Matt Ebden and John Friends topped gold medallists at Paris Olympics | 4 August, 2024 | All Information | Information and Options | Information and Occasions

“It solely comes round as soon as each 4 years and even simply to play it’s ridiculous. To win a gold medal, I believe it’s like folklore. It’s past me.”

And to do it with Friends, a Melburnian buddy who now lives a avenue away from him in Perth, with their wives and youngsters having grow to be one of the best of mates too, it was all further particular.

“Some miracle work has occurred and in some way we’ve now bought a gold medal for our streets,” beamed Ebden.

Gold for the Aussies! 🥇

Matthew Ebden & John Friends take the boys’s doubles gold medal. Profitable Australia’s first gold within the Olympic Tennis Occasion since Atlanta 1996#Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/pyffvwrTY8

— ITF (@ITFTennis) August 3, 2024

A tough-earned one, too. The large signal on Chatrier says “Victory belongs to essentially the most tenacious” and that was undoubtedly the case right here because the Aussie duo clawed again from a set and 4-2 down, when all appeared misplaced with the American Davis Cup pair starting to dominate.

However the Australians, who’d performed a couple of tournaments collectively and reached a few finals, simply wouldn’t lie down, with Ebden relighting their fireplace, enjoying a superb sport within the second set to assist break Ram for 4-4 earlier than exhorting the group, together with loads of compatriots, to get behind them.

All the way down to a second tiebreak, Perth’s Ebden and Melbourne’s Friends started to play their greatest tennis to drop only one level and take the match into an excellent tiebreak finale, with the gold for the primary to 10 factors.

It regarded plain crusing when Friends and Ebden raced into an 8-3 lead, together with one astonishing piece of retrieving from the again of the courtroom by a scrambling Friends that enabled them to prevail in a seemingly unwinnable level.

However nerves kicked in because the People hit again and saved three match factors. Ebden agonisingly missed the best volley of all at 9-7.

With Ellie, considered one of his two little daughters within the stand crossing her fingers for dad, Friends then dug his mate out of a possible gap by placing away the profitable smash at 9-8 earlier than the 2 previous buddies jumped into one another’s arms.

Friends needed the second to encourage his greatest followers. “I hope it might probably make them dream large and know the sky’s the restrict, that they’ll do something they wish to put their minds to,” stated one proud dad.

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