“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.

Gold for the Aussies! 🥇

Matthew Ebden & John Peers take the men's doubles gold medal. Winning Australia's first gold in the Olympic Tennis Event since Atlanta 1996#Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/pyffvwrTY8

— ITF (@ITFTennis) August 3, 2024

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.

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