AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2025

Olivia Gadecki

John Peers

Press Conference

GADECKI-PEERS/Birrell-Smith

3-6, 6-4, 10-6

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for coming to the press conference of Olivia Gadecki and John Peers, our mixed doubles champions of the 2025 Australian Open.

Just want to get an understanding of what it feels like to close out a super tiebreak in a Grand Slam final. John, we'll start with you.

JOHN PEERS: Yeah, that one was a really tight match out there. For us to be able to get it done the way we did in the tiebreak, was credit especially to the way Liv came back into this match. She really took charge and took it on her own to really step it up there at the end, which was fantastic.

As we've been doing match after match, we just kept hanging in there, hanging in there, and hopefully things go our way. Today we hung around long enough, and then we were better for the last five minutes of the match, which worked out really nice.

OLIVIA GADECKI: It was an incredible sort of five to ten minutes. Yeah, I just thought, you know, we're going to, you know, just have a crack and just enjoy the moment. Yeah, I played some of the my best tennis in that last ten minutes, and I'm so glad we could get over the line.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That was the first all-Aussie doubles final in over 50 years. What do you think that says about the state of Australian doubles tennis that both you two and Kim and J.P. were in that final?

JOHN PEERS: I think the way Australian tennis is going is in a great direction. We've got semi steps. Everyone is supporting each other, pushing hard. To be able to do it on home soil and have two wild card pairs in the final just shows the depth and how good everyone is pushing throughout the year. It puts an exclamation mark on how well Australia tennis is going.

Demon is leading the way for all of us, and we're all pushing together. Yeah, no, it's great to see so much success, and that's what we're building towards.

Q. John, I think you won here in 2017. It's been eight years since you've clinched a title here. What does it mean to win at home?

JOHN PEERS: To win at home tops everything to me. To be able to play in front of friends and family is even sweeter. Playing at home can sometimes add more pressure, but it can also be a lot more fun.

I mean, you have the home amenities off court. You have a few more distractions off court. But for me, anytime I get to come back and play at home, I absolutely love it. To be able to do it alongside Liv here and win the mixed again, yeah, as you said, eight years later, it's great to see that I'm still doing a lot of right things off the court.

Yeah, just enjoying the ride of everything that goes along with playing tennis now. Unfortunately, we don't get to be home that often, but to win at home is amazing.

Q. Wild card entry. Can you take us through how the partnership came together, maybe who was seeking out who more? John, do you want to go first?

JOHN PEERS: No, I'll leave that to Liv, I think.

OLIVIA GADECKI: Yeah, I've obviously known Peersy for a little while. Probably not as well as the last couple of weeks. But we were at the Olympics together. I don't know. I think Peersy just asked me after that.

I said I would get back to him the first time around, unfortunately. But later on I was, like, Yeah, for sure, I would love to play with you. I'm so glad I said yes now. So thanks, Peersy.

JOHN PEERS: No worries. I was under the pump, though. She had made semifinals here before, so we had to step up and make sure we went a couple better.

Q. One for Liv. You're obviously competing alongside a really experienced opponent in John. What have you learned from him over the last couple of weeks?

OLIVIA GADECKI: I've learned quite a lot from John these last couple of weeks. You know, he's an amazing person and player. He just really taught me to keep enjoying it, keep showing up. When you have your chance, you know, take it. But even if you don't, there will be many more.

I think just overall enjoy the moment and, yeah, keep showing up.

Q. It really caps a great 12 months for yourself after the result at the Olympics, John?

JOHN PEERS: It certainly does. Yeah, for me looking at the whole 12 months is great. But we've just had an off-season and started up again. So it sort of puts an exclamation mark that I'm doing the right things on the off-season and in the right position ready to build on the rest of the year.

For me this is starting this year off on the perfect note. So now to use this as a springboard and go from there.

Q. When I was speaking to J.P. after the semis, he was expecting that the arena would be open to ground pass holders, and I think in the end that didn't happen. Were you happy with the level of the crowd in there, and would you have liked to have perhaps seen ground pass holders allowed in for the final?

JOHN PEERS: I think they were in the end.

Q. Oh, they were?

JOHN PEERS: Yeah.

Q. Just wanted to get your take on where doubles is at. John, obviously you might look at doubles a bit differently to you, Olivia, different stage of your career. I know you're playing with Jamie in the men's doubles. John, who has some views on where doubles should be, where do you think it is at now, John, and Olivia, how do you look at doubles, but maybe John first?

JOHN PEERS: Do you mean in terms of Australia tennis?

Q. The tour generally, the interest in it and what it needs to do to stay relevant.

JOHN PEERS: I think there's a great place for doubles. If you go around the year, a lot of the times we're playing in front of packed crowds consistently week in, week out.

I think if we can continue to grow the game as a whole - singles, doubles, mixed - it's good for the game. If we keep growing the game as a whole, it's only good for everybody.

My biggest thought is, whether we like it or not, we're competing against other sports and other entertainment. If any stone is left unturned from a tennis perspective, that's not good for tennis as a whole and the next generation coming through, because whether we like it or not, we'll hopefully continue to grow this great sport, because I know personally for me it's given me so many opportunities.

I hope the next generation can have so many more opportunities, and we leave it in a better place for them coming forward. That's probably the biggest thing for me going forward.

We're always fighting for the eyes of that next spectator that they're either watching on TV, on their phone, on iPads, whatever it is. We're trying to get that set of eyes to watch tennis. Our challenge is how do we continue to grow the game so it's better for everyone.

OLIVIA GADECKI: It's a little bit hard for me. I'm pretty much just starting my career, and I haven't really been around that long.

But you know, I love playing doubles. I do prioritize my singles at a moment, but any chance I get to play doubles, I'm there. I would like it to keep growing and to keep being promoted. I think it's great for everyone, player or even spectator. Yeah, I'm all for it.

Q. Do you guys have any plans to play the future Grand Slams together or anything like that?

JOHN PEERS: Hopefully. If you can sort out a wild card for us so we both get our rankings a little bit higher, then we can get in together, and then it's a no-brainer.

First and foremost, we have to both get our rankings up so we can get into those events together. If not, we just have to hang on until the next Aussie Open, if she says yes to me.

OLIVIA GADECKI: I'll get back to you (laughing).