PARIS, France — Matthew Ebden and John Peers of Australia defeated the U.S. team of Austin Krajicek and Carmel’s Rajeev Ram 6-7(6-8), 7-6(7-1), 10-8 Saturday for the men’s doubles gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
The 14,962-seat Philippe Chatrier court, used for the French Open, was nearly full. Fans from both nations had plenty to cheer and agonize over.
The match was so close that Krajicek/Ram led 83-82 in total points won. Both teams went into the final without having dropped a set at the Olympics.
It was the second silver medal for Ram, who lost in the mixed doubles final with Venus Williams at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Ram is the oldest Olympic tennis medalist in 116 years.
At London in 1908, Great Britain’s George Hillyard, 44, won doubles gold. Tennis was discontinued after the 1924 Paris Olympics and not reinstated until Seoul 1988.
In the third set, the Americans survived three match points before the two 36-year-old Australians secured the gold.
In the second set, the Americans broke the Australians’ serve in the third game to go ahead 2-1. The Aussies, in turn, broke Ram’s serve in the eighth game, tying it 4-4 and going ahead 5-4. The comeback prompted fans from Down Under to stand and cheer.
The Aussies carried momentum into the second-set tiebreak, leading 4-0 en route to a 7-1 victory that tied the match at one set apiece.
In the first-set tiebreak, the Australians erased 4-1 and 6-4 deficits before the Americans won 8-6.
In that first set, the Americans broke Australia’s serve in the sixth game, seizing a 4-2 lead. But with Ram serving in the seventh game, the Australians returned the service break, closed within 4-3 and then held serve to tie the set 4-4.
On Ram’s serve, the Americans fell behind 15-40 in the third game but won the next four points to go ahead 2-1.
During the tournament, the Americans beat Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal after a raucous 6-4, 6-2 quarterfinal victory over Spanish superstars Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz, 21, recently won his second Wimbledon title, and the 38-year-old Nadal has won 14 French Opens on this court.
The Americans, who are 4-1 as Davis Cup teammates, have doubles credentials.
Ram has won four Grand Slam doubles titles and reached the No. 1 world ranking for the first time in October 2022.
Krajicek, 34, won a French Open title on this court last year. He has been ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles, most recently in March, for a total of 26 weeks.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
(NOTE: The video at the top of this story is a previous report where Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek were interviewed after the semifinal doubles win.)