Matthew Ebden and John Peers have won Australia’s second tennis gold, beating Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek in a tense men’s doubles final.

The Australians lost the first set, and were down a break of serve in the second, but rallied to win a tie-break, before securing the gold in a deciding 10-point tie-break — winning 6-7(6/8), 7-6(7/1), 10-8.

“It was a super tough match and a really high-quality match,” Ebden said.

“We were up against it, we were down a set and a break, it was not looking good. We were losing for sure.

“We kept believing, kept fighting, kept hanging strong. My partner over here played an amazing super tie-break and somehow we’re gold medallists.

“It’s more than a dream.”

It is the first time Australia has won a gold medal in tennis since 1996, when Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge won in Atlanta, and is a far cry from the way the Games started for Ebden.

The Australian Open doubles winner was a late call-up to the singles after an injury withdrawal, and got drawn against 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic, who summarily wiped the floor with the 36-year-old.

Ebden was grinning and laughing, entertaining the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier with his antics if not his play, flipping his shirt up over his head when he finally won his only game in the 6-0, 6-1 loss.

A week later, Ebden and Peers had the crowd on that same court on their feet with some nerveless play in a famous win over the fourth-seeded Americans.

Ebden admitted he thought about that Djokovic clash the night before the doubles final.

“I was actually thinking of an Instagram post; how it started, how it’s going,” Ebden said.

“It’s trippy. I didn’t even dream of winning a gold medal.”

Both players lifted their children onto the clay of Roland Garros after the match, which was a particularly poignant moment for Peers, who won bronze in the mixed doubles alongside Ash Barty in Tokyo three years ago with no-one in the stands.