West Australian Matthew Edben and fellow Aussie Max Purcell have been crowned the Wimbledon 2022 Gentlemen’s Doubles champions.
The Aussie duo captured their maiden major title together with a 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 4-6 6-4 7-6(2) victory against defending champions Mate Pavić and Nikola Mektić in a fiercely contested final at Centre Court on Saturday and in the tournament’s first-ever Gentlemen’s Doubles final decided in a match tiebreak.
The newly crowned Wimbledon champions are still “speechless” after their title-winning run.
“It’s just an unbelievable feeling. I can’t believe it,” said Ebden.
“It’s further than a dream come true. I suppose it’s a goal or a plan or a belief come true. But, yeah, it feels amazing.”
The No.14 seeds become the first all-Australian team in 22 years to capture a Wimbledon gentlemen’s doubles title – and did so in dramatic fashion, winning a four-hour battle against defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.
“To be out there over four hours, 7-6 in the fifth set, finish a Wimbledon final with a match tiebreak. It was insane,” said Ebden.
“A lot of the crowd were loving it. They were telling us at the end when we were walking around they were entertained. What a fitting end for a Centre Court, Wimbledon final. (It’s) stuff you dream of.”
Ebden and Purcell’s victory snaps the 23-match winning streak of world No.3 Pavić and world No.6 Mektić on grass. The second-seeded Croatians had claimed the title at their past four grass-court events.
Little separated the two teams in a thrilling four-hour-and-11-minute battle, with each recording only a single break of serve across the first four sets.
It took until the tenth game of the fourth set for world No.31 Ebden and world No.34 Purcell to snare a break, pouncing on Mektic’s serve with exceptional returning to level the match at two-sets apiece.
Pavić and Mektić regained control in the deciding set, breaking Purcell’s serve in the fifth game to edge ahead 3-2. But the Aussies fought back, breaking Mektić in the eighth game to level.
The twists and turns continued in a tense fifth set, with the Aussies bravely saving two break points in the ninth game.
Both teams held firm in the high-pressure final stages, forcing a match tiebreak. From there, the Australians dominated to clinch the title. After Ebden sealed victory with an ace, both players fell to the ground in elation.
“Matt and I just combine so well, we are picking each other up out there,” said Purcell. “Something kind of changed towards the end of the third set. We thought ‘let’s just play on Centre Court and enjoy ourselves’. We did that and now we have got the trophies.”
Determination, as well as an appreciation for the opportunity, inspired them when under pressure.
“We’re just trying to do Australia proud, show Aussie grit and fight, win Wimbledon for Australia. We have a rich history,” said Ebden.
“We definitely believe that we’re the best doubles team in the world, if not one of the best,” said Ebden, signalling qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals and adding more Grand Slam titles are their major goals.
Despite a 10-year age gap between the pair, the mutual respect is evident.
“We’re great friends off the court,” said Purcell. “Matt is a great role model for me in terms of professionalism and maturity. I think since we’ve kind of teamed up, I’ve definitely felt more comfortable on the tennis court, more secure in my game. I’m just loving where we’re at.”
Ebden and Purcell join esteemed company, becoming the 13th and 14th Australian players to win a Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Doubles title in the Open era.
They are the sixth all-Australian team to achieve the feat – and the first since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde claimed their sixth title together in 2000.
“Mark Woodforde was actually out on the warm-up court with us this morning,” revealed Ebden. “Todd Woodbridge has been chatting with us as well, so we definitely channelled the Woodies. They are great mentors.”
Ebden and Purcell contested 28 sets, played five five-set matches, defeated four seeded teams and spent more than 20 hours on court during their title-winning run.
They become only the second team in the Open era to win a Wimbledon title after recording multiple comebacks from two-sets-to-love deficits, matching the efforts of fellow Australians John Newcombe and Tony Roche in 1974.
The No.14 seeds also saved three match points in their opening round and an incredible five in their semifinal victory. This makes them the first Wimbledon champions in any event to save match points in multiple matches.
“I thought we were out of here in the first round,” said Purcell. “We were 0-40 down in the fifth, three match points (in the first round) and we’ve just won Wimbledon. How good is that?”
This is 24-year-old Purcell’s first Grand Slam title and 34-year-old Ebden’s second, adding to his Australian Open 2013 mixed doubles victory alongside fellow Australian Jarmila Wolfe.
Ebden was also a finalist in the Wimbledon 2022 mixed doubles competition with Sam Stosur.
READ: Ebden and Stosur take out Runner Up Title at Wimbledon
RESULTS
Gentlemen’s doubles, final
[14] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Max Purcell (AUS) d [2] Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Mate Pavic (CRO) 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 4-6 6-4 7-6(2)
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