ATP Tour

Verbeek & Siniakova win Wimbledon mixed doubles title: 'A Thursday I will remember for the rest of my life'

Sem Verbeek and Katerina Siniakova put a perfect finish on their dream Wimbledon run on Thursday when they captured the mixed doubles title. The Dutch-Czech pair held its nerve in a tight 7-6(3), 7-6(3) final victory against home favourite Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani.

Verbeek and Siniakova, competing in their first tournament together, beat top seeds Harri Heliovaara and Anna Danilina in the opening round and continued their momentum to the title. It marks the first major mixed doubles crown for both Verbeek and Siniakova.

“It’s been an honour and a pleasure to compete next to such a great doubles legend, one of the best to ever do it,” an emotional Verbeek said of Siniakova during the trophy ceremony. “Thank you for making this a Thursday that I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Siniakova added: “It’s very special. It means a lot. We had a lot of fun on the court. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for playing with me, Sem. It was really an amazing time here. To be back on the Centre Court with this atmosphere, it’s always amazing. I’m just really happy I could be here again.”

Siniakova, who partnered Tomas Machac to win the gold medal at last year’s Paris Olympics, is the WTA doubles No. 1 player who has 10 major titles in women’s doubles, including at this year’s Australian Open alongside Taylor Townsend. Siniakova and Townsend will compete in the Wimbledon women’s doubles semi-finals Friday.

The 31-year-old Verbeek, No. 31 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings, led the Centre Court crowd in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to his father, Frank, during the trophy ceremony.