'I love you, bro!' – Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis crowned Australian Open champions

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis secured their first Grand Slam title after beating Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in the Australian Open men’s doubles final.

The Aussie entertainers secured a 7-5, 6-4 win over their fellow countrymen to spark wild celebrations again on Rod Laver Arena, less than two hours after Ashleigh Barty won the women’s singles.

Kokkinakis, ranked No. 103, and Kyrgios, ranked No. 115, were given wild cards into the tournament, and they’ve clearly made the most of them – winning the tournament with breath-taking tennis but putting on a show for their fans throughout.

The pair, who beat the No.1, No.15, No.6 and No.3 seeded teams en route to final, have a close friendship on and off the court and thanked one another in emotional scenes after their victory.

‘What a week! I would like to congratulate Max and Matt – it was a super tough match but a great week all round,’ said Kokkinakis.

‘Nick, I love you bro, the coverage we’ve got, we couldn’t ask for anything more.

‘Thanks to my team, it’s been a rough few years but what a month we’ve had and this is the cherry on top.’

In the second set it took until the seventh game for ‘The Special Ks’ to pepper Ebden’s side and get the crucial break they needed.

At 5-3 down, Ebden and Purcell had to save championship point to put the pressure back on Kyrgios, who was then presented with the opportunity to serve for victory.

But like so often this tournament, that would prove to be no problem for Kyrgios holding his nerve with his killer serve and after a couple of aces to see the game out a raucous crowd became more jubilant than ever to cap off a memorable fortnight of tennis.

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