Patten proud of '50%' success record in Grand Slams

Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara have been playing together since winning their first tournament in Marrakech

Britain's Henry Patten says he and Harri Heliovaara plan to "keep pushing on" after winning their second Grand Slam doubles title.

Patten, from Manningtree in Essex, served the ace which sealed a 6-7 (16-18) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory over Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the Australian Open final.

The three-hour match only began following Madison Keys' win in the women's singles final at the Rod Laver Arena and did not finish until 1.42am local time, watched by just a small crowd of spectators.

"I served it and was just waiting and waiting for the out call but it never came. I collapsed on my back, absolutely exhausted but boy, did it feel good," Patten told BBC Sport.

The 28-year-old and his Finnish partner first teamed up just nine months ago and triumphed at Wimbledon last summer, overcoming Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (11-9) in another marathon encounter.

They only reached the last 16 stage at the French and US Opens in 2024, but Patten said: "I'll take a 50% record."

They again had to do it the hard way against Bolelli and Vavassori after failing to capitalise on 10 set points before dropping the opening tiebreak.

"It was pretty brutal because it was so long, and it was obviously so late, the start of the match," said Patten, who also reached the mixed doubles semi-finals in Melbourne with Olivia Nicholls.

"We both knew it was going to be a long way back but at the same time we looked at each other and saw the fight in each other's eyes and understood we were both ready to leave it all out there. And eventually we got across the finish line."

He is the third Briton to win an Australian men's doubles title this century, following Joe Salisbury (2020) and Jamie Murray (2016).

But he still finds it hard to believe that he and Heliovaara already have two major titles to their credit.

"It all feels like it's happened in the blink of an eye," he added.

"That being said, we're just at the start of the season so it's definitely exciting times and we still have a lot to achieve as a pair.

"We need to win a 500, we need to win a 1,000, these are big goals that we have and we're excited to keep pushing on."