Former world number one doubles player and Davis Cup legend John Fitzgerald has praised the heroics of Max Purcell, Jordan Thompson, Matt Ebden and John Pearce in the 2024 doubles.
Melbourne, September 10, 2024 | Dan Imhoff
According to the world number one, a doubles renaissance on Australia’s biggest stage in 2024 would not only be a joy for nine-time Grand Slam winner John Fitzgerald, but would also present a convenient challenge for Australia’s Davis Cup campaign.
Fitzgerald, who won the mixed doubles twice between 1982 and 1991 and completed a career Grand Slam in doubles, praised the state of American doubles stock after Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson won their first major title together at the U.S. Open.
The two-time Davis Cup winner, who won the 2003 title, praised recent achievements by Australian players, including the doubles gold medal won by Matt Ebden and John Pearce at the Paris Olympics and Ebden’s Australian Open triumph with Indian partner Rohan Bopanna in January.
> Read: Australia opens Davis Cup against France
Australia will face France, Czech Republic and Spain in the Davis Cup group stage in Valencia this week, and they are fortunate to have three top-10 doubles players on their team.
“I think Max Purcell could be the best first-court player in the world if he puts his mind to it on the first court,” Fitzgerald said in an interview. Sit down and talk. “One of the reasons why Ebden and Peers’ gold medal wins were so great was because one of them had to move to the first court.
“So John Pearce has shown a lot of versatility in being able to move from the side he plays on to the other side when he’s under pressure on clay and playing on the first court. He deserves a lot of credit for that… It’s been great to see Australia do well. We’ve traditionally done that in this country.”
> Listen: A Conversation with John Fitzgerald
Purcell and Thompson, who missed out on championship points in the Wimbledon final, were defeated by Germany’s Kevin Kravitz and Tim Puetz at Flushing Meadows, making up for Thompson’s disappointment of not winning his first major doubles trophy. Purcell won Wimbledon for the second time after winning with Ebden two years ago.
The win marks Purcell and Thompson’s fifth title together this season, following the Dallas, Los Cabos, Houston and Madrid Masters.
“I think there’s always been great players in Australian doubles,” Purcell said. “We’ve had Piercy who’s gone deep in the Slams, Abbie who’s had a really good run last year, and me and Abbie a couple of years before that early this year.
“We’re versatile players, so when it comes to hitting doubles and figuring out how to win doubles games, I think we have enough court skills to do that.
The rest is history
epic #Davis Cup Stories told by John Fitzgerald @lleytonhewitt
https://t.co/Q6r3CarVU1 pic.twitter.com/YosssZVsfy
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) September 9, 2024
“I think the camaraderie among the Australian players is what keeps us all together, especially Tomo and I. That was a big factor in us winning.”
Fitzgerald, who reached a personal best of 25th in the singles, cherished the bond with his countrymen and praised the Davis Cup for laying the foundation for the team’s success.
“I think playing for the Davis Cup team and winning it twice and being captain was the highlight of my career,” he said. “The pressure of playing for your country is incomparable to me. The best learning curve a young tennis player can go through is the pressure that you learn to handle and sometimes not handle well.”
The Davis Cup final will be broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network. The first match against France will be broadcast on Wednesday 11 September at 12am AEST.
