Rinky Hijikata and David Pel look to put a cherry on top of their Cinderella run with a win in the gentlemen’s doubles final on Day 13 at Wimbledon.
London, UK, 12 July 2025 | Rhys de Deugd
Rinky Hijikata and David Pel are one win away from becoming the first men’s doubles pair in the Open Era to enter a Grand Slam draw as alternates and win the title.
The unlikely Australian-Dutch combination have had an extraordinary journey to the Wimbledon final, where they will again go in as underdogs.
But if their run so far is anything to go by, they’ve made a habit of doing the impossible.
“We were a last-minute pairing, I was scrambling to find a partner, and reached out to David and geez it’s worked out pretty well so far,” Hijikata told Stan Sport.
“ We’re trying to enjoy ourselves as much as possible. Being at Wimbledon doesn’t get much better and I’m glad that we can stay until the last Saturday.”
However, their campaign was almost over before it begun in their first match as partners.
The Australian-Dutch duo were down match points in the second set of their opening-round battle against Andre Goransson and Sem Verbeek, the latter who went on to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.
After saving those match points, they forced a deciding set – and once again stared down match points before pulling off a gutsy comeback win.
It was a similar situation in the next contest, where they survived a tiebreak in the second set and match points in the deciding super tiebreak to progress to the third round.
Fast-forward to the semifinal against top-seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic, and the underdog duo scored their biggest upset yet. Again facing match points, Hijikata and Pel clawed their way back from 9-7 down in the deciding tiebreak to pull off another miraculous victory.
Now, they face No.5 seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash in the final – a British pair playing in front of a home crowd.
Victory would be the icing on Wimbledon’s proverbial strawberries-and-cream cake.
Regardless of the result, Hijikata’s fortnight has been one he will never forget. After scoring his maiden Wimbledon singles victory on Day 2, the 24-year-old went on to win his first doubles match at the venue and break new ground every step of the way.
Ranked No.149 in the ATP doubles rankings before the tournament, the run to the final sees Hijikata projected to shoot into the world’s top 60, which makes him the youngest player ranked that high.
If Hijikata and Pel are to pull off another upset in the final, the Aussie will become the youngest active men’s player to have won two Grand Slam doubles titles.
Furthermore, the last time an Australian won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title with an non-Aussie partner was two decades ago, when Stephen Huss won the 2005 title alongside South African Wesley Moodie.
In the Open Era, Australian legends have conquered the gentlemen’s doubles at Wimbledon, with an Australian hoisting the trophy on 21 occasions.
Yet none have done it from such an unlikely start as Hijikata.
You can watch the gentlemen’s doubles final live in Australia on the Nine Network and Stan Sport from 10pm AEST.
Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to hit the court and have some fun!
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