Max's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Tennis
Event: Men's Tennis Doubles
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Highlights: 2022 Wimbledon Men's Doubles Champion
Club: Gosford Tennis Centre
Year Born: 1998
State Born: NSW
About Max
Max picked up a racket at the age of three, playing with his siblings at their local tennis club in Sydney.
Since turning to the professional circuit at 18-years-old, Max has collected four Futures Singles titles, as well as a Challenger title. He won his maiden Challenger title at his first professional tournament in 2016.
Purcell produced the performance of his life at the 2020 Australian Open, where he and teammate Luke Saville took home the finalists' trophy. Originally entered as wildcards and one of eight All-Australian teams, the duo stunned competitors en route to the final, dropping only two sets.
Their result at the summer slam in Melbourne saw Max's doubles ranking reach a career high of #38. It was also at this event that Max made his Gland Slam debut in the singles draw, after winning three matches in qualifying to earn the admission into the main draw.
The Saville-Purcell team have played doubles together almost exclusively since late 2018, and have found success at challenger tournaments around the world. Max holds 11 Challenger titles, nine of which he shares with Luke. They have also recently succeeded through to the third round of the men's doubles at the 2021 French Open, falling just short of the quarterfinals.
At his first Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020, Max contested both the men's singles and doubles events. He kicked off his singles campaign with a bang, notching the biggest win of his career, besting Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. Max faced Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the second round, but was unable to back up his previous performance, going down 6-3 6-0.
Over in the men's doubles, Max took to the court alongside John Peers. The pair faced duo Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren of the USA in round one, starting the match by taking the opening set. Their American counterparts fought back in the second, pushing the Aussies to a tiebreak. Purcell and Peers were eventually outplayed, falling 3-6 7-6(5) 10-5.
Max continued to find success on the doubles court, reaching the final of the 2022 Australian Open with fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden. The pair faced the 'Special Ks' team of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in the first all-Australian men's doubles final at the AO since 1980. Ebden and Purcell fought valiantly, but were bested 7-5 6-4.
The Purcell/Ebden combination has remained fruitful, with the team achieving their biggest feat together at Wimbledon 2022 where they won their maiden slam title together. It was their second slam final as a team, and Max's slam final third overall.
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