Fantastic victory for Russia at Wimbledon! Not even the threats of the organizers prevented

Wimbledon is one of the most important tennis tournaments in the UK right now. The Russians had several bright victories on the grass courts in London. One of these was the triumph of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the women’s doubles in 2017.

Not even the threats of the organizers prevented.

Favorite status

Elena Vesnina, together with Ekaterina Makarova, once made a decent noise at prestigious tennis tournaments. In 2013, Roland Garros submitted to them, a year later – the US Open. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Russians also became the first. In 2017, the couple went to Wimbledon. The chances of success were very high: our athletes received the second seed. In addition, last year’s champion sisters Williams did not participate in the competition: Serena missed the tournament due to pregnancy.

In the first round, the Russian duet was opposed by the American-German couple Lepchenko-Witthöft. Having given two games to their rivals in each set, Vesnina and Makarova went further. By the way, in singles, by that time, both athletes had to finish their performance: Elena lost in the second round to Victoria Azarenka, and Ekaterina, at the same stage of the tournament, let Svetlana Kuznetsova go ahead. It was possible to focus on the game in doubles and try to get to the coveted trophy.

In the second round, seeded American Bethany Mattek-Sands and Czech Lucy Shafarzhova were eliminated due to injury. After that, our tennis players received the status of the main favorites of the tournament. They confirmed this status by defeating Ocean Doden and Tatiana Maria in two sets, and then Andrei Klepach and Maria José Martinez. Perhaps the most difficult match for the Russians was the confrontation in the ¼ finals with multiple Grand Slam finalists Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua from Australia. The Russians gave one set, but still managed to break through.

Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina / Photo: © Michael Steele / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“We even started playing football”

After the quarterfinals, the athletes did not give a single set to their rivals. In the semi-finals, they were opposed by the German Anna-Lena Groenefeld and the experienced Czech Kveta Peschke. In an hour and a half, Elena and Ekaterina made six break points, limited themselves to one double error on the pitch and scored one ace. The victory with a score of 7:5, 6:2 opened the way for our athletes to the final. By that time, my nerves were already on edge, and I had to deal with them with non-standard methods.

“Oh, what didn’t we do! In the end, they even started playing football, and since we are not very good at it, our game with Katya was more like a funny throwing the ball. And so: we watched the men’s final, had a bite to eat and even managed to sleep. At the same time, you can’t go somewhere, because you sit and wait for the end of the previous match, Vesnina told RT.

Circumstances completely beyond the control of Russian tennis players could also interfere with the victorious mood. The men’s doubles final dragged on, and the organizers threatened to literally interrupt the decisive game in the women’s category if it did not end before the deadline.

– We literally spent half a day on the court. When they were already going out to play, the chief referee came up and said that we had exactly until 11 pm, because then the lights in the stadium would be turned off and all entrances and exits would be closed. You should have seen with what eyes Katya and I looked at him. Wow: we waited so long, but we, it turns out, have some kind of time frame, – Elena was surprised.

As a result, the Russians did everything possible not to drag out the match. However, they did not need additional motivation.

– Sitting in the locker room, I said: “We need to take Wimbledon. In Paris, we have already won – in 2013. Not in London. We have to take the title in London,” Vesnina told Soviet Sport.

“It’s all ours!”

The rivals of Vesnina and Makarova in the final were Monica Niculescu from Romania and the representative of Taiwan Zhang Haoqing. Before the start of the tournament, the international duet received only the ninth seed, but on the way to the main game somehow passed meetings with strong opponents. But at 21:30, an hour and a half before the lights were supposed to turn off in the arena, Niculescu and Zhang Haoqing saw opponents in front of them who were not up to them.

The Russians served better, acted confidently on the back line, played more successfully near the net. Unprecedented pressure was exerted on rivals. Elena and Ekaterina gave separate draws, but games – for nothing. Approving exclamations regularly flew from the stands. Zhan Haoqing and Niculescu were simply not ready for such pressure and outright lost the starting set – 0:6.

Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova / Photo: © John Walton – PA Images / Contributor / PA Images / Gettyimages.ru

After a pause, athletes from Romania and Taiwan improved a little, but even here they could not oppose anything to our tennis players. The Russians were again better in absolutely all components and the second set was also taken dry. Wimbledon has not seen a similar result in women’s doubles since 1953. It took our girls 54 minutes to win, so the organizers didn’t have to turn off the lights.

— No, it was really a tough match. Especially the second set. The rivals had a chance. But we decided not to give them anything. It’s all ours! – Makarov summed up the match.