Aussie tennis duo storm into Olympics doubles final amid 'diabolical' Boomers drama in Paris

Aussie doubles pair Matt Ebden and John Peers will be playing for tennis gold at the Olympic Games after beating Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul 7-5 6-2 to reach the men's doubles final in Paris. It came after a dramatic day that saw the Aussie men's basketball team almost knocked out of the Olympics after going down to Greece, only for Canada to spare the Boomers' blushes by beating Spain.

There were no such problems for tennis stars Ebden and Peers though, with the Aussie pair on the cusp of gold after outplaying big-name American singles stars Fritz and Paul in the doubles at Roland Garros. The Aussie duo booked their place in the gold medal match after coming through a tight opening set before dominating their rivals in the second set and celebrating the win by chest-bumping each other with unbridled joy.

"We enjoy this moment, we're guaranteed a medal - but the job's not done. We came here to go one more step," said Peers, who alongside Ebden, is guaranteed to leave Paris with at least a silver medal. The Aussies may not be as high-profile as the pair from the USA but they showed their all-court nous as grand slam-winning doubles specialists and it was enough to topple two of the best singles players in the world.

The Aussies will now face another formidable American pair in the doubles final, with fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram standing in their way of gold when they take to Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros on Saturday. Krajicek and Ram defeated Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlaseck 6-2 6-2 to reach the final, having also toppled Spanish singles superstars Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Ebden and Peers have a chance to emulate a pair of Aussie tennis legends by becoming the nation's first Olympic tennis champions since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde since 1996. Cheering them on has been ever-present captain Lleyton Hewitt and the Aussie pair said the support from the tennis great has been incredible.

"We've had some great Australian heroes come through before us and to have Rusty (Hewitt) in our corner every day is unbelievable, and those guys to lean on, as well, we can't ask for anything better," said Peers. The Melburnian is out to add gold to the bronze he won with Ash Barty in the mixed doubles in Tokyo three years ago, while Perth's outstanding Ebden will seek to crown a terrific year when he also had a spell as the world No.1 doubles player.

The win was extra special for both Peers and Ebden, who had their families watching courtside and were seen embracing their kids in moving scenes after the semi-final. "It's just something we dream of," Peers added. "I spoke to my wife and said, 'look, let's just do it, bring the two girls along, they're going to be staying up talking about it in school, and now they get to be here and live it'. I hope they can remember this the rest of their life."

Boomers scrape through after 'diabolical' loss against Greece

The day didn't go nearly as well for the Boomers, who suffered a second successive defeat in the men's basketball to almost end their Olympic Games campaign. The Aussies were thumped in what coach Brian Goorjian described as a "diabolical" first half before rallying to a 77-71 defeat against a Greece side led by NBA superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Having lost to Canada in their previous game after beating Spain in their Olympics opener, the Boomers then had to rely on a Canadian victory to save them from being knocked out of the Paris Games. Thankfully Canada obliged in a tense 88-85 victory over Spain that went down to the wire. Spain pushed the fancied Canadians all the way but Sergio Llull's buzzer-beater three-pointer at the death ultimately missed, as the Aussies lived to see another day.

RELATED:

• Aussie swim stars make Olympic history in epic golden double in Paris

• Aussie BMX racer's tearful reveal about family after historic gold

• Ariarne Titmus reveals teammate's foul-mouthed rev-up before relay win

The Aussies will have to wait for the results from Sunday's (AEST) final pool games to see who they face in the quarter-finals. But after finding themselves down by 19 points against Greece in a shocking first half, Australia's coach knows they have a lot of work ahead of them to try and emulate the bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics.

"The first half was 'hero ball', head dropping, poor defence, that all circulated," Boomers coach Goorjian said after the game. "The second half was huddles, talk, grit, ball movement. We had many opportunities in the second half to win the game with good shots, with good looks, and the ball didn't go in. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win from a dire situation. The first half was diabolical."

Jock Landale continued his fine tournament with a 17-point, eight-rebound double-double while point guard Josh Giddey (nine points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five turnovers) struggled in the first half but finished strongly. Patty Mills (13 points) and Dyson Daniels (11 points, eight assists, six rebounds) hit big shots to cut the lead to two points in the final minutes. Antetokounmpo (20 points, seven rebounds, six assists) and Thomas Walkup (18 points) were Greece's most dangerous players.

with AAP