They bloody did it!!! Australia’s Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell have taken out the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon in a thrilling five-set victory over defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.
The two Aussies slugged it out every step of the way and eventually took out the crown 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-2) as per the ABC.
After a match that lasted over four hours, Ebden and Purcell became the first Aussie men’s doubles team to win at Wimbledon since 2000 as per Fox. That year “The Woodies” AKA Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodford claimed the title.
Wimbledon glory for Ebden and Purcell 🏆
The Australians have won their first Grand Slam title defeating Mektic/Pavic in an epic on Centre Court, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2)#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/ecE5FK7w3h
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2022
“I thought we were out of here first round,” Purcell said after the match.
“We were love-40 down in the fifth, three match points, and then we just won Wimbledon — how good’s that?”
Ebden also chimed in to offer condolences to his opponents. We do love a bitta good sportsmanship. Solid.
“It was incredible from these guys.”
“They’ve been the No.1 team the last couple of years and they almost beat us with an injury,” the doubles champ said.
Another impressive point from Ebden and Purcell’s Wimbledon campaign was the fact they managed to save eight match points.
Yes, you read that correctly. They were *this close* to being booted out of the competition on eight separate occasions and managed to haul ass and rescue themselves.
28 sets played, 20+ hours on court and eight match points saved in a determined display 💪
Matt Ebden and Max Purcell have fought hard to claim their first Grand Slam title together 🏆#GoAussies #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/NAvGLQphyJ
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) July 9, 2022
After their win, Ebden and Purcell were even congratulated by former arch-rival and singles Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios.
Congrats @mattebden & @MaxPurcell98 very solid effort 😮💨👀 guess I don’t mind M&M’s anyway…
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) July 9, 2022
During the Australian Open this year when Kyrgios and his doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis defeated Ebden and Purcell in the final, Kyrgios called Purcell a “donut” and said he had “no idea about entertainment and sport”.
Well well well — guess they turned that ship around.
So Max Purcell is a slam champion pic.twitter.com/dgnkrQ5QCW
— ahlena 🍑 (@jazdahubi) July 9, 2022
Kyrgios is set to play against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on Sunday at 11pm AEST.
