July 13, 2019 – Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig and Taiwanese partner Latisha Chan are in the mixed doubles final of Wimbledon! The two-time Roland Garros winners achieved another Grand Slam final after defeating Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and his Czech partner Kveta Peschke 7:5, 6:4 on Friday, reports the Croatian Tennis Federation.
The critical moment of the first set was in the eleventh game where Dodig and Chan realized their second break point to lead 6:5, then won the game by 7:5 and secured the first set.
The second set saw several rallies, though it was Dodig and Chan to break their opponent first, which came in the third game. However, in the next game, the Dutch and Czech duo managed to equalize at 2:2. In the seventh game, Dodig and Chan broke their opponent again, and this time defended their advantage until the end.After 42 minutes of play, they won the second set with a score of 6: 4 and thus a spot in the Wimbledon final!
The Grand slam winners will play in the final against Swede Robert Lindstedt and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko who defeated Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop and Chinese partner Zhaoxuan Yang with a score of 7:5, 6:2 in the semi-final. Recall, Lindstedt and Ostapenko beat Franko Škugor and Romanian partner Raluca Olaru 6:7 (6), 6:3, 7:5 in the quarter-final.
Thus, Ivan Dodig will play in his seventh final at Grand Slam tournaments. So far, he has three titles, and all three at the tennis courts of Roland Garros (men’s doubles in 2015, mixed doubles in 2018 and 2019). This is his second final at Wimbledon after he lost in 2013 with Brazilian partner Marcelo Melo against Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen.
The Wimbledon final will be played on Sunday at 5 pm Croatian time.
Recall, Ivan Dodig is Croatia’s last remaining representative at Wimbledon this year.
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