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London - South Africa's Raven Klaasen and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus fell agonisingly short in the final of the Wimbledon men's doubles on Saturday.
In yet another five-set epic, Klaasen and Venus lost 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 3-6, 7-5, 5-7 to the American duo of Jack Sock and Mike Bryan.
Venus was the first New Zealander to reach a Wimbledon final of any kind since Chris Lewis played in the men's singles final in 1983.
Klaasen, meanwhile, was bidding to become the first South African player to win a Grand Slam men's doubles title since Wesley Moodie won in 2005 alongside Australian Stephen Huss.
It was Klaasen's second Grand Slam doubles final having previously played in the 2014 Australian Open doubles final alongside American Eric Butorac, and victory could have laid the foundation for a possible perfect weekend from a South African perspective.
Kevin Anderson will be take on Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the final on the men's singles on Sunday, but the opportunity for what would have been an incredibly unlikely South African double is now gone.
For Bryan it was his record-tying 17th Grand Slam men's doubles title, and first without his brother Bob.
At 40 years and 76 days Bryan is the oldest man in the Open era to win the Wimbledon doubles title.
He won his first 16 major championships, including three at the All England Club, with his twin, who is currently sidelined with a hip injury.
Australia's John Newcombe is the only other man in tennis history with 17 Grand Slam doubles trophies.
The victory was Sock's second Wimbledon title. He teamed with Canada's Vasek Pospisil to defeat, ironically, the Bryans in the 2014 final.
Correction: Previously Sport24 reported that Saturday's men's Wimbledon doubles final was Raven Klaasen's first Grand Slam doubles final. It was in fact his second.
They’ve done it! @JackSock and @Bryanbrothers defeat Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 to win the men’s doubles title ????#Wimbledon #TakeOnHistory pic.twitter.com/Wy3kyBj6eK
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2018
