Wimbledon 2025: Joe Salisbury & Luisa Stefani through to mixed doubles final
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Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani are through to the Wimbledon mixed doubles final after knocking out second seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai.
In a match without a single break of serve, Salisbury and Stefani came out on top in two tie-breaks to win 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in an hour and 36 minutes on No.2 Court.
Salisbury and Stefani have now won five tie-breaks in their last three matches en-route to their first Grand Slam final together, in only their second tournament as a pair.
The British, Brazilian duo will move on to face unseeded duo Sem Verbeek and Katerina Siniakova in the final after they knocked out eighth seeds Mate Pavic and Timea Babos.
The final will take place on Thursday 10 July.
The former ATP doubles world No.1 will be aiming to become the eighth British player to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles title, joining Ann Jones, John Lloyd, Jeremy Bates, Jo Durie, Jamie Murray, Heather Watson and Neal Skupski.
Salisbury has won the mixed doubles titles at the US Open and Roland Garros in the past and previously made the final at Wimbledon with fellow Brit Harriet Dart in 2021.
He is also a four-time men’s doubles Grand Slam champion – the most of any British player in the Open Era – and a two-time Nitto ATP Finals winner.
Stefani is currently ranked as the world No.29 in WTA doubles and has previously won a mixed doubles title at the Australian Open in 2023. The Brazilian was also a bronze medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The fans on No.2 Court were treated to a close semi-final battle between two impressive teams late on Tuesday evening.
It was a clinic in doubles serving between both sides – Salisbury and Stefani winning 86% points on first serve, compared to their opponents equally strong 84%.
With only three break points between them in the whole match – one saved on the serve of Salisbury – the match always felt destined for tie-breaks, where the British, Brazilian duo just had the edge.
In the opening set tie-break, having trailed 5-3, Salisbury reached for a slightly mis-hit backhand return winner, which appeared to fire them and the crowd up.
Having created and missed their first set point, they made no mistakes second time around. This time benefitting from Stefani serving at 7-6, Salisbury dealt a hammer blow of a smash to clinch a one set advantage.
Salisbury and Stefani are currently undefeated in tie-breaks at The Championships, winning all five played so far, and there was a confidence about them as well as inevitability surrounding the breaker in the second set.
At 3-3 after the change of ends, Zhang hit a crucial double fault to hand over the mini break to the home favourite and from their Salisbury took matters into his own hands. The Briton won the final three points himself, finishing with a ripped forehand perfectly through the gap between Arevalo and Zhang at the net.
Salisbury is also still competing in the men’s doubles alongside fellow Brit Skupski. They face Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos tomorrow.
