WIMBLEDON — Henry Patten’s Wimbledon journey started inputting courtside data for IBM – seven years on, he’s been busy keeping others crunching the numbers and stands just one win away from a fairytale men’s doubles title.
The breakthrough star from Manningtree, 28, will take to the Centre Court stage for the first time in his turbulent career as he and Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara tussle with Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson for an improbable All England Club triumph.
Patten had never won a single match in SW19 heading into this year’s championships but accompanied by experienced Heliovaara, 35, has unexpectedly navigated his way to the brink of glory.
Patten’s trajectory towards the summit has been far from conventional.
The eloquent Essex ace admits he virtually quit the sport between the ages of 12 and 16, before rediscovering his passion during a scholarship at Culford School and going on to study at both UNC Asheville in North Carolina and Durham University.
When back in the UK each summer during those years spent across the pond, Patten – as his impressive LinkedIn profile puts it – “worked courtside at Wimbledon collecting data points from matches for IBM.”
Patten jokes he was never “good enough” to work on any men’s doubles finals but now hopes to complete a “surreal” sporting story as he bids to follow in fellow Brit Neal Skupski’s triumphant footsteps last year.
“I wasn’t expecting to be in this position at all,” said Patten, who beat defending champion Skupski and partner Michael Venus to book his place in the final.
“I used to work here doing the courtside stats for IBM – during college, I never intended to play professional tennis so I had summer internships working in wealth managements and those kind of things.
“At IBM, you were either on the outside courts or if you were good and switched on, the show court team. I was on the outside courts!
“It’s quite funny now because I can spot them in an IBM t-shirt, sitting in front of a computer and just inputting all of the data.
“It was a brutal job – but a really good experience and I really enjoyed it.”
Patten, who only joined forces with two-time major men’s doubles quarter-finalist Heliovaara in April, added: “It’s surreal for me given my pathway, which was not a very traditional one to the professional game.
“It’s amazing and I feel very privileged to be part of a final here.
“I’m very appreciative that Harri took a bit of a gamble to play with me – it’s nice to build a successful partnership and see that investment to pay off.
“It’s new ground for both of us now – we’ve been taking it one match at a time but now for the next match, we’re focusing on becoming Wimbledon champions.”
Another British player with a golden opportunity for glory is wheelchair star Alfie Hewett, who booked his place in a third consecutive singles final with a battling triumph against third seed Gustavo Fernandez.
The Argentinian seized the first set but Hewett, a 27-time Grand Slam champion who has won everything but the Wimbledon singles, levelled things up before edging over the line.
Elsewhere, Mimi Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic believe they can follow in the footsteps of Henry Searle and clinch a junior title after progressing in the girls’ doubles.
The Welsh and London duo stunned first seeds Alena Kovackova and Laura Samson in the quarter-finals with a 6-4 7-5 triumph on Court 12.
And reflecting on Searle becoming the first British player to win the boys’ singles title for 61 years last summer, 16-year-old Xu said: “What Henry did was amazing – he worked so hard and it really inspired us.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to follow in his footsteps and head in the same direction.”
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website