AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 30, 2022

Matthew Ebden

Max Purcell

Press Conference

KOKKINAKIS-KYRGIOS/Ebden-Purcell

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Max, Matt, again, great to have you here. I know it's not the result you wanted, but just talk us through the experience of playing on Rod Laver Arena in front of that great crowd tonight.

MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, obviously it sucks to lose. Yeah, I hate to lose, for sure.

Yeah, Grand Slam final, it's where you want to be, what you want to be playing, what you want to be winning. We couldn't win tonight. We gave our best, were well prepared, didn't do too much wrong but they served unreal. They returned really good too I think in the night conditions.

A little bit unfortunate for us, I guess we'd played sort of all our other matches in the daytime in the heat, so different conditions. But we had a hit last night, tried to get used to it but it was quite a bit different out there from our last matches. They adapted really well. Gotta give them credit. We didn't do too much wrong. They were roping balls, front and center lobs at our toes, smoking huge serves.

Yeah, just wasn't our day unfortunately. We sort of did everything we could but just wasn't our day.

MAX PURCELL: Yeah, jeez, they played great. It's obviously hard going in playing against five doubles teams in a row and then playing them where they're just a lot better at the back than a lot of the other guys we played.

Them I guess having the six doubles pair in a row, so I guess they're a little bit more in tune how they wanted to play out there.

But all in all, I mean, if you told me I was going to make another final at the start of this week I definitely would have said, Sweet, and would have been stoked for it. I got no regrets. I loved playing out there. It was an amazing crowd. Hopefully I can turn up a third time and win it (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. More broadly, eight Australians in finals in the last three days. It's one of the healthiest positions we've been in, obviously not the result you wanted, but just comment on what it's like to be part of that, part of what appears to be a real resurgence.

MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, it's awesome, mate. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, I mean, okay, we lost to the boys tonight too but even this last week we were egging them on to try and get through and us all get through to the final. It's great for Australian tennis with Ash, Dylan was in his final, we had some Aussies in the mixed final, two pairs now in men's doubles final. There was only one or two finals we didn't have, out of sort of eight events, to have Aussies in.

For me personally I guess I was part of a long resurgence about just over ten years ago when sort of Lleyton was finishing there was not too many other guys around then. Obviously Bernie came up. I was top 100, top 50, Nick started coming up, Thanasi broke in, and we had a few other guys sort of break in.

It's been a long, I'm gonna say ten years, of turning all those things around. I think there started to be slightly better decisions from the top. Not all right yet but getting there.

It's been a pleasure to keep doing it and keep doing it now. Even now, 30, whatever I am, young Max here, he's an old soul already, he has a lot of experience for a young guy.

But, yeah, of course we're happy to be, proud of it, representing Australia, flying the flag well, and at the top of the doubles game and singles game of course and mixed doubles as well. We sort of do it all.

Australian tennis is in a very, very healthy state. Obviously some of us got to try to push on to the men's singles final, I guess the women's doubles final, but other than that every other final we've got the winner or the finalist.

Yeah, it's great health. I think it's restoring Australian tennis to the pinnacle, top of world tennis, where it always was historically. These last five, ten years has really gotten there again.

Q. Heartbreak you might miss the birth. Would you have come over here if you knew the borders would be like that at this stage? How do you spend the next 14 days?

MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, when I left it was even pushing it to wait till the 5th of February, knowing Kim was due on the 14th and the baby's probably come the week before, it's quite common. There's a chance I would not have come. I was in qualifying but obviously I had committed and said with Max I wanted to play. I had to qualify in the singles, almost got through, lost last round, was playing well in the singles.

Yeah, it was tough to leave a very pregnant wife at eight months and knowing that you still couldn't go back any time you needed to for an emergency. Then for the rug to be just pulled from underneath me last week and this last week, it's terrible I think. I'm not the only one. I've said it a hundred times: I don't expect special treatment, I'm not entitled to anything different from any other Western Australians or Australians that have struggled this last year or two with hundreds of things; deaths, births, missing loved ones, families, all that.

Yeah, it's a terrible situation, what's still going on in Western Australia. I think it's ridiculous. I think everyone there is starting to see that everyone has been lied to for so long, the trust has been betrayed. Everyone has gone and got vaccinated, almost 100% of the people, and then to turn around and just lie to everyone and say, Sorry, no, we're changing again. It's just ridiculous. That's it.

Q. I heard you say on TV you'll see Kim tomorrow but obviously you'll go into quarantine.

MATTHEW EBDEN: Yeah, exactly. By that I mean hopefully at a window somewhere, I'll be in an apartment or a hotel or wherever I quarantine, and through a window, if she's outside in the car park or somewhere, I might be able to see her and wave. Yeah, that's what I mean by that.

Q. You said in the postmatch presentation it's the biggest crowd you've ever played in front of. Can you talk us through what it was like, firstly, to play in that atmosphere and maybe just touch on kind of what the party vibe that the Special K boys are bringing to the doubles circuit.

