‘Don’t laugh’: Crowd’s classless act as Aussie pair in painful Wimbledon ‘choke’

An Aussie star had to warn the crowd after his “beyond devastated” teammate’s emotional words following their Wimbledon final “choke”.

Mx Purcell and Jordan Thompson were agonisingly close. Photo: Getty, AFP.

Max Purcell gave the Wimbledon crowd a warning after teammate Jordan Thompson was laughed at during his classy speech following their defeat in the men’s doubles final on Sunday morning.

The Aussie pair were understandably shattered by the loss after having three championship points opportunities to put their names into Wimbledon history as gentleman’s doubles champions.

However, their opportunity slipped by and it was their opponents, Finland’s Harri Heliovaara and Brit Henry Patten, that seized their moment to win 6-7(7) 7-6(8) 7-6(9).

Thompson did not attempt to hide his anguish in a brutally honest post-match interview while congratulating his opponents.

When asked to put his feelings into words straight after the match, Thompson responded: “Beyond devastated”.

His comment was met with some laughter in the crowd — likely a knee jerk response to the blunt reply.

Mx Purcell and Jordan Thompson were agonisingly close. Photo: Getty, AFP.

However, Purcell didn’t appear to appreciate the crowd’s response and cut in to say: “Don’t laugh at him”.

Thompson grinned briefly before continuing his answer where he referenced the gut-wrenching moment during the second set tiebreak where they nearly took a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak.

Leading 5-2 in the second set tiebreak, Thompson’s volley clipped the net cord before it dribbled back onto his side of the net. It is a sight that will likely haunt him for some time.

“We were so close. Championship points. This is the way tennis goes and it’s tough,” Thompson said.

His answer was met with warm applause from the crowd.

Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell tripped at the finish line. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images.

Jordan Thompson, Max Purcell, Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten put on a show. Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP.

Purcell also congratulated Heliovaara and Patten.

“I’m glad it was a great match for the crowd and I’m super happy for the boys,” he said.

“Enjoy it guys, you don’t know how many times you’ll be back out here.

“They did it the hard way, they deserved it. I’m proud we made the final. It’s the best run that Jordan and I have had at a Slam, we can’t be mad.”

After going through the match without facing a break point and winning 10 more total points than their opponents, many tennis commentators suggested the Aussie pair were the better team.

Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado said the Australians “choked”.

Thompson was still feeling the hurt when speaking after the trophy presentations.

“Plain and simple, it just sucks,” he said.

“Being one point away from being a Wimbledon doubles champion (is tough), but (we were) 5-2 up serving in the second-set buster, and I had the ball right in front of me, and it’s just clipped the net cord and gone over me – and that turned things around. It can change quickly, but we had other chances.”

Earlier in the day, Czech world No. 32 Barbora Krejcikova won her second career grand slam title in a stunning 6-2 2-6 6-4 win over Italian Jasmine Paolini in the ladies singles final.

Originally published as ‘Don’t laugh’: Crowd’s classless act as Aussie pair in painful Wimbledon ‘choke’