Evergreen-and-gold, Perth neighbours Matt Ebden and John Peers are celebrating a delightfully unexpected gold medal, becoming only the second Australian tennis champions at the Olympics.
The two unseeded 36-year-old veterans, stalwarts of the doubles scene for so long, enjoyed a late-career crowning moment as they rallied to beat American fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-1) [10-8] in a nail-biting Roland Garros men’s doubles gold medal match on Saturday.
They became the only Australian gold medallists in Olympic tennis after ‘The Woodies’, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde lifted the 1996 title in the same event in Atlanta.
“It’s an absolute honour. Anytime we get mentioned along with same breath as those two, they paved the way for us,” said Peers.
Between them, Peers and Ebden have won a hatful of titles, including grand slams, but they’d never had a moment quite like this.
Their wives and kids were on hand to hug them on Court Philippe Chatrier, one of the world’s great tennis amphitheatres, after they prevailed in three tie-breaks in the most entertaining of showdowns.
Asked if it was his best tennis moment, Ebden smiled: “It probably is. Winning slams, winning Wimbledon, we’ve been into the Davis Cup finals the last couple of years …. but I mean, the Olympics? Gold? Really?
“It only comes around once every four years and even just to play it is ridiculous. To win a gold medal, I think it’s like folklore. It’s beyond me.”
And to do it with Peers, a Melburnian buddy who now lives a street away from him in Perth, with their wives and children having become the best of friends too, it was all extra special.
“Some miracle work has happened and somehow we’ve now got a gold medal for our streets,” beamed Ebden.
A hard-earned one, too. The huge sign on Chatrier says “Victory belongs to the most tenacious” and that was definitely the case here as the Aussie duo clawed back from a set and 4-2 down, when all seemed lost with the American Davis Cup pair beginning to dominate.
But the Australians, who’d played a few tournaments together and reached a couple of finals, just wouldn’t lie down, with Ebden relighting their fire, playing a brilliant game in the second set to help break Ram for 4-4 before exhorting the crowd, including plenty of compatriots, to get behind them.
Down to a second tiebreak, Perth’s Ebden and Melbourne’s Peers began to play their best tennis to drop just one point and take the match into a super tiebreak finale, with the gold for the first to 10 points.
It looked plain sailing when Peers and Ebden raced into an 8-3 lead, including one astonishing piece of retrieving from the back of the court by a scrambling Peers that enabled them to prevail in a seemingly unwinnable point.
But nerves kicked in as the Americans hit back and saved three match points. Ebden agonisingly missed the easiest volley of all at 9-7.
With Ellie, one of his two little daughters in the stand crossing her fingers for dad, Peers then dug his mate out of a potential hole by putting away the winning smash at 9-8 before the two old pals jumped into each other’s arms.
Peers wanted the moment to inspire his biggest fans. “I hope it can make them dream big and know the sky’s the limit, that they can do anything they want to put their minds to,” said one proud dad.
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TENNIS MEDAL WINNERS
Seoul 1988: Elizabeth Smylie/Wendy Turnbull (bronze, women’s doubles)
Barcelona 1992: Nicole Bradtke/Rachel McQuillan (bronze, women’s doubles)
Atlanta 1996: Todd Woodbridge/Mark Woodforde (gold, men’s doubles)
Sydney 2000: Woodbridge/Woodforde (silver, men’s doubles)
Athens 2004: Alicia Molik (bronze, women’s singles)
Tokyo 2020: Ash Barty/John Peers (bronze, mixed doubles)
Paris 2024: John Peers/Matt Ebden (gold, men’s doubles)
