"This was a last minute thing, I didn't want to
play mixed (doubles) here because I was in the singles and
doubles also," Siegemund said at the trophy presentation
ceremony.
"Then Edouard texted me two hours before the deadline... I
always wanted to play with him but it was somehow not working
out.
"Then I was like, 'I can't say no'. Now he's finally free, he
wants to play so I think it was a good decision!"
Meanwhile, it was a second straight loss in a Grand Slam final
for Krawczyk and Skupski following their defeat at the
Australian Open final in a match tiebreaker.
Number two seeds Siegemund and Roger-Vasselin broke in the first
game of the match and consolidated a 2-0 lead but Skupski and
Krawczyk tried to fight back and had their moments with some key
winners.
Yet the German-French duo held their serve and their teamwork,
movement and communication helped them take the opening set when
Siegemund smashed a cross-court winner at the net.
Siegemund and Roger-Vasselin capitalised in the second set when
they targeted Krawczyk's serve, as they broke to love in the
third game to take a 2-1 lead.
At 4-2, they repeated the same tactic as Krawczyk struggled on
serve, leaving Skupski in difficult situations at the net.
But Krawczyk, a four-times Grand Slam mixed doubles winner,
managed to hold before Skupski helped them break for the first
time in the contest, letting out a load roar at the net after he
smashed a winner.
On the deciding point at 4-4 on Skupski's serve, Krawczyk missed
an easy shot at the net which went wide to hand Siegemund and
Roger-Vasselin the crucial break, but the British-American pair
saved a championship point off the Frenchman's serve.
But for a third time in the set, they targeted Krawczyk's serve
and broke as Siegemund got the better of Skupski twice at the
net.
The German then held serve as they clinched a first Grand Slam
title together when Skupsi found the net on championship point.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Bernadette
Baum and Toby Davis) [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely
responsible for this content.![](column_spacer.png) |
|