Henry Patten hailed a dream come true after brilliantly booking his place in the Wimbledon men’s doubles final.
The Manningtree star, 28, and Finnish ace Harri Heliövaara kept their remarkable SW19 dream alive with a stunning straight sets triumph against reigning champion Neal Skupski and new partner Michael Venus.
Patten had never won a match at Wimbledon ahead of this week but accompanied by savvy Scandinavian Heliövaara, a previous two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, now sits just one win away from an unforgettable triumph.
The dangerous duo had stunned fourth seeds and recently-crowned French Open champions Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić with an improbable quarter-final victory.
And 24 hours later, they followed that up with a stirring 6-4 7-6 (1) triumph in front of a bumper Court 1 crowd.
The pairing boast a red-hot record in tie-breaks and sealed the deal with Heliövaara, 35, slammed a fizzing backhand down the line on match point to trigger ecstasy in front of watching friends and family.
Patten, who had never advanced beyond the third round of a Grand Slam before this summer, now just sits two sets away from a remarkable All England Club triumph.
All that stands between him and Heliövaara are Australian 15th seeds Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, who shocked No.1 seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in their Thursday semi-final.
Speaking after his victory, Patten said: “It feels pretty good!
“I’m not sure it’s fully sunk in – when Harri hit that winner down the line, it was amazing.
“It was an amazing crowd – playing on Court 1 in the mixed last night really helped me, I got a feel for it and it’s a lovely court.
“It feels quite close and is quite enclosed – it’s a great court but I’m probably a bit biased now!”
Heliövaara added: “It was such a good match and we felt so comfortable on the court – there was no question mark and it felt like it would happen.
“We let it happen and we enjoyed it from the first to the last.”
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
Join the discussion