In the men’s doubles final on Saturday, Matthew Ebden and John Peers won Australia’s second gold medal in tennis history, defeating Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), and 10-8 in a set tiebreaker. Ebden and Peers, two neighbours from Perth, achieved success for Australia by taking a red-clay comeback route.
The Australian duo overcame a set and a 2-4 deficit to defeat Krajicek and Ram of Team USA. In the pivotal 10-point match tiebreaker, the Americans rallied from a 5-9 deficit to 8-9 thanks to three gold medal points saved. Subsequently, Peers delivered immediate rescue.
Peers responded immediately after missing a simple point-blank volley on the third match point, hitting a fantastic deep volley that caught the baseline before smashing home the winning shot to give Australia its first men’s doubles gold medal in 28 years.
Peers expressed his thoughts after the win and said: “It’s amazing to have family and friends in the crowd. Matt’s son is here as well. We got to share it with our families. Matt and I were just saying, We can’t believe it. It’s what we hoped for a few months ago, but now it’s a reality. We’re gold medalists.”
Matthew Ebden in 2024
Ranked no.738, the Australian played his last match on the 27th of July when he was defeated by world no.2 Novak Djokovic 6-0 6-1 in the 1st round in Paris (draw).
Until now, during this year matthew has managed to achieve a composed 0-1 win-loss record.
Matthew Ebden |
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