Men's doubles gold 'more than a dream' for Ebden and Peers
Matt Ebden and John Peers won Australia's second ever gold medal at the Olympic Tennis Event after edging past Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in a thrilling men’s doubles final.
The pair rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 6-7(6) 7-6(1) 10-8 and secure Australia’s first tennis gold since Mark Woodforde and Mark Woodbridge won the same discipline at Atlanta 1996.
"It’s a blur, we’re a bit lost for words," said Ebden afterwards. "It was a super tough match, a really high-quality match.
"We were up against it, we were down a set and a break. It was not looking good. We were losing for sure, but we kept believing, kept fighting, kept hanging strong."
For all the early interest in the Olympic men's doubles event generated by the shotgun pairings of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz and Andy Murray and Dan Evans, it was ultimately four of the world’s most accomplished doubles players that shined most on the men's doubles match court at Paris 2024.
Krajicek and Ram (who have both ranked at doubles world No. 1 in the past two years) took out 'Nadalcaraz' in the quarter-finals and appeared destined to follow in the footsteps of their countrymen Bob and Mike Bryan and Ken Flach and Robert Seguso - men's doubles champions at London 2012 and Seoul 1988, respectively.
They proved more clinical on the big points and broke Ebden for an early lead in the second set after clinching the first on the tie-break.
But the Australians broke back for 4-4 and Ebden whipped the crowd's energy up a notch just as he had during his cameo singles appearance against Novak Djokovic on the same court earlier in the week.
View this post on Instagram
That energy saw them motor through a second set tie-break highlighted by some stunning retrieval from Peers, who somehow won a point in which he chased down a ball effectively from the front row of spectators, geeing up the Australians - and the crowd - still further.
Krajicek and Ram rallied to reduce a 3-8 deficit to 8-9 in the deciding tie-break and when Peers missed a dolly of a volley on their first gold medal point you wondered whether the Americans would pull off a comeback akin to Murray and Evans' remarkable first-round turnaround against Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel.
But Peers made no mistake with his second chance - clinching gold after planting his next volley perfectly onto the baseline.
"The crowd lifted us big time when we got the break back," Ebden said. "[John] played an amazing super tie-break and somehow we are gold medallists. It's more than a dream."
The pair celebrated with their children in a heartwarming scene at the end – Peers’ embracing his two young girls and Ebden flinging his son skywards in joy, a particularly special moment that reminded them how much they have invested, and sacrificed, through their careers on Tour.
“Matt and I travel year in year out with our families on the road and it’s tough," Peers said. "It’s a slog, but moments like these make it all worthwhile. We cherish them forever. We live a suburb away from each other back in Perth… we’re going to be talking about this one till we’re 100. This one’s really special.”
Australian Doubles History 🥇
— ITF (@ITFTennis) August 3, 2024
From Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde in Atlanta 1996 to Matthew Ebden & John Peers in #Paris2024! 🇦🇺#Olympics | #Tennis pic.twitter.com/dwPw3QAzwQ