Hunter and Mertens finish runner-up in women’s doubles at Wimbledon

Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens fell 5-7, 4-6 to Hsieh Su-wei and BarboraStrycova to finish as runners-up at Wimbledon.

Australian Storm Hunter and Belgium’s Elise Mertens fell in straight sets to finish as runners-up in women’s doubles at Wimbledon 2023. The pair lost to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-weiand Czech Republic’s BarboraStrycova who previously won the tournament together in 2019. 

Finals Recap

Hunter and Mertens lost in straight sets 5-7, 4-6 in a tightly contested final. Though they lost in two straight, a few bounces and big plays here and there were ultimately what made the difference in the match. 

The match was one full of mini runs with each team consistently being able to break the other’s serve. 

The Australian and her partner got off to a strong start early breaking serve in the matches opening game. They backed this up with a strong hold of their own taking a 2-0 lead in set one. 

Former champions Hsieh Su-wei and BarboraStrycova then settled in and went on a run of their own, holding at love, breaking the serve of Hunter, and holding their own once again to take a 3-2 lead. 

After Mertens and Hunter were once again able to regain control of the set with a Mertens hold and a break of their opposition, Hunter was serving with a chance to go up 5-3. 

At 30-30 after some high-level defense from Su-wei and Strycova, they were able to get a lob just deep enough that although Mertens could reach it, it found the frame of her racket and fell into the net. The unseeded duo would take the next two points to secure the break and tie the set at 4-4. 

Three straight service holds would then see Su-wei and Strycova up 6-5, yet on serve with Hunter delivering. In what was a tantalizing game which featured six deuces, Hunter was broken, and the first set was won 7-5 by Su-wei and Strycova. 

Set number two began with three straight holds before Su-wei and Strycova were able to secure a break to take a 3-1 lead. 

The teams would split the next two games with each holding serve before Hunter and Mertens were able to break their opponents and consolidate the break making it 4-4. 

With the momentum on Hunter and Mertens’ side, it seemed as though this match may be destined to go the distance. However, the veteran duo of Su-wei and Strycova had other plans. 

They held at love to lead 5-4 with Mertens serving to extend the match. The game went to deuce and Hunter and Mertens couldn’t find the extra two points needed to win it as Su-wei and Strycova took the game, set, and match. 

Underdog Story or Rankings Flaw?

Though Hunter and Mertens were the third seeds and Su-wei and Strycova were unseeded, this was not a major upset in any way as Su-wei and Strycova had won Wimbledon together already in 2019. Along with this, Su-wei won in 2021 with Mertens and took the French Open title just one month ago with a different partner. 

So, although from just looking at the seeds it may appear to have been a mismatch, betting sites had each duo viewed as relative equals prior to the match. 

Strycova’s Fairytale Ending Leaves Hunter Still Searching.

BarboraStrycova, who just came out of retirement after having a son, stated during the trophy ceremony that this was likely to be her final Wimbledon and that she “couldn’t ask for a better finish.” 

The loss will hurt for the duo of Mertens and Hunter who played well enough to win but were beaten by a better team on the day. It will be especially tough for Hunter who is still in search of her first women’s doubles major championship. 

This was a popular betting event on all betting sites in Australia. Many tennis fans around the country were disappointed to see Hunter bow out in the final stage at such a prestigious tournament. 

After some disappointing results in the singles draws, Australia nearly had a Wimbledon champion as Storm Hunter fell in the women’s doubles final to finish as runner-up. Having now established herself as one of the world’s top doubles players, Hunter could be Australia’s best chance at a major for the foreseeable future.