Doubles champion Henry Patten has mounted a defence of the team speciality and reported ATP efforts to shrink the event into insignificance.

Briton Patten and Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara lifted their second title at the All England club after also winning in 2024, defeating Luis Arevalo and mate Pavic in three sets on Saturday.

Victory marked the third Grand Slam titles for the side in as many seasons after also winning the US Open last September.

But the US-based Brit was not shy about defending doubles and calling out the ATP plan to drastically cut the field at Masters 1000 events and hand over more prize money to singles players by cutting the doubles share from 20 to 10 percent..

The reported slashing would deprive many players of a key income stream and degrade the sport.

“I feel strongly that doubles can play a strong part in that and can help the ATP Tour grow the game. I think that’s what we should be focused on. No more in-fighting. It doesn’t help anyone.

“You know, let’s focus on growth and investing in the sport and creating more opportunities for people from different backgrounds. I really care strongly about that.

“I’ve been lucky enough to grow up in a fairly middle class household. Taking away doubles isn’t going to help the poorer kids or the kids who are far away from tennis centers or the kids who can only play twice a week,” Patten said.

“We should be encouraging people from all different backgrounds to play tennis and feel that they can make a living out of tennis. We should be growing that.”

He added that fans have come out for the team matches during the hottest Wimbledon fortnight on record.

“Every single round we’ve played, we started on Court 16, 17, . Full crowd.

“We then played on Court 18, full crowd. Played on Court 2 a couple times, full crowd. Court 1, full crowd. Today, full crowd.

“It’s difficult, because it seems like no matter how many times you do that, there’s like this very strong narrative that the product itself just isn’t good enough. I don’t think that’s true.

“I think we’ve kind of proven that to be wrong. Of course, Wimbledon plays a huge part in that. 

“People come to Wimbledon to watch tennis, whether it’s singles, doubles, wheelchair singles, wheelchair doubles, juniors, exhibition. People come to Wimbledon to watch tennis.”

Jannik Sinner rallied after dropping a 65-minute opening set, with the Italian lifting his second straight Wimbledon title 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday over Alexander Zverev.

The result between the pair of elites will keep Sinner on world No. 1 while Zverev nudges injured Carlos Alcaraz aside to take the second ranking position as a result of his performance here.

Sinner collected a fifth trophy at a major after fading in the heat six weeks ago to exit the French Open second round but working with his team and taking medical advice to get back on top of the fitness situation.

Sinner’s recovery in his first-round match from two sets to one down took him all the way to the title a fortnight later.

Sinner crushed a forehand to the empty court on match point to clinch victory in three and three-quarter hours.

“It’s been an amazing final one again. Sasha and I gae it all we had,” Sinner said. “I’m happy about the win and the level that we both played.

“thanks to this crowd – there is no better place to play tennis.”

The match began as a slow-moving affair, with each of the first two sets taking an hour as the pair tested each other throughout. Zverev came to Centre Court one month off his breakthrough Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.  

Italy’s Sinner won his first Wimbledon trophy a year ago over Alcaraz, who has been off court since April with a wrist injury and has no return date as of yet.

The victory was his 44th of the season against a mere three defeats and his fifth title of 2026.

Zverev accepted defeat and joked during the trophy ceremony: “Jannik, I’m not sure I like you any more. You’ve beaten me 10 times in a row

“But congratulations, Jannik showed why he’s the best player in the world. It was great to share Centre Court with you.

“Unfortunately it did not go my way, but me and my team have had a pretty good two months even if I lost this final.

“I came here never reaching the quarter-finals. At age 29 I actually feel that I can win this trophy.”

The German, who went through a serious knee injury drama several seasons ago, suffered a scare in the third set as he slipped while chasing a Sinner dropshot.

“The 29-year-old sat on the grass favouring his right knee as Sinner came around the net to help him to his feet. Zverev played on after the incident without any medical intervention.

Zverev drew first blood by winning the opening set to end a 14-set losing streak against Sinner.

But the Italian top seed slowly turned the momentum as his game kicked  in.

After winning the second and third sets, Sinner moved towards domination of his German opponent in the fourth set 

The holder came from 0-30 down to square at two games apiece and broke on his third opportunity of the seventh game to take 4-3 command, backing that up with a love game, 5-3.

Sinner claimed the trophy three games later, firing 15 aces among more than 50 winners. 

Main photo:- Jannik Sinner falls to the ground to celebrate as he wins Men’s Singles – by Roger Parker/ISF LTD

Novak Djokovic on Friday quickly archived a promising – but losing – effort against Jannik Sinner in their Wimbledon final, with the Serb sounding optimistic about remaining comfortably in the upper strata of tennis.

The 39-year-old with the 24 Grand Slam singles titles gave away a decade and a half to world No. 1 Sinner, who dominated in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win into his second straight final here.

Djokovic said that his fitness during the All England Club fortnight remained strong and gave every indication that his tennis career is more than alive and well.

And after fighting through a five-hour-plus -quarterfinal on Tuesday against Felix Auger-Aliassime and going toe-to-toe with Sinner, the veteran remains convinced he still has good chances on court.

And retirement does not currently seem to be in the frame.

“I still enjoy the thrill of competition. Maybe I don’t enjoy putting myself over and over again through a lot of pain, physically,” he Serb said.

“I’m glad that this tournament, the body held pretty well..pretty much every other tournament in the last two years it was always something (physical).

“I feel when I’m healthy, I’m still able to play as a top-five player, still able to compete at the highest level. I like it. I like this life. 

“At the same time, there’s always a question of how far you want to go, what you want to play, how you want to play, et cetera, et cetera.

“I try to take it a day at a time, see how I really feel. I don’t have any pressure or no one is forcing me to play. I do it because I really want to.”

The competitor in Djokovic still regrets the loss to Sinner. He said it leaves “a little bitter taste that I wasn’t at the desired level today. 

“But yeah, we turn the next page and we move on.”

Main photo:- Novak Djokovic runs out of steam in Semi-Final loss to Jannik Sinner – by Roger Parker ISF Ltd