledon before celebrating in the historic all-Croatian doubles final at the Tokyo Olympics, but they finished the year as the best doubles team in the world!
Let us remind you that Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić won last year's Wimbledon after they defeated Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horace Zeballos in the final 6-4, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5 after two hours and 43 minutes of play.
In a year full of success, the 32-year-old from Zagreb and the 28-year-old from Split won nine titles, including the Wimbledon trophy and a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
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