Marathon men Kubot and Melo win Wimbledon doubles crown
Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo celebrate with the trophies after winning the mens doubles final against Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic REUTERS/Matthew Childs
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.
Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo in action during the final with Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
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.
(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Toby Davis; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Tennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo celebrate after winning the mens doubles final against Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic REUTERS/Andrew CouldridgeTennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic with their runner up trophies after losing the mens doubles final against Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo REUTERS/Matthew ChildsTennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo celebrate after winning the mens doubles final against Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic REUTERS/Andrew CouldridgeTennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo celebrate after winning the mens doubles final against Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic REUTERS/Andrew CouldridgeTennis - Wimbledon - London, Britain - July 15, 2017 Brazil’s Marcelo Melo celebrates after winning the mens doubles final with Poland’s Lukasz Kubot against Austria’s Oliver Marach and Croatia’s Mate Pavic REUTERS/Matthew Childs
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