Wimbledon winners chase US Open glory after bizarre injury

Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara person won Wimbledon and managed to concuss each different successful their first six months arsenic a doubles team, and now a heavy US Open tally is their goal.

Concussion injuries hap often successful interaction sports specified arsenic rugby and football, but it is surely not nan lawsuit successful tennis.

Yet specified a rustle is precisely what Britain's Patten and Finland's Heliovaara suffered erstwhile they fought heads successful a men's doubles lucifer successful Montreal past month.

Despite nan injury, nan brace are backmost successful action and bidding for much Grand Slam occurrence successful New York, wherever they person already won done 2 rounds without dropping a set.

"It was different and now we tin conscionable astir spot nan funny broadside of it," Patten told BBC Sport, arsenic he reflected connected nan banging of heads.

He added, jokingly: "One of nan reasons I play tennis is because it's not a interaction sport, I'm soft."

Patten and Heliovaara were 4-2 up successful a first-set tie-break against American Ben Shelton and Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik successful Montreal erstwhile nan mishap that near them sidelined for a fewer days took place.

"We were emotion beautiful bully until Ben Shelton put up, to beryllium honest, not a very bully lob and it was someway consecutive down nan mediate of us," Patten said.

"Somehow we perfectly smacked caput to caput which near america some pinch a mild concussion, which was a first for some of america and doesn't hap very overmuch successful tennis."

They played connected for different 15 minutes, losing nan tie-break earlier deciding to telephone it a time and discontinue from nan match.

"I instantly felt rather nauseous, and equilibrium was a small spot disconnected balance," Patten said.

Finland's Heliovaara added: "After 15 minutes aliases truthful you could consciousness this was not a bully point that happened. It took maine much than a week to consciousness adjacent to normal and almost 2 weeks to beryllium judge I'm yet backmost to 100%."

Patten and Heliovaara, who only joined forces successful April, are nan 3rd seeds astatine this fortnight's US Open, but they were unseeded erstwhile they won a thrilling Wimbledon final successful July.

They will look 11th seeds Wesley Koolhof of nan Netherlands and Croatia's Nikola Mektic successful nan 3rd information connected Sunday.