Olivia Gadecki and John Peers secure victory again in Australian Open mixed doubles.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Olivia Gadecki and John Peers made history by becoming the first duo to secure back-to-back Australian Open mixed doubles championships since 1989, defeating the French team of Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 on Friday.
The Australians were down 7-5 in the final-set tiebreaker but rallied to take a 9-7 lead. On match point, with Peers serving, Guinard sent a backhand into the net, sealing the win for the home team at Rod Laver Arena.
Gadecki and Peers are the first defending Australian Open mixed doubles champions to reach the final the following year since Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor in 2015. The 23-year-old Gadecki was born 13 years after Jim Pugh and Jana Novotna achieved consecutive titles in 1988 and 1989.
The French pair secured the first set on their second set point when Peers sent a shot wide, three games after Mladenovic double-faulted on set point, allowing the Australian team to break and extend the set.
In the second set, Gadecki and Peers took a 3-1 lead following a service break and maintained their advantage to reach 4-1, winning 13 of 15 points to gain control of the set and equalize the match.
Mladenovic was aiming for her fourth Grand Slam mixed doubles title, having previously won Wimbledon in 2013, the Australian Open in 2014 with Nestor, and the 2022 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Ivan Dodig. She also holds six Grand Slam women’s doubles titles.
Source: espn.com
