Marathon men Kubot and Melo win Wimbledon doubles crown

Monday, 17 July 2017 00:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

London (Reuters): Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title on Saturday after beating Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 5-7 7-5 7-6(2) 3-6 13-11 in an epic test of endurance.

The match had to be finished under the Centre Court floodlights with play suspended at 11-11 in the evening gloom for the roof to be closed.

Marach and Pavic were caught cold and broken in their first service game after the restart, leaving the victorious pair to fall to the floor in an exhausted celebration after clinching victory in a match lasting four hours and 39 minutes.

Both pairs had come through titanic five-set battles in the semi-finals, with Austrian Marach and Croatia’s Pavic taking more than four and a half hours to subdue Croatians Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor 17-15 in the final set.