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France is assured of two new Wimbledon champions in the gentlemen's doubles on Saturday.
Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin square off against compatriots Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. The unseeded Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin continued their giant-killing run, taking down their fourth seeded pairing in as many matches in a 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5) result over Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.
Top seeds Herbert and Mahut followed them into the final with a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 comeback against No.12 seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi.
Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin, the 2014 French Open champions, started the stronger on No.1 Court, drawing the volley error from Klaasen with a low dipping forehand pass before a second error at net cost the South African his serve for 5-6. Benneteau held to love to take the opening set 7-5 and Roger Vasselin repeated the favour to close out the second 6-4, with a heavy unreturnable serve down the T for 6-4.
No.11 seeds Klaasen and Ram had ended three-time former Wimbledon champions Bob and Mike Bryan’s run in the quarter-finals and were looking to reach their first Wimbledon final. They closed in on the third set when Ram thumped a forehand return past the Frenchmen to bring up three set points on Roger-Vasselin’s serve. They took it 7-5 on their third chance when a volley floated long.
Lifting in the fourth-set tie-break, it was the Frenchmen who landed the first mini-break for 3-2 when Ram pushed too long on a forehand volley. Carrying the momentum, they brought up four match points when Benneteau thumped a short forehand down the centre of the court. Three chances went amiss before they clinched their berth when Klaasen pushed a backhand volley long.
Last year’s US Open champions Herbert and Mahut had a lengthier battle on Centre Court to ensure the all-French final. Against Huey and 10-time Grand Slam doubles champion Mirnyi, they trailed two sets to one before Herbert rifled a backhand return to break for 5-4 in the fourth.
Surging in confidence, Herbert served it out on his third chance when Huey’s forehand found the net and in the deciding set it was Huey who would falter first, rolling down a double fault to surrender the break for 5-4. The French pair brought up three match points when Herbert cracked a short reply for a winner and sealed it when Mahut sent an ace down the T after three hours on court.
