Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool eye British men's doubles history at Wimbledon

Glasgow Times

3 days ago

Cash and Glasspool saved three match points against defending champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara to reach their first grand slam semi-final.
Britain's Patten and Finn Heliovaara claimed an unexpected first major title last summer and then backed it up by winning the Australian Open, but they were edged out 6-4 4-6 7-6 (10/8) in a tense clash.
Julian Cash & Lloyd Glasspool's incredible run continues!!! 🔥
They save three match points and beat the reigning champions to reach a first Grand Slam semi-final as a pair#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/sZPPNj3oeD
— LTA (@the_LTA) July 9, 2025
Fifth seeds Cash and Glasspool have now won 12 successive matches, taking in tournament wins at Queen's and Eastbourne, and if they can win two more they will become the first all-British pair to win the men's doubles titles here since 1936.
'I've never done it in my life before,' said Glasspool of their current success. 'You kind of get in that mindset where you just expect to win almost, even if you're completely delusional.
'It kind of takes the nerves out. We're coming up against one of the best teams in the world and we expect to beat them.'
Glasspool hopes their achievements will earn them a bit of attention, with the 31-year-old adding: 'I saw an article yesterday saying all British hopes out of the Wimbledon draw now because (Cameron) Norrie lost.
Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, bottom, defeated defending champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara (John Walton/PA)
'And I was like, 'Well there's actually three teams still in on the men's side'. It is a little bit annoying but it's nothing new and if you keep winning then maybe you get some more coverage.'
They could have found themselves facing British opposition again but Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski lost out in two tie-breaks to fourth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in a repeat of the French Open final.
It will be another tough test for Cash and Glasspool, but they could not be more confident, with Cash saying: 'It's very special (to be in the semi-finals) but we're here to win the title. For us there's nothing to celebrate yet. If we bring our game and deliver, I think we take down any pair.'
Patten faces losing nearly a quarter of his prize money after being handed the biggest fine of the tournament so far, 12,500 US dollars (approximately £9,200), for swearing at a member of staff at the practice courts the day before the tournament.
Hannah Klugman is through to the girls' quarter-finals (John Walton/PA)
The 29-year-old has appealed the punishment and hit out at Wimbledon in a statement earlier this week, criticising the fact it was made public and saying: 'I do not believe that there has been a full or proper investigation, nor has Wimbledon acted reasonably or fairly with due process.'
Patten will not hear the result of his appeal until after the tournament but insisted it had not affected him on court.
'I think I did a pretty good job of focusing on my tennis,' he said. 'We were happy with how we played today. Obviously it hurts now.'
There is also still home interest in the wheelchair events and juniors, with Hannah Klugman and Mimi Xu, who both received wild cards for the women's singles, through to the quarter-finals of the girls' event.
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid began their quest for a seventh straight wheelchair doubles title by beating Takuya Miki and Casey Ratzlaff 6-3 6-2 while Greg Slade reached the semi-finals of the quad wheelchair singles.
On Thursday, Salisbury will bid for a seventh grand slam title in the mixed doubles final alongside Brazilian Luisa Stefani.
The pair, who will take on Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands and Czech Katerina Siniakova, only entered at the last minute after Salisbury's original partner, Jodie Burrage, suffered an ankle injury.
Salisbury has trophies from all the other slams across men's and mixed doubles but is yet to lift silverware at Wimbledon.
'It would be amazing,' he said. 'For me it's the main one, to win Wimbledon is the biggest tournament, biggest title. I'm mostly focused on the men's titles but winning the mixed doubles is amazing as well and it would be a Wimbledon title and have your name in history forever.'