Australia has claimed its first gold medal in men’s doubles since 1996 after Matt Ebden and John Peers triumphed in an incredible match.

The pair were in “disbelief” after pulling off a glorious comeback to defeat American doubles specialists Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek in the gold medal match at Roland-Garros.

Ebden and Peers secured the win after trailing by a set and a break. They stared defeat in the face late in the second set before breaking back and thundering through the second set tiebrereaker before dominating the majority of the match tiebreaker to secure a memorable 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 10-8 win.

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The pair made history as the only Australian gold medallists in Olympic tennis since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won the title in Atlanta 1996.

“I think we’re a bit in disbelief,” Ebden told Nine’s Clint Stanaway after the win.

“We set out a goal and we believed we could win. But it was an uphill battle.”

Australia has had its best start to an Olympics in history, having never before won 12 gold medals in the first eight days of competition.

To be part of that was a special feeling, Ebden said.

“I moved to Australia when I was a young kid and Australia adopted me and it’s been an incredible ride of my whole life. I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he said.

“I think it’s the greatest country on earth. I’m super grateful to be Australian.”

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Peers described it as a tough match and expressed gratitude to his doubles partner for “hanging in there” during the challenging start to the second set.

“Our backs were against the wall. We knew it was going to be another dog fight out there,” he told Nine’s Clint Stanaway.

“We just kept saying to each other, hang around long enough, hang around long enough.

“Matt lit up a few returns that game to get us back on serve and the crowd shifted nicely to our side and we rode the momentum and just kept pushing hard.”

The pair mentioned that it was particularly special to share their historic win with their partners and children.

In an adorable moment captured in a photo, both teammates were seen holding their children just moments after winning the gold medal match.

Thrilling match from start to finish

It was a tightly contested opening set, with both teams facing multiple break points.

However, there was a glimmer of hope for Ebden and Peers after an incredible rally that left the Americans off balance and broken.

Ram and Krajicek were quick to recover to level up the scores 4-4.

After impressive holds by both teams, the first set went into a tie-breaker. The Americans were the stronger team for much of the tie-break, quickly securing the mini-break and ultimately the set.

Building on their momentum, the Americans managed to secure an early break in the second set.

Ebden and Peers both seemed to struggle, making some costly errors, which allowed Ram and Krajicek to take a commanding lead at 3-1.

The pressure was on the Australians to bounce back and find their rhythm again, despite trailing 4-2.

And that’s what Ebden and Peers did, with the pair breaking back after an impressive rally to level the score 5-5.

After another couple of close games, the match headed into a second-set tie-breaker.

The Aussie pair dropped just one point in the second set tie-break and claimed the set.

Ebden and Peers appeared to be in complete control leading into the super tie-break after getting the mini-break and taking an early lead.

That’s when the crowd erupted in cheers after Peers returned an almost unreturnable ball, with that play, the Aussies took the lead.

They had four match points to secure the gold medal, they took it home on the fourth.