Melbourne: Hometown wildcards Olivia Gadecki and John Peers ended a 37-year drought on Friday by becoming the first pair to successfully defend the Australian Open mixed doubles title since 1989, staging a thrilling comeback victory at Melbourne Park.
Buoyed by a partisan home crowd, the Australian duo fought back from a set and a break down to defeat French pair Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard 4-6, 3-6, 10-8 in a dramatic final.
Gadecki and Peers appeared in serious trouble when they trailed 5-7 in the match tiebreak, but showed remarkable composure to win five of the final six points. Gadecki was particularly impressive from the baseline in the closing stages, while the French duo faltered under pressure.
The Australians moved ahead 8-7 after Mladenovic sent a return long, before Peers thundered a return winner to earn two championship points. Although Mladenovic and Guinard saved one, the title was sealed when Guinard netted a return off Peers’ second serve.
The triumph made Gadecki and Peers the first team to claim consecutive Australian Open mixed doubles titles since Jana Novotna and Jim Pugh in 1988–89. They also became the first Australians to defend the title at their home Slam since Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher achieved the feat in 1963–64.
For Peers, the victory marked his third Grand Slam mixed doubles crown, having previously won the US Open in 2022 with Storm Sanders. The 37-year-old Melburnian is also a former Australian Open men’s doubles champion, winning the title in 2017 with Finland’s Henri Kontinen, and a gold medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics alongside Matthew Ebden.
The final began with the French pair asserting early dominance, breaking Peers twice in the opening set through sharp returning from Mladenovic and aggressive net play from Guinard. Despite saving two set points, the Australians conceded the opener in 39 minutes when Peers’ backhand return drifted wide.
Momentum swung in the second set as the Aussies capitalised on Mladenovic’s faltering serve and Peers found his range on the forehand. Peers animated the crowd with a love hold for 4-1 before levelling the match with an ace to close out the 36-minute set.
Both teams struggled with first serves early in the match tiebreak, but Gadecki and Peers held their nerve in the decisive moments to complete a memorable comeback and etch their names into Australian Open history.
Source: Australian Open
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