Rinky's doubles dream dashed in Wimbledon final

Perth Now

12-07-2025

Rinky Hijikata's hopes of joining Australian doubles' illustrious roll of honour at Wimbledon have melted in the sunshine of Centre Court as the Sydneysider and his Dutch partner David Pel were soundly beaten in the men's final.
The home duo of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool had a partisan crowd cheering when they became the first all-British team to lift the Wimbledon men's doubles crown since 1936 with their 6-2 7-6 (7-3) victory on a blazing hot Saturday showdown.
It was the end of a great adventure for the makeshift Dutch-Aussie team, who had saved match points in the first round, second round and semi-finals en route to the final in their first tournament together.
Hijikata described it as a "dream come true" to play in the showpiece final, with Pel telling a laughing crowd about his unlikely partnership with the Aussie: "We didn't even meet before the tournament. I mean, it was our first time speaking on the day the tournament started."
But Pel actually had a bit of a nightmare afternoon, serving up five double faults and getting broken three times, while Hijikata did his best to hold the partnership together as perhaps the best player on court.
The home favourites never looked back after they were gifted an early break thanks to a poor service game from Pel, and subsequently eased through the opening set with minimum fuss.
Hijikata and Pel had to scramble to save another break point at the start of the second set and applied pressure in the fourth game, yet the Britons controlled proceedings to move 4-2 ahead.
Hijikata stepped up to help the pair regain the break that gave them hope at 4-4 but in the tiebreak, another crucial double fault from Pel enabled the Britons to push away to seal the title in one hour and 22 minutes.
The 24-year-old Sydneysider Hijikata had been the fifth Australian to reach the men's doubles final in the last 10 editions, but ultimately he ended up suffering the same fate as compatriots Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell, who lost last year's final after holding match points.
Hijikata only teamed up with the big-serving 1.98m left-hander Pel at the start of the tournament when they were originally included in the field as reserves, until another pair's withdrawal allowed them a late call-up and their outlandish run to the final.
But for Queen's Club and Eastbourne champions Cash and Glasspool, the win completed a golden summer as they made history as the first British pair since Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey 89 years ago to lift the crown.
Hijikata, who won the 2023 Australian Open title with Jason Kubler, called his All England Club adventure a "crazy ride".
"It's been so much fun playing with David," he said.
"He's brought such a great energy on the court. He's made it very easy for me out there. It's a dream come true to be playing on Centre Court. A bit shattered, but it was a lot of fun."