Wimbledon: Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk retain mixed doubles title

Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app.

Britain’s Neal Skupski and American Desirae Krawcyzk retained their Wimbledon mixed doubles title with a straight-set victory over Australian duo Matthew Ebden and Sam Stosur.

They are the first pair to defend the title in 25 years since Czech duo Cyril Suk and Helena Sukova in 1997.

They beat Britons Harriet Dart and Joe Salisbury in 2021’s final.

Earlier, Ebden and fellow Australian Max Purcell played a five-set epic in the men’s doubles semi-finals to beat Britain’s Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram.

High-quality match ends in agonising defeat for Salisbury & Ram

Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram failed to convert five match points as they missed out on a first Wimbledon men’s doubles final.

The top seeds had been dominant until Australians Ebden and Max Purcell staged a last-gasp fightback to win 3-6 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-2.

Salisbury and Ram had been chasing a third Grand Slam title together.

Ebden was due back on court for the mixed doubles final straight after the women’s singles semi-finals but he was still playing against Salisbury and Ram when those finished.

It initially looked like the men’s doubles would be over much sooner. Salisbury and Ram were dominant on their way to taking the opening two sets and after recovering from a break down in the third to level for 4-4 they were just two games away from victory.

The Briton was taken to deuce eight times in a marathon service game that took almost 15 minutes and they fended off four break points to hold and edge even closer to victory in what was a high quality encounter.

But the Australians forced a tie-break and got an early mini-break before being pegged back as Salisbury and Ram set up a series of five match points.

Some on a packed Court One could hardly bear to watch as they came and went, with a Salisbury double fault, a video challenge that showed a shot was out and a lucky rebound off Purcell’s racquet frame scuppering their chances.

Ram netted a powerful Ebden return to send it to a fourth set, where the Australians built on their momentum and broke in the 10th game to set up a decider.

Salisbury and Ram fell a break behind early in the fifth, and despite having a couple of break-back chances – including one in a thrilling 19-shot rally that featured nearly every type of hit in the book – they could not find a way back.

The Briton went long on the Australians’ second match point, triggering wild chest bumps and jumps from the 14th seeds, who had 90 minutes earlier been on the brink of a straight-set defeat.

For Salisbury and Ram, it was an agonising third Wimbledon semi-final defeat in five years.