Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski broke the Grand Slam barrier in style Saturday at Wimbledon, where the top-seeded pairing outclassed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos to lift their maiden major crown.

The Dutch-British team prevailed 6-4, 6-4 to spark emotional celebrations on Centre Court. Koolhof and Skupski’s imaginative returning earned them the only break of each set as they wrapped a 76-minute victory, their first in three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Granollers and Zeballos.

“[It’s] very special,” said Koolhof. “It started when the doors [to Centre Court] opened, and one and half hours later to hold this [trophy] is very, very special.”

“I don’t know what to say,” said Skpuski. “Growing up watching this amazing championships, starting off a young boy at Palmerston Tennis Club in Liverpool. Going out there with my dad, and then obviously growing up with my brother (Ken Skupski) who has been very influential in my career.

“This feeling at the moment doesn’t get better. Me and Wesley came together 18 months ago, and this year this was one of our goals. To win a Grand Slam. Now we’ve done it, it feels very special.”

Dominant all tournament 👏

The top seeds knock out Granollers/Zeballos 6-4 6-4 to claim the title 🏆 Wimbledon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Wimbledon | Wimbledon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Wimbledon

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Koolhof and Skupski broke their opponents’ serve in the seventh game of the first set and the fifth game of the second, breakthroughs which they backed up with a dominant serving display. The duo faced just one break point and won 40 of 50 points behind their delivery overall.

The victory helped banish painful memories of Koolhof and Skupski’s previous major final as a team. The pair fell in straight sets to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury at the US Open last September, but showed no sign of nerves on Saturday in London as it sealed victory to return to first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.

“[Our next goal] is to rock the [Champions’ Ball] tomorrow evening,” joked Koolhof, who also reached the 2020 US Open final alongside Nikola Mektic. “Obviously we have a few more tournaments to go this year. The US Open, the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin is obviously a goal. I was lucky enough to win it here in London in 2020, so I will do my best to get Neal on board and have that one as well.”

Skupski is the first Briton to triumph in the Wimbledon men’s doubles since Jonathan Marray in 2012, while Koolhof is the first Dutchman since Jean-Julien Rojer in 2015. It is another milestone in a meteoric rise for the team, which has now won nine tour-level titles since coming together at the start of the 2022 season.

Granollers and Zeballos were attempting to become the first Spaniard and Argentine, respectively, to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles crown. The pair was playing in their third major final, having also suffered championship-match defeat at the 2019 US Open and Wimbledon in 2021.

“We tried to win, but I think the guys really deserved it. They played much better than us,” said Zeballos. “They knew how to play under pressure, we didn’t… Right now I am a little bit sad, but before the week, if I had to sign for [reaching the] final, of course I would do it every time.”

“We’ve had good years together. Already our fourth season playing very good,” reflected Granollers. “We are trying hard every day to get these kinds of titles, so we will keep trying and practising hard to one day get this one.”

It’s the Wimbledon final we’ve all been anticipating — even the players themselves, as Carlos Alcaraz admitted earlier this fortnight. The meeting between World No. 1 Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who is chasing a calendar-year Grand Slam, was never really in doubt, such was their respective dominance in advancing to the title round.

Both men have lost just two sets in six wins at The Championships, and both played their very best tennis on Friday in a pair of straight-sets semi-final victories — Djokovic against Jannik Sinner and then Alcaraz against Daniil Medvedev.

It sets up an “ultimate showdown”, as Djokovic called it, that promises to be monumental in both its quality and its significance. In addition to deciding who will lift the Wimbledon title — Djokovic is bidding for his fifth straight and eighth overall, while Alcaraz will contest his first final on Centre Court — the matchup will determine who leaves London atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

It won’t be Alcaraz’s first rodeo in that respect: The No. 1 spot was also on the line when he beat Casper Ruud in his first major final at last year’s US Open. But a win against Djokovic, owner of a record 23 Grand Slam mens’ singles titles, might be even more significant.

“It gives you extra motivation. I think it’s more special to play a final against a legend from our sport,” Alcaraz said of the matchup. “If I win, it could be amazing for me. Not only to win a Wimbledon title but to do it against Novak would be super special.”

Most Grand Slam Men’s Singles Titles

The 20-year-old Spaniard, 16 years Djokovic’s junior, is on the fast track to becoming one of the all-time greats of the sport himself. (The age gap is the third largest in a men’s major final.) Alcaraz has already proven his otherworldly talent on hard and clay courts, but this year his game has begun to sprout on the grass. Djokovic singled out his opponent’s successful adaptation on the lawns for particular praise, noting similarities to himself in that regard.

“I don’t think many people expected him to play so well [on grass] because his game is basically built and constructed and developed for clay mostly or slower hard courts. But he’s been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and demands and challenges of opponents on a given day,” the Serbian said of Alcaraz.

“I see this as a great trait, as a great virtue. I see this as one of my biggest strengths throughout my career, that I was able to constantly develop, adapt, and adjust my game depending on the challenges basically. That’s what he’s doing very early on in his career.”

There is one key area where Alcaraz must evolve in order to avenge his semi-final defeat to Djokovic at Roland Garros. In Paris, the Spaniard had the wind in his sails after outplaying his opponent down the stretch of the second set. But with the match level at one-set all, Alcaraz began to suffer from cramp — an issue he blamed on nerves rather than fatigue.

The Spaniard is at his best when he is playing with a smile on his face. But his joy was diminished by the gravity of his semi-final showdown against Djokovic — the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting at a major.

“I’ll try to pull out all nerves, try to enjoy that moment, because probably in the semi-final at the French Open I didn’t enjoy at all in the first set,” said Alcaraz, who will talk with his psychologist as part of his preparations for the final. “I’ll do something different from that match. I’ll prepare the match a little bit different from French Open. It’s going to be different for me. I hope not to get cramp during the final. I think I’ll be better on Sunday.”

The final push 👊Wimbledon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Wimbledon | #wimbledon | @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/kFZqb136xh

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While Alcaraz was the favourite in that Roland Garros matchup, he’ll face a different kind of pressure as the underdog at Wimbledon, where Djokovic is riding a 34-match winning streak. Adding to the stress is the size of the task before him: breaking down Djokovic’s watertight grass-court game.

“I have to get deep into [my tactics] because Novak has no weakness, so it’s going to be really tough to find the way to be danger for him,” the Spaniard said. “He’s a really complete player. He’s amazing. He does nothing wrong on the court. Physically he’s a beast. Mentally he’s a beast. Everything is unbelievable for him,” Alcaraz later added.

Djokovic has lost just three service games in his six Wimbledon wins this year, saving 16 of 19 break points. He had never been broken fewer than five times en route to any of his previous 34 Grand Slam finals. Alcaraz has dropped serve six times on 25 break points against.

2023 Tour-Level Wins Leaders

In addition to his excellence on the court at Wimbledon, Djokovic has also proven to be quite the performer in front of the microphone this fortnight. Prior to his quarter-final win against Andrey Rublev, he trialled a joke about his opponent’s “scary” grunts in the press room. After his win, he delivered a fine-tuned version of the line in front of the Centre Court crowd.

In that same on-court interview, the 36-year-old dropped one of the lines of the fortnight, describing the younger generation’s efforts to dethrone him at Wimbledon: “I know that they want to get a scalp, they want to win. But it ain’t happening, still,” he said with perfect comedic timing. “Very humble!”

As good as that was, Djokovic might have one-upped himself with his closing remarks in press, previewing the final.

“He’s very motivated. He’s young. He’s hungry,” he said of Alcaraz. 

“I’m hungry, too, so let’s have a feast!” he added with a smile.