Krawczyk, Skupski wrap up Wimbledon with mixed doubles title

Desirae Krawczyk of the United States made it two Grand Slam victories in a row as she and Great Britain's Neal Skupski defeated the all-British pairing of Harriet Dart and Joe Salisbury, 6-2, 7-6(1), to win the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon on Sunday.

No.7 seeds Krawczyk and Skupski needed an hour and 21 minutes to hold off a second-set charge by Dart and Salisbury and collect the trophies in the final event of the fortnight.

It continues a perfect summer in mixed doubles for Krawczyk, who won her first Grand Slam title in the mixed event at Roland Garros last month. Ironically, her partner for her title-winning run in Paris was none other than her final opponent at Wimbledon: Salisbury.

"Winning my first Grand Slam, you obviously never forget it, but a few weeks after that, we are winning Wimbledon," Krawczyk said in the champions' post-match press conference. "It's Wimbledon, and it's just something you look forward to. It's my favorite tournament.

"[It's] something I never thought would happen, but obviously you dream about playing on Centre Court, and that was my first feeling of that. Then to win, you know, a mixed doubles with Neal was just even better."

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For Skupski, it was his first Grand Slam title. "Sometimes you doubt yourself whether you're good enough to be at this level," he said. "But you've just got to keep believing, keep trying, keep going for your shots. It just shows that anything is possible in this sport, and hopefully it's not the last time I'm in a Grand Slam final."

Krawczyk and Skupski were sublime on serve, winning 80 percent of points behind their deliveries and never facing a break point all day as they moved to victory.

Krawczyk and Skupski got off to a flying start when Skupski slammed a return winner to break the Salisbury serve for a 3-2 lead. The pair got a break of Dart for good measure, and at 5-2, a confident Krawczyk served out the first set at love.

Things got much more closely contested in the second set. Dart got out of her service game for a 2-1 lead, saving four break points in the process. From there, the British woman’s groundstroke game picked up steam, particularly from the backhand side, as her team pulled closer to the leaders.

Nevertheless, Krawczyk and Skupski were rarely tested on serve, with support from her crosscourt missiles and his deft volleys. The No.7 seeds came close to peril at 6-5, when Krawczyk fell behind 0-30 on her serve, but the pair pulled their way to a hold, setting up a critical second-set tiebreak.

The first point of the tiebreak set the stage, as two incredible digs by Krawczyk helped her team grit out a rally and take the early lead. Krawczyk and Skupski powered through the breaker from there, closing out the match with a Skupski return winner to grab the event-closing title.

"I have to just go out there swinging in these big moments," Krawczyk said. "I think I just took it and just played well. I think we both played well, and it's been great."