'Lied to': Australian Open finalist's furious swipe at WA Premier
Australian Open doubles finalist Matt Ebden has taken an explosive swipe at West Australian premier Mark McGowan over the state's border rules.
Ebden teamed with Max Purcell in Saturday night's doubles final in Melbourne, going down to Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5 6-4.
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It was a remarkable two weeks for Ebden and Purcell, with their extraordinary run only falling at the final hurdle.
However Ebden revealed in his post-match press conference that he never would have made the trip to Melbourne if he knew McGowan was going to backflip on opening the WA border.
Ebden left his heavily pregnant wife in Perth under the impression that McGowan would be opening the border on February 5.
However the Premier backflipped on that plan and has pushed the re-opening of the border out again.
It means Ebden might miss the birth of his child because he will still have to do two weeks of quarantine when he returns to Western Australia.
“It was tough to leave a very pregnant wife at eight months and knowing that you still couldn’t go back anytime you needed to for an emergency,” he said.
“Then for the rug to be just pulled from underneath me last week and this last week, it’s terrible I think.”
Ebden says West Australians have been 'lied to'
Ebden claimed West Australians had been "betrayed" and "lied to" by the premier.
“It’s a terrible situation, what’s still going on in Western Australia. I think it’s ridiculous," he said.
"I think everyone there is starting to see that everyone has been lied to for so long, the trust has been betrayed.
“Everyone has gone and got vaccinated, almost 100 per cent of the people, and then to turn around and just lie to everyone and say, ‘Sorry, no, we’re changing again’. It’s just ridiculous.”
Last week Ebden said he didn't expect any special treatment and said he "wasn't entitled to anything", but was desperate to see his wife and baby regardless of the restrictions.
“Obviously the border rules changed last week since I’ve been here and, yeah, my wife’s not very happy," he said.
"Same as many other Australians out there missing their families, loved ones, births, funerals.
“It’s just horrible … I’m on the first flight out on Sunday but have to go into hotel and home quarantine and potentially miss the birth, which is terrible.”
Ebden said he will hopefully be able to wave to wife Kim from a window in hotel quarantine.
On Saturday night, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis became the first Aussie men to win the doubles title at Melbourne Park since Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge in 1997.
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