Wimbledon fortnight did not start well for Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, but there could be a golden finish for the Australian duo.
The pair have won their way into the final of the men’s doubles, and will believe they can win it after sweeping aside the top seeds.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Aussie doubles pair fire up in quarterfinal.
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Purcell and Thompson beat Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-4 in 71 minutes on Thursday to book a place in the final on Saturday (early Sunday AEST) at the All England Club.
There they will face Briton Henry Patten and Finn Harri Heliovaara who are unseeded but defeated experienced Queen’s Club champions Neal Skupski and New Zealander Michael Venus 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in their semi.
Early last week Purcell was beaten in the opening round of the men’s singles, going down 6-3 6-2 6-2 to Finland’s Otto Virtanen.
An unusually flat Thompson went out in the next round to Brandon Nakashima by the same score.
But the doubles offered the pair a second chance and they have seized it.
And their path to the final has been relatively smooth.
Seeded 15, they have only dropped one set in five matches, and that was when they took on Argentine No.11 seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Moltoni in the quarterfinal.
And that match had plenty of drama.
Indeed, they survived a huge flashpoint off the serving of Molteni (watch it in the video above), when Thompson hit a clean winner but the umpire stepped in to call the serve out.
The Aussies wanted the point to to stand but the umpire said the point must be replayed.
“You stuffed it up,” Thompson argued.
“OK, well, I would really love to say some terrible stuff to you right now because that’s the worst call I’ve ever seen.”
The semi-final victory, however, was a far smoother ride.
“I feel we were never in doubt today,” Purcell said after the match.
“We came out playing really well (and) felt really comfortable out there. Nothing to take away from them, they’re great players. I just felt like we were on and when we’re on, we’re really tough to beat.”
For Purcell, 26, this is his fourth major doubles final. He previously won at Wimbledon in 2022 alongside Matt Ebden and is a two-time finalist at the Australian Open (2020 with Luke Saville, 2022 with Ebden).
Thompson, 30, is into his first grand slam doubles final.
“One of our goals is to win a slam,” Thompson said. “To be in a grand slam final, I think it’s probably the most special that it’s at Wimbledon.
Purcell and Thompson took the opening break of the match in the seventh game, the first time the top seeds had lost a service game all tournament, and maintained this advantage to win the first set.
Granollers and Zeballos were looking to progress to a Wimbledon final for the third time in four years but the Aussies broke again in the ninth game of the second set. Purcell then served out.
“We both served well, we both returned well, we did everything quite well,” Thompson said. “It was a really clean match.”
The pair now have 26 wins from 30 matches together.
They will be aiming to become the seventh Australian pair since the Open era began in 1968 to win the event, a roll of honour headed by Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (six times) and John Newcombe and Tony Roche (four).
“Man, we just want it bad you know,” Purcell said. “And this is the one to win. (I know) how good it felt last time and I really want to do it with Thommo.”
– With Cameron Noakes