Heliovaara & Patten Win Australian Open Title After Dramatic Three-Hour Final

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten came from a set down to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title, their second Grand Slam trophy, with a 6-7(16), 7-6(5), 6-3 score.

The Finnish-British duo fought through a thrilling first set that lasted 87 minutes and saw 10 set points go by, losing the set to opponents Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.

The sixth seeds earned tie-break revenge in the second set, leveling the match at a set apiece. They broke early in the third set and raced into a 3-0 lead, never looking back. Left-handed Patten served out the championship, saving two break points before clinching the title, in a match that lasted three hours, four minutes.

Heliovaara and Patten’s first major title as a team came at last year’s Wimbledon and they went on to win three more trophies at the tour-level in the 2024 season.

Bolelli and Vavassori started the season perfectly winning the ATP 250 in Adelaide and carrying a nine-match winning streak entering the final. The Italians also finished as runners-up in the Melbourne final last year.

During the trophy presentation, Patten said, “What an amazing match. For Harri, what a journey we’ve been on. It’s truly been special so let’s keep it going.”

Heliovaara added, “Could I have done it without you, Henry? I don’t think so. It’s a team sport in doubles. The most important thing is to find yourself a good partner and I’ve succeeded in that. Not only on the tennis court, we are such good friends. I think that’s what keeps us close together on the court and brings us titles like this.”

With the doubles final taking place after the women’s singles final and watched by a small crowd into the early hours (the match ended at around 1:30 AM local time), Vavassori urged tournament organizers to schedule the match at a more favorable time.

“I think it was a very good match for doubles, hopefully many people will watch the match from their house and you played unbelievable, so it was a very tight match, but you deserve it.

“It was a great tournament for us and I would like to thank all the organisers, and Craig Tiley, and hopefully next year he will change the time of the doubles!”

Heliovaara made history to become the first Finnish player to win multiple Grand Slam men’s doubles titles. Patten becomes the third British player in the Open Era to capture the Australian Open men’s doubles title, following in the footsteps of Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury.

With the win, Heliovaara and Henry Patten earned 2,000 ranking points and a total prize of A$ 730,000 (approximately US$ 459,600) to be shared between them.