John Peers


John William Peers is an Australian professional tennis player who competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour both in singles and doubles until 2013, when he began to focus solely on doubles and began competing on the ATP World Tour.
Peers reached his career-high of World No. 2 in doubles in April 2017. His highest ATP singles ranking is World No. 456 in June 2012.
John Peers went to Mentone Grammar and led the 1STS team to two premierships, his first when he was in Year 7 in 2001 and his second when he was in Year 12 in 2006.
Peers is the son of former pro tennis player Elizabeth Little and the brother of tennis player Sally Peers.

Professional career

2013

Peers began the 2013 season playing with fellow Australian John-Patrick Smith, receiving a wildcard into the Australian Open. It was here that Peers gained his first Grand Slam victory, upsetting the Polish duo of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in their opening match; in the second round they fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky and Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. In February, Peers teamed up with established doubles specialist Jamie Murray, a partnership that immediately looked to be a successful one, as the pair reached the semifinals of their first tournament together at the Open Sud de France. A couple of months later, Peers and Murray won their first title together, defeating 13-time Grand Slam champions and world No. 1 pair Bob and Mike Bryan in the final of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships after coming back from a set down.
The pair played their first Grand Slam tournament together at the French Open, however despite taking out the 15th seeded team of Knowle and Polášek in the first round, they ultimately fell in their next match against the Colombian duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah Maksoud. This however allowed them to compete at the Aegon Trophy, a Challenger event which they ultimately won. Peers and Murray then went on to have a fairly successful grass court season, reaching the quarterfinals of the Aegon Championships, and the semifinals of the Aegon Championships. They headed to Wimbledon in a confident mindset, however, went out in the first round to James Blake and Jürgen Melzer in a 5-set thriller that ended 14–12 in an 87-minute final set. Their early loss did not dishearten them however, and the pair went on to win their second title of the year a few weeks later, at the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad.
At the US Open, the pair had their most successful run at a Grand Slam tournament, making it all the way to the quarterfinals, defeating ninth seeds David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco on the way. In the end, the pair succumbed to eventual finalists Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in three sets. Next up for the pair was the Asian swing of tournaments, where they had their best run of results to date, making two finals in a row and competing in their first Masters 1000 tournament as oartners. At the PTT Thailand Open, the pair were seeded third and went on to win their third title of the year. Peers and Murray defeated multiple Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Leander Paes on their way to the final, where they defeated Tomasz Bednarek and Johan Brunström in three sets. The following week, Peers and Murray reached their second final in a row, Peers' first ATP 500 final at the Rakuten Japan Open. Despite a close first set, the pair lost to established doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets.
Peers competed in his first ever Masters 1000 tournament at the Shanghai Masters, where he and Murray defeated established doubles champions Julien Benneteau, Nenad Zimonjić and Robert Lindstedt on their way to the semifinals, where they lost in straight sets to Spanish duo of Marrero and Verdasco, in a closely fought contest that ended up being decided by two tiebreakers.

2014

Peers began the year with regular doubles partner Jamie Murray at the Brisbane International. The pair made it to the semifinals, before losing to Daniel Nestor and Mariusz Fyrstenberg in straight sets. Their next tournament was the Heineken Open. They made the quarterfinals before withdrawing from the tournament. At the Australian Open they were the 15th seeds. They made the second round before losing to Raven Klaasen and Eric Butorac in straight sets.
Peers played next at the 2014 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with Julian Knowle while Jamie Murray was out with injury. The pair made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Julien Benneteau and Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Peers next played at the 2014 Open 13 with Jesse Huta Galung, but the pair lost in the first round. Peers next played at the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships with previous partner Julian Knowle, but they lost in the first round.
Peers next played the BNP Paribas Open with regular partner Jamie Murraym but the pair lost in the first round to J Benneteau and É Roger-Vasselin. They next played at the Sony Open Tennis but lost in straight sets to sixth seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić.
Peers and Murray started their clay court season at the Grand Prix Hassan II where they were seeded second. They made the semi-finals before losing to Lukáš Dlouhý and Tomasz Bednarek in straight sets. They made a second consecutive semi-final at the BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy before losing to top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău.
At the BMW Open the pair defeated the top seeds Raven Klaasen and Eric Butorac in the semi-finals before defeating Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins to win their first title of the year. They lost in the opening round of the Mutua Madrid Open, but managed to bounce back and reach the semi-finals of the Düsseldorf Open. They followed this up by reaching the third round of the French Open, which was both their best result at the tournament, where they were defeated by top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.
They followed up the defeat by making the final of the Aegon Championships defeating the Bryan brothers in the second round but were beaten by second seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares. They then lost their opening match of the Aegon International. At Wimbledon they were seeded 14th and made the third round before losing in five sets to Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.
In August the pairing reached the final of the Winston-Salem Open as the third seeds but lost to the pairing of Cabal/Farah. In September, Murray/Peers also reached the final of the Malaysian Open as the second seeds but lost to fourth seeds Matkowski/Paes. The pair finished the year at the Swiss Indoors Open where they lost in the first round again to Matkowsi and Paes.

2015: Wimbledon & Us Open runner-ups

Murray/Peers again began their year at the 2015 Brisbane International, where they defeated top seeds Rojer/Tecau in the first round before going on to win the title by defeating the pairing of Dolgopolov/Nishikori. The pair reached the third round at the 2015 Australian Open as the 16th seeds losing to 4th seeds Dodig/Melo. The pair's good form continued in Rotterdam, where after losing in the qualifying rounds they were handed a first-round match as lucky losers following a withdrawal. The pair went on to reach the final, before losing in a rematch against Rojer/Tecau.
In April, the pair reached their third final of the year in Barcelona, but lost to Draganja/Kontinen. In May, the pair reached back-to-back quarterfinals at ATP 1000 Masters in Madrid and Rome. In Madrid they lost to Lopez/Mirnyi, and in Rome they lost to eventual finalists Granollers/Lopez.
In July, Murray/Peers reached the final of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships losing to Rojer/Tecau in straight sets.

