Advertisement

'Heartbreaker': Ash Barty and John Peers suffer devastating loss

Ash Barty (pictured right) and John Peers (pictured left) looking dejected during the semi-final of mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ash Barty (pictured right) and John Peers (pictured left) have lost in the semi-final of mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics. (Getty Images)

Ash Barty and John Peers have fallen short of an Olympic gold medal after losing in a thrilling super tiebreak in the semi-final of the mixed doubles in Tokyo.

Barty and Peers, much like in the quarter-final, got off to a brilliant start and won the first set 7-5 against the ROC pair of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev.

WOW: Ash Barty's beautiful act amid heartbreaking scenes at Olympics

NEW QUEEN: Simone Biles watches on as Suni Lee wins gold

But, the fourth seeded ROC pair broke early in the second and held on to take it 6-4.

The match was sent to a super tiebreak and both teams were feeling the nerves.

ROC and Australia had match points, but Rublev and Pavlyuchenkova were able to hold their nerves and tale the super tiebreak 13-11 to advance to the final.

Fans heartbroken after Barty and Peers nail-bitter

Fans watched the super tiebreak on the edge of their seat as both teams had chances of closing out the match.

But ultimately, the Aussies were devastated to have come so close to Olympic gold in Tokyo.

Barty and Peers will now have the opportunity to play for a bronze medal.

ROC advance and will either take on another ROC pair Aslan Karetsev and Elena Vesnina or Serbian pair Novak Djokovic and Nina Stajanovic in the final.

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.