Second Wimbledon title for ‘proud’ Whiley
Ickenham-based Jordanne Whiley lifted her second successive Wimbledon trophy on Sunday after she and Yui Kamiji won the wheelchair doubles in a three-set thriller.
The Anglo-Japanese pairing beat Dutch rivals Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to gain revenge for the defeat they suffered in the French Open final a little over five weeks ago.
The match opened with four breaks and Whiley, 23, was the first player to hold serve to give the top seeds a 3-2 lead in the opening set.
They motored ahead to clinch it 6-2 and then opened up a 3-0 lead in the second set, having won eight straight games.
But second seeds Griffioen and van Koot battled back and eventually stole the set 7-5 to force a decider.
A tense final set saw the defending champions seize the initiative with a break in the eighth game to lead 5-3, and Whiley then held her nerve superbly to serve it out and give herself and Kamiji their sixth Grand Slam title in seven.
Whiley said: “Yui and I really started strongly being a set and 3-0 up but we knew that they were going to come back strongly after that and we lost it a little at the start of the third set.
“I did feel the nerves in the second set and I was feeling a bit sick as we’ve never actually led like that in a final, we’ve always come from behind before.
“This was one of the best matches we’ve ever played and I’m really proud of both of us for doing so well.”
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