Hurricane Camden hits Australian Open Doubles final in five set epic
Fahey and Bollerman quadruple Australian Open victories
The Australian Open concluded on Tuesday with the Women’s and Open doubles finals, with some of the best quality tennis the tournament has seen to date. World Champion Camden Riviere reached stratospheric levels as he fought to maintain his place in the first and only five set match of the tournament.
The Women’s final was a rematch of the 2024 French Open, with Claire Fahey and Saskia Bollerman taking on Lea Van Der Zwalmen and Jess Garside. The number one seeds began with the serve and used it to immediate efect, reaching game point in the second game before conceding the serve. Garside and Van Der Zwalmen had good chances to keep the score close at 1-2 but lost on following a couple of misread balls from Garside. Van Der Zwalmen kept her serve tight putting Fahey under pressure but she absorbed it well. Bollerman impressed with her volleys at the gallery, while Fahey hit a very good width, jamming Van Der Zwalmen’s forehand against the wall. Fahey and Bollerman cruised to an easy set win.
By fortune rather than planning, Fahey and Bollerman conceded the receiving end at the end of the first set. Van Der Zwalmen and Garside opted to swith receivers, with Garside taking Fahey’s serve. The lopside serving combinations allowed the Van Der Zwalmen to more easily attack Bollerman’s serve, while Fahey comfortably dealt with Garside. The set then took the characterstic of a lawn tennis set, with the pairs looking for a break from the weaker player. Fahey and Bollerman took the break in the sixth game, following Bollerman hitting the first grille of the match. Van Der Zwalmen and Garside immediately broke back after hitting two short chases, even though Garside had to scream at her partner not to hit the ball when playing them off. Fahey and Bollerman won the eighth game in a tight deuce battle. That put the result of the match beyond doubt, as the three time champion pair made it to their fourth championship together.
The Open doubles saw the relatively untested pairings of Camden Riviere and Chris Chapman against Rob Fahey and Ben Taylor-Matthews. Fahey took to the court with both calves strapped up following his strenuous singles semi final. Chapman opted to receive Fahey’s serve in the first set. The home-town hero start strong, winning the first seven points before conceding a chase. Fahey, playing back, was able to consistently target Chapman instead of Riviere. They maintained a solid grip on the service end, taking the South Carolinan out of the game. To do so, they had to keep the ball off the back penthouses as well as maintaining quality shots to Chapman. As the set got to its pointy end, Riviere switched to playing back at the service end to try and cling onto the set. The dual World Champion started to impose his will more on the rallies, putting Fahey and Taylor-Matthews on the back foot as the first set levelled up at 5-all. Fahey and Taylor-Matthews went up 40-0 in the deciding game but it required all three set points to close out. Riviere did not give in, with retrieval befitting a World Champion before losing the set from a missed volley from Chapman.
Fahey switched receivers going into the second set, ensuring that he would take the eleventh game of the set even if it meant taking Riviere’s serve. The energy seemed to seep out of the match and the crowd went into a lull as Riviere and Chapman now took control of the service end. Chapman and Riviere took the first four games of the second set in just 10 minutes. From there, the set result seemed inevitable as Fahey and Taylor-Matthews’s play was lackluster, as the match was levelled up 1-1.
Taylor-Matthews and Fahey opted to return to their original serving match-ups from the first set. It was to no avail as Chapman really found his volley in the set as the top seeds really lived up to their potential as a partnership. The only blemish on their record for the set was requiring six set points to close it out.
Riviere and Chapman had the choice of receivers in the fourth set, opting to keep Riviere on eleventh game duties and receiving from Taylor-Matthews. Taylor-Matthews now took on the responsibilities at the back of the court as Fahey’s legs were fading. They finally broke their run, Fahey taking the first game of the set with a grille. Taylor-Matthews grew into his new role well, as he helped himself to a 4-2 lead, ably helped by some excellent Fahey gallery play. Taylor-Matthews worked his way to set point on the back of some very tight giraffe serves, but it was a Riviere error that gave them the set, dancing across the second gallery line to volley a ball into the net on a better than 3 chase.
For the first time in the tournament, the match went into a fifth set. Riviere was fired up from his disappointment of the previous set, not letting a single ball past the second gallery line for the next couple of points. Riviere put in a hurculean shift to get an early lead in the set, unlike any he had played in the last two years since the 2023 World Championship. Taylor-Matthews tried to hold back the storm, with the points getting more and more ridiculous. While they were in the running for each of the games, it would be Chapman and Riviere coming out on top. Chapman came to the party with some great boasting and an insane back wall boast. The number one seeds took the tournament bageling the set.
Match results:
Women’s doubles final: Claire Fahey & Saskia Bollerman def Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Jess Garside 6/1 6/3
Men’s doubles final: Camden Riviere & Chris Chapman def Robert Fahey & Ben Taylor-Matthews 5/6 6/1 6/0 3/6 6/0
Riviere went on to lose the Australian Real Table Tennis Open to Oliver Pridmore 6/4