Freddy Blaydes and Benjamin Gusic Wan thrived in front of a home crowd as they battled from a set down to progress in the Boys’ Doubles at Wimbledon.
Windermere’s Blaydes and Kent player Gusic Wan received a wildcard into the main draw, and were pitted against Italy’s Fabio De Michele and German David Fix.
The British pairing found themselves a set down but fought back to force a deciding tie-break, which they impressively won to claim a 4-6 6-3 [10-6] victory.
“It’s our second time playing together. First round at Wimbledon, it’s really nice to get through it,” said Blaydes.
“The crowd were great. It’s super special here and it’s great to play with Ben – I’m really enjoying it so hopefully we can carry on.”
Gusic Wan added: “I love playing with Freddy. It felt just amazing playing with him.
“The crowd were amazing, especially in the tie-break when we were struggling a little bit. They got on our side and it pumped us up and made us play better. Hopefully we can carry onto the quarters.”
Both had also been in Boys’ Singles action across the weekend, with Blaydes also winning his opening round in that event.
And he believed that win helped settle any potential nerves on this occasion, particularly in the tie-break.
He said: “I think for me, my singles match broke the ice a little bit. I wasn’t quite as tight as I was in singles, and because we’d played two sets before I was loosened up a little bit.
“The crowd were definitely helping, rather than making me nervous. They definitely helped us along, so for me it wasn’t too bad.”
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