Cara Black and Leander Paes overcame some early jitters to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in straight sets on Sunday.
India’s Paes and Black from Zimbabwe strolled on Centre Court after Rafael Nadal had won the men’s singles and took their second grand slam title of the year after the Australian Open with a 6-4 7-6 victory against South Africa’s Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond from the Unites States.
The title is Paes’s third mixed doubles crown at Wimbledon, following wins in 1999 and 2003, while Black had previously won in 2004.
A topsy-turvy opening set had five breaks of serve as both pairs struggled to impose themselves. But after losing three of the first four games, the second seeds rallied to win five of the next six and closed out the set in 37 minutes.
The second set turned out to be a reversal of the first and it was a tightly fought encounter without a single break of serve.
The tiebreak proved a test of nerve and Black and Paes held theirs with the Indian volleying the winner on championship point to take the match in one hour and 37 minutes.