The Austrian Alexander Peya could hardly believe his luck after winning the mixed title in Wimbledon. For the 38-year-old, a childhood dream came true on the Holy Lawn of all places.
By Ulrike Weinrich from Wimbledon
After his greatest success to date, Alexander Peya wore the matching dress for the press conference: “Winner take all” was written in large letters on the red T-shirt. And the 38-year-old from Vienna made no secret of what his first Grand Slam title meant to him: “Sitting here as Wimbledon winner is simply madness,” said Peya visibly moved and humble.
Already as a child he had played with his brother at home in the garden to simulate the most important tournament in the world. “When I was growing up, I had Boris Becker as my idol. I was a huge fan of his and always loved his duels with Stefan Edberg. In the games with my brother I was always the Boris”, the Viennese told after the 7:6 (7:1), 6:3 in the final with his US-American partner Nicole Melichar against the well-known wildcard owners Jamie Murray/Victoria Azarenka (Great Britain/Belarus) – and smiled.
For his first success in his second Wimbledon final after 2015, when he lost with Hungarian Timea Babos on the home stretch, Peya took home 55,000 pounds in prize money.
In the final, of course, the sympathies of most spectators belonged to local hero Murray and his better half Azarenka on that day. But not only because of the victory, Peya/Melichar could absolutely enjoy the atmosphere on the Centre Court. “It is always something special to play there,” said Peya, “because it is the sacred court in tennis. It was the third time for me. All the better that there was now a success.” As eleventh Austrian, the experienced Austrian entered his name on the list of winners at a major event.
And if it goes after him, then the journey with his extremely impact-strong partner Melichar is not yet over. They had already reached the quarter-finals at the French Open. “We have a lot of confidence in the other Grand Slams,” said Peya with a view to the US Open starting in New York at the end of August.
On Sunday evening, however, celebrations were on the agenda in London – at the official Champions Dinner in the Guildhall. Because the final losers are also allowed to show up there, Peya had already been there once in 2015. This time he could finally take his wife with him. “This was not possible three years ago because of our newborn child at the time.” And also: As a winner it’s always better to party. To ask Alexander Peya.