Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara turned a first-set loss into a 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 win over Marcus Willis and David Stevenson to reach the men’s doubles semi-finals at the HSBC Championships. The result sends the top seeds into Saturday’s match and keeps British representation alive in the Queen’s men’s doubles final.
Patten and Heliovaara rally
Patten, 30, said the pair were used to that situation after dropping the opener. “We've lost lots of sets before, so we're not unfamiliar with that situation,” he said, adding: “Especially in doubles, the margins are so fine, it doesn't take much to just flip it.”
The scoreline followed the pattern he described. Willis and Stevenson took the first set 6-4, but Patten and Heliovaara steadied in the second and forced the match into a tie-break, where they finished it 10-4. Heliovaara said the opponents made them uncomfortable early, and the comeback started only after a reset between sets.
Queen’s semi-final on Saturday
That turnaround matters because the next round is already set. Patten and Heliovaara will face Neal Skupski and Christian Harrison on Saturday, and the winner moves on with a British pair guaranteed in the Queen’s men’s doubles final.
Patten, a Colchester native, has already said the British doubles set-up has helped produce stronger teams, crediting a dedicated programme and Louis Cayer’s role in building that culture. This run fits the timeline they have built this season: they topped the world rankings in the second week of June and reached the French Open final before arriving at Queen’s as the top seeds.
British doubles at Queen’s
The path to Saturday also sits inside a wider domestic picture. British players have had notable success on the men’s doubles circuit in recent years, and the semi-final pairing extends that run by keeping at least one British-linked team in line for the title match at Queen’s.
Patten called that success something the group should be proud of as a nation, and he said they keep pushing each other. For him and Heliovaara, the immediate task is simpler: carry the same response after a slow start into one more match and see whether the comeback carries them all the way into the final.
