Krawczyk goes back-to-back in mixed; wins Wimbledon after French Open

Not many tennis players can say they've won the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, but now, American Desirae Krawczyk can put her name on that illustrious list.

The 27-year-old and Arizona State alumna from Rancho Mirage, Calif. captured her second Grand Slam title in the span of a month at Wimbledon on Sunday, partnering Great Britain's Neal Skupski to a 6-2, 7-6(1) win over his comaptriots Harriet Dart and Joe Salisbury.

In a full-circle moment, Krawczyk and Salisbury partnered to win last month's French Open as an unseeded pair for her first major win. 

"it's obviously great to make the finals, but to win another Grand Slam was just amazing. I didn't really think about it much after the French, but it's been a great two weeks playing with Neal. We've had a lot of fun together, gotten to know each other a lot better. It's been really, really great," Krawczyk told reporters after the match.

"Winning my first Grand Slam, you obviously never forget it, but a few weeks after that, we are winning Wimbledon. I think Wimbledon is just, it's Wimbledon, and it's just something you look forward to. It's my favorite tournament. [It's] something I never thought would happen, but, obviously, you dream about playing on Centre Court, and that was my first feeling of that. Then to win a mixed doubles with Neal was just even better."

As the No. 7 seeds, Krawczyk and Skupski lost just one set in the tournament, rallying in the semifinals after losing the first to beat No. 17 seeds Zhang Shuai of China and John Peers of Australia, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.  

"We played really well today. I think it was our best match of the tournament. It was a good time to produce it. Never easy to play against fellow Brits, especially for Desirae, playing her partner Joe," Skupski added.

"I think we deserved it. We played well the last 10 days when mixed started. We came up big in big points and in difficult situations... Yesterday [in the semifinals] was a big moment for us I think. It was our biggest test. It was the first set we had lost in the Championships, and we came through that. So it put us in good stead for today and we came up swinging and it came off, and we're just thrilled to be here as champions."

After reaching her first Grand Slam final in women's doubles with her Chilean-American partner Alexa Guarachi last fall at the French Open, Krawczyk has reached the semifinals or better at all three Slams so far this year in mixed: she and Salisbury also reached the final four at the Australian Open, losing out to Aussies Samantha Stosur and Matt Ebden in a match tiebreak. They have plans to reunite at this summer's US Open.

In addition to Krawczyk winning the "Channel Slam" - named for the English Channel - in mixed, she and Guarachi have won two WTA titles so far this year in doubles, and the left-hander has reached four WTA doubles finals in all with three partners. 

"I think it's just obviously a lot of practice, a lot of different matches," she said of her rise to becoming one of the world's best doubles players. "I think that when I got to the finals of French with Alexa last year, I think it helped me prepare me for other, bigger moments. I think that definitely helps. I have to just go out there swinging in these big moments. I think I just took it and just played well."

And now, she also shares a bit of history with ATP world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, himself the winner in men's singles in Paris and London.

"I definitely don't think I have the same accolades as Novak," she joked with the press on her achievement, "but thanks for putting us in the same sentence."