Jelena Ostapenko and Marcelo Arevalo staged a stirring comeback from a set and a break down to defeat Australia’s Storm Hunter and Marc Polmans 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 and lift the Wimbledon mixed doubles title on Thursday.
Trailing 4-6, 1-3, the Latvian-Salvadoran pair turned the contest around with an impressive display of resilience, winning six of the next eight games to force a deciding set before cruising to victory in one hour and 56 minutes on Centre Court.
The triumph marked Ostapenko’s maiden Wimbledon title and completed a rare Grand Slam collection, having now won major titles in singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The 28-year-old had previously finished runner-up in the Wimbledon mixed doubles final in 2019 and the women’s doubles final last year.
“It’s been a great week,” Ostapenko said after the match. “Now I am a Grand Slam champion in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. It’s great to win all the categories. Marcelo and I played really well together and had a lot of fun on court. Winning Wimbledon is always special.”
For Arevalo, the victory was historic as he became the first player from El Salvador to win a Wimbledon title. It was also the 35-year-old’s third Grand Slam crown, having previously won the 2022 and 2024 Roland Garros men’s doubles titles. He will return to Centre Court on Saturday with a chance to add the men’s doubles title alongside Mate Pavic.
“It means a lot coming from El Salvador, a country not known for tennis,” Arevalo said. “Playing on Centre Court is a dream. At the start of the week my team wanted to tour Centre Court, but I told them I wanted to earn it. Today I did. I hope this inspires children back home to believe that with hard work and belief, they can achieve big things.”
Hunter and Polmans looked on course for the title after taking the opening set and moving 3-1 ahead in the second. However, Ostapenko and Arevalo responded by breaking serve twice to level the match before carrying that momentum into the decider.
With the Centre Court roof closed ahead of the third set, the eventual champions broke in the fourth and eighth games to complete an impressive comeback and secure the mixed doubles title.