After a straight-sets victory in the First Round, Heliovaara & Patten were showing signs in the Second Round that they would not be quite so dominant this year, needing three sets to beat the Austrian/American pairing of Alexander Erler & Robert Galloway.
Early on against the Czechs, they had the chance to rediscover that dominance, but failed to take either of the two break points they had from Nouza's first service game. Those would be the only chances to break either pair would have over the first 12 games, and the first set headed into a tiebreak.
A double fault from Patten to start the tiebreak immediately put the number two seeds on the back foot, and despite Nouza & Rikl twice losing serve in the decider, a second double fault was the invitation the Czechs needed to win the tiebreak, 7-4, and the first set, 7-6.
The defending champions were left with a sense of both deja vu and missed opportunities in game three of the first set, as they again came close to forcing a loss of serve on Nouza's first service game. This time, they had three break points, but the pair joint-ranked 56th in the world held on to win.
Other than game four, where the 36-year-old from Helsinki held serve despite the Czechs saving four game points, the rest of the second set comfortably went with serve, meaning a tiebreak would be required once more.
Unlike the first-set tiebreak, the serving pair on both sides of the court stayed in control for the first 11 points, which put Heliovaara & Patten 6-5 up.
The Czechs held serve to save set point, then did so once more to set up their first match point - off the serving of Heliovaara, Rikl took his chance at the net and powered a forehand down the middle to complete a major upset; 7-6, 7-6.
It's the first time Nouza & Rikl have reached the Quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, and awaiting them in the last eight will be Christian Harrison of the USA and Neal Skupski of Great Britain.
For Finland's Heliovaara and 29-year-old Patten, their time as Grand Slam holders comes to an end, having failed to defend the Wimbledon crown last summer following their victory in 2024.
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