Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell saved five match points in a thrilling semifinal victory at Wimbledon 2022.
London, Great Britain, 8 July 2022 | Leigh Rogers
Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell have staged a remarkable comeback to reach the Wimbledon 2022 gentlemen’s doubles final.
The Aussie duo recorded a 3-6 6-7(1) 7-6(9) 6-4 6-2 victory against No.1 seeds Brit Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram in semifinal action today, bravely saving five match points in a thrilling third-set tiebreak.
From the brink of defeat, Ebden and Purcell fought back to score a stunning win in a high-quality three-hour and 58-minute battle at No.1 Court.
It continues an incredible run for the No.14-seeded Aussie pair, who had never previously progressed beyond the third round at the All England Club. Ebden and Purcell saved three match points in their opening round and have now eliminated three seeded teams to reach the final.
This propels Ebden into his second career Grand Slam men’s doubles final and a third for 24-year-old Purcell. They reached the Australian Open final together earlier this season, where they also scored a semifinal victory against world No.1 Salisbury and world No.2 Ram.
Ebden and Purcell join esteemed company with their performance at the All England Club this fortnight, becoming the 23rd and 24th Australians to progress to a Wimbledon gentlemen’s doubles final in the Open era.
They are the first to reach this stage in seven years and the first all-Australian team to do so since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde captured their sixth title together in 2000.
Wimbledon gentlemen’s doubles
Australian finalists – Open era
Player
Year
John Newcombe
1968, 1969, 1970, 1974
Tony Roche
1968, 1969, 1970, 1974
Ken Rosewall
1968, 1970
Fred Stolle
1968, 1970
Roy Emerson
1971
Rod Laver
1971
John Cooper
1973
Neale Fraser
1973
Allan Stone
1975
Ross Case
1976, 1977
Geoff Masters
1976, 1977
John Alexander
1977
Phil Dent
1977
Peter McNamara
1980, 1982
Paul McNamee
1980, 1982, 1984
Pat Cash
1984, 1985
John Fitzgerald
1985, 1988, 1989, 1991
Todd Woodbridge
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004
Mark Woodforde
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000
Sandon Stolle
2000
Stephen Huss
2005
John Peers
2015
Matthew Ebden
2022
Max Purcell
2022
Key: Bold = Title-winning run
Ebden and Purcell will face the defending champions, Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, in the final.
It is 34-year-old Ebden’s second final of the tournament, after recording a runners-up finish alongside fellow Aussie Sam Stosur in the mixed doubles competition.
Aussies in action – Wimbledon
TODAY’S RESULTS
Gentlemen’s doubles, semifinals
[14] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Max Purcell (AUS) d [1] Rajeev Ram (USA)/Joe Salisbury (GBR) 3-6 6-7(1) 7-6(9) 6-4 6-2
Mixed doubles, final
[2] Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Neal Skupski (GBR) d Sam Stosur (AUS)/Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-4 6-3
COMING UP
Gentlemen’s doubles, final
[14] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Max Purcell (AUS) v [2] Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Mate Pavic (CRO)
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