MAX PURCELL: Yeah, so two years ago it was the final with Luke and it was completely different. We played like middle of the day on Sunday. Again, same court but it just felt completely different.

Yeah, it's weird, right? Like it seemed like the naughtiest crowd I've ever played in front of. Even Thanasi and Nick were getting a little angry at them, and with someone getting thrown out.

Yeah, the biggest crowd but I'm not in awe of the situation, I'm not out there feeling nervous or anything like that. It's a court, I'm comfortable on a tennis court, I've played a few big matches. I'm sure the Olympics last year if they let people in Japan, the match I played with Alex would have been twice as big.

Yeah, I'm feeling really comfortable on the big stages at the moment so hopefully I can get a few more singles matches under the big stages, as well.

I'm fine where my game is at.

Q. Do you find that sort of crowd a bit unruly and people being ejected and so on, do you think it's good for tennis and good for doubles?

MAX PURCELL: Yeah, obviously there's a line where you don't want to cross it. Obviously we don't want people being thrown out, right? If people are doing that then they're obviously not doing the right thing and respecting the players.

I think it was great for ticket sales here but I'm not so sure how it was taken overseas. If you're watching some of Nick and Thanasi's matches earlier in the week and you're overseas, maybe you get turned off tennis a little bit.

Look, I'm excited that I got to play in front of such a big crowd. The fact that we are Australian, I don't think they went as hard on us as they have the rest of them. I'm grateful for that. It's good to see a lot of people supporting Australian tennis.

Q. I think you spoke about how they bring something different, that they play a different brand of doubles tennis. How did you prepare for that? Do you think that's maybe going to change tactics going forward from the traditional at the net? What will you guys change at all?

MATTHEW EBDEN: How do they play? They played like singles players. I have been in their position, probably take me back ten years even when I broke into top 100 in singles and was serving, staying back, ripping forehands. I probably played a little bit of doubles like that too. Maybe my game's different.

So to answer your question, yeah, they play like singles players. A lot of guys do. At Indian Wells, a lot of top guys, singles guys, will sign in and play. It's different to the doubles guys. Most even singles players won't execute the game as well as they did tonight. They executed rocket serves, great returns, and roping balls from the baseline.

Against most people who play that style against us, I think we will have them covered, but they just did it slightly even too big and too strong and slightly too good tonight. I think I'd like to play them ten times, I'm sure we're going to win quite a lot of times, especially maybe in slightly different conditions, whatever.

But tonight they were too good, and they executed the game unbelievably. They're serving 200-plus, roping massive serves. I think Thanasi missed one ball. I think he hit one forehand long off the ground in how many returns? Every other time they needed a let cord or a little bit of luck or a dink or something, made it or got it.

We didn't do that much wrong, but yeah, it was definitely their night.

MAX PURCELL: It's not so much the singles brand of tennis on the doubles court you're going to see or do better. It's more the fact they've probably got two of the biggest games in men's tennis.

MATTHEW EBDEN: Biggest serves at least, yeah.

MAX PURCELL: You see some guys, a lot of doubles guys that play first-round slams that get in with their singles rankings do exactly that but they're serving 160K, staying back, and then pushing the ball. We eat that stuff up as doubles players. That's why those top dubs players who only play doubles stay there because they play a lot of that early on in tournaments. Yeah, they were playing so big.

MATTHEW EBDEN: They executed huge. They really did. They served huge. Probably Thanasi even more so than Nick, returned good and then hit the ball huge.

Even every time we had a tough low volley that we missed, maybe on TV it looks like we missed some volleys, but the ball was dipping super low below the net at mach 10, he was roping balls. It was impressive, good by him. Real good. He hardly missed a ball.

Yeah, we didn't do all that much wrong. But again, we'd like to play them ten times and see if they can play that well every time, because it was a pretty good level from them.

Q. What are the plans for you two guys? Obviously you've got the baby on the way.

MATTHEW EBDEN: I've got the baby, Max is off to some singles tournaments in the next couple weeks. I'll be back on the singles and doubles court probably by March, March or April. Max same, he'll be playing singles straight on from now, singles and doubles. We both obviously, naturally play well doubles. The way we play even in singles it carries through to doubles.

We'll never say no -- I won't probably to a Grand Slam finals and winning slams and doubles. I hope we can win many, many. I want to channel the Woodies and that, try and win a lot. I really believe we can. Even tonight I feel like there wasn't too many teams or basically nobody out there who might have beaten us tonight except maybe those guys playing that well and that big.

It took that to beat us, so we have to look ourselves in the mirror and go, Okay, too good. If that's what it takes to beat us, sure. We could be a tiny bit better even, maybe even try to get to tiebreaks if they're serving that well and give ourselves a chance. That's probably something we could improve for sure.

Yeah, again, we played the No. 4 team in the world, the No. 2 team in the world, the No. 1 team, the No. 5 team, guys who haven't lost a match this year. We've beaten everybody. And credit to them, so have they. And then tonight they beat us.

It's the top of the top, best in the world. That's it.

MAX PURCELL: (Applauding.)