More Aussie heartbreak in Wimbledon finals as Ash Barty and Lleyton Hewitt come up short

On the back of men’s doubles heartbreak the day prior when Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson fell painfully short of winning the title after holding three championship points, the final day of Wimbledon saw more Aussie pain. Australian tennis legends Lleyton Hewitt and Ash Barty both lost their respective finals in the invitational doubles competition on Sunday.

Barty’s tennis comeback in the legends invitation doubles event alongside her best mate Casey Dallacqua ended in a 6-3 6-2 defeat to Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters. While Hewitt, and his partner Kevin Anderson, got a 6-1 6-4 hiding from iconic doubles duo the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, in the equivalent men’s final.

And in the Wimbledon girls final it was yet more Aussie heartbreak as 16-year-old Emerson Jones saw her bid to become the first Australian to win the Wimbledon girls’ title since Barty, scuppered by the same opponent who beat her at Melbourne Park earlier this year.

The Gold Coast teen, who is seen as one of the best Australian prospects since former Wimbledon senior champ Barty herself won the junior crown in 2011, went down to top seed Renata Jamrichova 6-3 6-4 on Sunday. It was yet another straight-sets defeat to the top junior Jamrichova, who smacked her 6-4 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in January.

“That’s the second Slam final I’ve lost to her but obviously but I played well but she was a bit too good, so can’t really complain,” said Jones, who turned 16 at the start of the Championships. “I made the final of junior Wimbledon, so that’s pretty exciting. Her serve was tough to handle, but in the second set, I felt like I got myself into it a bit more and was trying to figure out her serves, and felt I was getting closer to breaking her.”