NEW YORK (AP) — After a couple of new chances to win a Grand Slam title slipped away at the U.S. Open, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson couldn't help thinking about what happened at Wimbledon.
“Yeah, a fair bit,” Purcell said.
They left the All England Club with their hearts broken. This trip to Flushing Meadows ended with a celebration. Purcell and Thompson won the U.S. Open men's doubles championship Saturday, avoiding another late collapse and beating the 10th-seeded German team of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4, 7-6 (4) for their first major trophy together.
The No. 7 seeds from Australia held three match points in July at Wimbledon but lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.
The Australians let two match points get away Saturday when they held a 5-3 lead with Krawietz serving. Soon it was 5-all, because Purcell was broken at love when serving for the match.
But his serve was there when they needed it at the end, closing out the match with an ace at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Wimbledon kind of helped us and probably made us focus a little bit more once it kind of slipped again to make sure it didn’t slip a third time,” Purcell said.
Close friends who have both been coached by Thompson's father, the duo improved to 50-10 overall, including 37-6 this season. This was their fifth title together and earned them $750,000.
“We don’t think of it as, ‘We’re doubles players,’” said Thompson, who got to the fourth round of singles at the U.S. Open before losing to another Australian, Alex de Minaur. “We think we’re singles players, and doubles is just a bonus, and we get an extra practice trying to improve our singles. And then it all just comes together.”
It was Thompson's first Grand Slam doubles title. Purcell won Wimbledon in 2022 with another Australian, Matthew Ebden.
Thompson and Purcell became the first all-Australian team to win the U.S. Open men's doubles title since Hall of Famers Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge in 1995 and 1996.
Krawietz and Puetz will share $375,000.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
