Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios defeated fellow Aussies Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-5 6-4 to claim their first Australian Open doubles title at Melbourne Park.
Kyrgios ad Kokkinakis are the first wild-cards to win the Australian Open doubles title in the Open Era and to claim a title in any Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon 2012, when Jonathan Murray and Frederick Nielsen lifted the trophy.
“This week has been a dream come true for me. I would not want to do it with anyone else. Max has been to the final twice, so he is a hell of a doubles player. Matty has had a hell of a career, so I am just super happy. My goal is to only bring new fans who might not be following tennis, to watch tennis”, said Kyrgios.
Both teams held on their serve in the first ten games of the match.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios earned the first break on the fourth opportunity in the 11th game and served out for the opening set in the next game to claim the first set 7-5.
Kokkinakins broke serve in the seventh game of the second set to take a 4-3 lead with a forehand that drew a volley error from Ebden. Kokkinakis and Kyrgios were not able to convert their first match point in the eighth game but they served out for the match a game later.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios are the first all-Australian men’s doubles champions at the Australian Open since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won the home tournament in 1997.
“It’s been a rough couple years for me personally, but what a month we have had. I could not ask for anything more. Coming into the Aussie Open, I was already happy. This is a crazy cherry on the top”, said Kokkinakis.
