Veterans Matt Ebden and John Peers have outplayed American singles stars Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul to secure at least a silver medal in men’s tennis doubles for Australia at the Olympics.
The veteran Australian pair’s experience as doubles specialists at Roland Garros allowed them to outthink and outsmart the more powerful American duo 7-5 6-2 on Friday to earn an unexpected chance to win the gold medal match.
The 36-year-olds will face another American pair, fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, for gold on Saturday.
They now have a chance to become Australia’s first Olympic tennis champions since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won the men’s doubles title in Atlanta in 1996.
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The victory is the first time an Australian pair have qualified for the men’s gold medal match since Sydney 2000.
Peers, from Melbourne, will be looking to add gold to the bronze he won with Ash Barty in the mixed doubles in Tokyo three years ago.
While Perth’s excellent Ebden will be looking to cap a terrific year in which he was also world number one in doubles.
The Australians knew that only superior doubles technique and tactics would be enough to beat the Americans, both ranked among the world’s top 13 men’s singles players, on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Their strategy was to target Fritz mercilessly at the net as Paul served, knowing that the world number 12’s discomfort there could prove to be the Americans’ weak link. The Australian duo gave the Americans a lesson in the art of doubles.
Ebden, inspired throughout the match, even fired a forehand at Fritz which hit the American in the chest, prompting an apology from the Australian.
Fritz finally cracked in the key 11th game of the first set, with Paul serving, when he hit a volley long, giving the Australians the first break of serve at 6-5.
Ebden then served for the first set in 46 minutes, before the Australians took advantage of Fritz’s weak first service game to earn a crucial break early in the second.
They consolidated with a second break to take a 4-0 lead, silencing a largely pro-American crowd, before suffering a bit of nerves when Ebden served for the match, squandering a couple of match points until Fritz hit a forehand long to give them victory in an hour and 35 minutes.
AAP/ABC
