‘Overloaded with happiness’, Purcell & Thompson reach US Open doubles final

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson charged into their second consecutive Grand Slam doubles final after edging Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-4, 7-6(4) in the US Open semi-finals Thursday night.

The Australians will now get a shot at redemption after squandering three championship points in the Wimbledon final in July. In Saturday’s final they will play Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, who won a rollercoaster three-setter against Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 

In a match of fine margins, two missed forehand volleys by Lammons and Withrow and a bold second-serve ace on match point by Purcell is what separated the teams in the tense tie-break.

“What makes it so special is that we’re such good mates. Every time we get a win I just feel overloaded with happiness,” Purcell said. “It’s not just the achievement, it’s who you do it with. We made it a goal this year to win a Grand Slam, so to be one match away again is special.”

“Back-to-back finals is incredible,” said Thompson, who reached the fourth round of the singles at Flushing Meadows. “This is my first full year of doubles and to go from the Wimbledon final to the US Open final… hopefully we can go one better here.”

Purcell and Thompson improved to 36-6 on the year. Purcell is chasing his second major doubles title after partnering Matthew Ebden to the 2022 Wimbledon title. Thompson is seeking his maiden Grand Slam crown.

Purcell and Thompson have risen to fifth place in the PIF ATP Doubles Teams Rankings and will go to third with a title. Lammons and Withrow are also in the running to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals after climbing to eighth in the Race by reaching their first Grand Slam semi-final.

In the late semi-final, Krawietz and Puetz squandered a match point in the second-set tie-break and found themselves trailing 2-4 and 0/40 on Puetz's serve in the decider. But the Germans staged a remarkable recovery to take the final four games and the match 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-4.

"We could have won in the second, should have probably lost in the third, and in the end just kind of turned off our heads and tried to keep playing," Puetz said. "We came back from the dead there."

Krawietz and Puetz avenged two consecutive defeats this year to Roland Garros champions Arevalo and Pavic, including early in the hard-court swing in the Montreal quarter-finals. Puetz is through to his first major final. Krawietz won back-to-back Roland Garros titles (w/ Mies) in 2019-20.