In an all-Aussie clash, Olivia Gadecki and John Peers got the better of compatriots Kimberly Birrell and John-Patrick Smith 3-6 6-4 10-6 to win the Australian Open 2025 mixed doubles final at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
This was the first all-Australian final at the opening Grand Slam of the year since 1967. Interesting enough, all the participants were wild-card entrants. It was the first all-Aussie mixed doubles champions at the hard-court major since Matthew Ebden and Jarmila Wolfe in 2013.
Olivia Gadecki- John Peers Clinch Australian Open 2025 title
Birrell and Smith raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set on Rod Laver Arena at the Melbourne Park and while they were pegged back to 5-2m they kept their cool to close it out in 34 minutes.
Gadecki and Peers stepped up a gear to level the contest in a tight second set before going on to win the 10-point tiebreaker and become the fourth Australian duo in the Open-era to win the mixed doubles title at the tournament.
This was Gadecki’s maiden mixed doubles title at a Grand Slam, and second for Peers having won the 2022 U.S. Open in the category. The 36-year-old also won men’s doubles gold at the Paris Olympics with compatriot Matthew Ebden and the 2017 Australian Open alongside Finn Henri Kontinen.
“I would like to say fantastic job to Kim and JP for a great week, it is so nice to play in an all-Aussie final,” Gadecki said in the post-match presentation. “Thanks so much for playing with me Peersy and letting me ride the wave.”
The champions hit 25 winners and won 79 per cent (26/33) of their first-serve points in the final, according to Infosys Stats. Each pair broke just once, with Gadecki/Peers creating six break chances to their opponents’ two.
In their five wins this fortnight, the winning duo dropped just two sets.
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Smith, who was also a runner-up in the mixed doubles at Melbourne Park in 2019, would have hoped for a brighter day on his 36th birthday.
“Sorry we couldn’t get it done on your birthday, but I hope that (singing) makes up for it a little bit,” said Birrell, as she asked the crowd to sing ‘happy birthday’ to Smith.
Saturday’s match also marks the 14th edition of the Australian Open where a home player was crowned champion in at least one category.
The champions will split the prize money of $175,000 while the runners-up will share $97,750.
