by Elizabeth Hudson

Vink and Ammerlaan celebrate their Wimbledon success

Dutch pair Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink fought back from a set and 3-0 down to win the Wimbledon men's wheelchair doubles titles.

They defeated Japan's defending champions Shingo Kunieda and Satoshi Saida 4-6 7-5 6-2.

But they were forced to work hard after struggling at the end of the first set and early in the second.

"This is definitely one of the highlights of my career - it's unbelieveable," said Vink.

Both pairings made a tentative start with all four players losing their serve to make it 3-3 before Ammerlaan was broken for the second time to make it 4-3.

Saida and Vink both held their serves to make it 5-4 but Kunieda, the world singles and doubles number one, served out the set with the Dutch duo struggling to make an impact.

The Japanese pair seized the initiative again at the start of the second set with two breaks of serve to go 3-0 up and they looked favourites to go on and retain the title they won last year after beating Briton Jayant Mistry and Frenchman Michael Jeremiasz.

We haven't lost when when have played together and it is fantastic to win Wimbledon and to continue that record Robin Ammerlaan

But Ammerlaan and Vink refused to give up and they dug deep, breaking to love in the next game thanks to a couple of winners from Ammerlaan, which started a run of five games in a row.

Ammerlaan, who struggled all match on his serve, was broken as he served for the match at 5-3 and with Saida and Vink both holding, the pressure was back on the defending champions at 5-6.

But Ammerlaan showed his class to set up three set points on the Kunieda serve with a winner and then converted the second with a well-placed forehand.

From then on, the Dutch pair took control and built up a 3-0 lead in the deciding set as they chased their first Wimbledon title.

Saida and Kunieda took a toilet break to try to refocus but a controversial line call from the umpire went against them to allow their opponents go 4-2 ahead.

They were not going to give up without a fight but in the eighth game of the set a Kunieda backhand went long to give the Dutch pair their first match point on their opponents serve.

Although that was saved, when the opportunity arose again minutes later, Ammerlaan made no mistake with a forehand winner to seal the victory.

"At the end of the first set and the start of the second we were making too many errors so we tried to slow things down," said Ammerlaan.

"That allowed us to put pressure on our opponents and control the game which turned it our way.

"We haven't lost when when have played together and it is fantastic to win Wimbledon and to continue that record."

Vink added: "Robin finds it a lot easier than I do to switch surfaces so I need time to get more familiar with the grass court and use more topspin and slice on my shots.

"He kept telling me what to work on and that helped us to push each other on."