Belgium’s Elise Mertens wins women’s doubles title at Wimbledon for second time

Seasoned Belgian tennis player Elise Mertens won her second women’s Wimbledon double title with partner Veronika Kudermetova in Sunday’s grand slam final.

The Belgo-Russian pair defeated No 4 seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a tight centre court thriller to take the trophy.

After starting the match with an early break, they lost their serve before regaining the lead with three games to one. But Hsieh - a former doubles partner of Mertens - and Ostapenko raised their game and rattled off five straight games to win the first set six games to three.

After battling to level the match at one set apiece, Kudermetova and Mertens were down 4-2 in the tense third set. The pair succeeded in tightening their focus and proceeded to win the next four games to record the best victory of their partnership.

“It was a very close match today. I was so happy that we converted our first match point. So, yes, two happy people," said Mertens (pictured, above right) at the post-match press conference.

Both players confessed to shedding tears immediately after their triumph. “We let the emotions out because tennis is an emotional sport,” she added.

After renewing their partnership, the duo will continue to compete together this year, according to Mertens. “Winning a competition like this gives us confidence to keep playing together.”

The 29-year-old player from Leuven has 22 doubles titles to her name, including two Wimbledon victories. She won her previous title in 2021, playing with Hsieh, her opponent on Sunday. The pair also won last year’s Australian Open. With current partner Kudermetova, she won the WTA Finals in 2022. 

It was a successful 2025 Wimbledon campaign for Mertens as she reached the fourth round in the singles competition, before being eliminated by Aryna Sabalenka, her former doubles partner and the world number one.

Photos: ©Elise Mertens Facebook page