Vasek Pospisil – your Wimbledon men’s doubles champion

WIMBLEDON – The Canadian singles players got all the attention, the hype and the expectations.

But 24-year-old Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver is the Canadian taking home hardware from Wimbledon this year.

Pospisil and 21-year-old American partner Jack Sock, an unseeded, first-time duo, roared through the men's doubles event and capped it off with a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over the best team in the world, Bob and Mike Bryan of the U.S.

Between the two teams, they have 99 tournament victories, 16 of them Grand Slam titles. The Bryans have 98 of those, and 15 of the majors.

But Pospisil and Sock had the magic during the fortnight. They upset the No. 8, No. 5 and the No. 1 seeds on their way to the title. All were longtime teams – experienced, accomplished veterans who found themselves pushed aside by a couple of eager, hard-hitting young pups.

Pospisil and Sock almost channeled the younger Bryan brothers with their on-court enthousiasm and pure joy of playing. They also brought huge serving, powerful forehands and very good net skills to the mix.

Sock and Pospisil knew from the start that they could be a dangerous team, that no one would look forward to facing their brand of power doubles. And in the end, no one could find a solution to it.

The Bryans saved four match points. And they did it like veterans. The first two came at

4-5 in the fifth, and Bob Bryan powered in 129-, 128- and 130-mph serves. On the first match point the big delivery glanced off Pospisil's racquet. On the second one, Sock didn't even get a sniff.

On the third match point, Pospisil went for the full-out swan dive on the grass, in vain. Then came the fourth match point, which was a second serve. One last Sock howitzer, and it was in the books, and the Can-American team was off the Royal Box to receive their trophies.

"The best part of today was not having to hit anything on match point, just watch that ball go in the court. Seeing Jack run around that forehand and crush it down the line," Pospisil said. "That was probably the best part of the match."

"I would have to agree," Sock said.
Here's what they looked like in the press conference. They were really endearing.

Winning a doubles major gives Sock and Pospisil a pretty good shot at the year-end championships in November, also held in London at the O2. That's a fairly spectacular thing to contemplate, because you have to think Nestor also will be there in doubles, and Raonic is a likely contender in singles.

Could be another Canadian tournament in London, come the fall.

Canada's last change at the big trophies ended Saturday, when Daniel Nestor and mixed doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic lost their semi-final match, 7-6 (4), 7-5 to Max Mirnyi and Hao-Ching Chan.

The Canadian tally is: one final, two semi-finals, and one title at Wimbledon.