2016: First World Tour Finals & Masters titles

The Olympic year brought changes to the doubles pairing. Also Peers chose a new partner, Henri Kontinen, to defend his title at the Brisbane International. The number 2 seeded pair reached the final beating the number 4 couple Inglot/Lindstedt, and went on to win the title by defeating Peers' compatriots Duckworth/Guccione. Peers and Kontinen separated for the next tournament in Sydney, and got beaten by the same opponents, the 4th seeds Bopanna/Mergea, in the second and the first round respectively. At the Australian Open Kontinen/Peers lost in the second round to Groth/Hewitt.
As a member of the Australian Davis Cup squad, Peers played a World Group 1st round rubber with Lleyton Hewitt against the American couple Bryan/Bryan. The Australian pair lost, letting the United States take a 2–1 lead in the tie. Eventually, Australia lost the tie, which meant that it would have to face the play-offs.
At the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Kontinen/Peers managed to beat the 2nd seeds Dodig/Melo before losing to Mahut/Pospisil in the semifinals. The pair stuck together even though they had a series of first round defeats, until reaching quarterfinals at the Monte-Carlo Masters. They were defeated by Cabal/Farah, despite a promising victory over the top seeds Rojer/Tecău in the second round. In Munich Kontinen/Peers fought their way into the final to encounter Cabal/Farah again. This time the outcome was reversed allowing Peers to celebrate his second ATP tournament title of the year with his Finnish companion.
At the Madrid Open Peers/Kontinen started well beating the second seeds Murray/Soares in the second round. In the quarterfinals the two had a new chance to beat Bopanna/Mergea, this time together, but they lost the match tie-break. In Rome they had to leave the tournament after another first round defeat. Also Roland Garros was a disappointment for the already consolidated pair, as they were sent home by Baker/Daniell already in the round of 32.
In Halle Kontinen/Peers lost at the semifinals to Kubot/Peya. This prepared the players for the grass courts of Wimbledon, where they were to achieve their best Grand Slam tournament result so far. As 10th seeds the couple finally defeated Bopanna/Mergea by winning 8–6 the 5th set of the third round match. However, the pair's destiny was to get defeated in the next round by the top seeds Herbert/Mahut.
Peers and Kontinen continued in Hamburg at the 500 series tournament. They played without dropping a set all the way to the final, to play against Nestor/Qureshi. Neither these opponents could steal a set from the number two seeded pair, which thus obtained their third ATP title together.
Kontinen/Peers then headed to the American continent, reaching semifinals at the Citi Open and quarterfinals at Rogers Cup. Peers participated the Rio Olympics teaming with Chris Guccione. However, the pair lost their first match against the Argentine couple del Potro/González. In Cincinnati Peers tried to conquer the tournament with Kontinen, but they lost in the first round to Pouille/Tsonga. Their luck did not change by the time of US Open. After an initial victory over Delbonis/Pella, they were beaten in the second round by unseeded Lindstedt/Qureshi.
In September Peers played again in the Davis Cup squad. With Sam Groth he defeated Martin/Zelenay of Slovakia, leading Australia to 3–0 victory that guaranteed a place in the following year's World Group.
At the Japan Open in Tokyo, Peers and Kontinen did not get past the first round, losing to Lindstedt/Peya. At the Shanghai Masters the pair performed better, beating the 8th seeded Lindstedt/Pospisil in the second round and the top-seeded Myrray/Soares in the quarterfinals. By defeating the unseeded Čilić/Pavić in the semifinals they were one step away from winning the tournament, but their final opponents Isner/Sock grabbed the title with more relaxed playing.
Peers and Kontinen then appeared at the Swiss Indoors, where they lost in the first round to second seeds Herbert/Mahut in straight sets. One week later at the BNP Paribas Masters event in Paris the duo made it all the way to the final without dropping a set where they again met Herbert and Mahut. This time they came out victorious in three sets to win their fourth title together and their first Masters title overall.
Peers/Kontinen qualified in 5th position for the World Tour Finals in London and was placed in the Fleming/McEnroe group with López/López, Klaasen/Ram and Herbert/Mahut. They progressed to the semi-finals after defeating each of their opponents in the group stage. In the semi-finals Kontinen/Peers faced off against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and came out with a 7–6, 6–4 victory to move on to the final against Klaasen and Ram. They emerged victorious yet again, winning 2–6, 6–1 to claim their biggest tournament win to date. Peers ended the year at No. 9 on the Doubles Rankings, boosted by his success later in the year.

2017: Australian Open title

Peers began the new year with his regular doubles partner Kontinen at Brisbane as the second seeds, however lost in the first round to Nishikori/Thiem in three sets. The duo then arrived at the Australian Open as the fourth seeds. They easily won their first- and second-round matches against Gonzalez/Marrero and Baghdatis/Muller. Peers and Kontinen then faced Colombian pair Cabal and Farah and won in three gruelling tiebreakers to progress to the quarterfinals. There they faced the Australian duo of Sam Groth and Chris Guccione and won. In the semifinals, they faced another Australian pairing of Marc Polmans and Andrew Whittington. They progressed to their first Grand Slam final, where they won in straight sets against the Bryan brothers.

Major tournaments

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-up)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss2015WimbledonGrass Jamie Murray Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău
6–7, 4–6, 4–6
Loss2015US OpenHard Jamie Murray Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
4–6, 4–6
Win2017Australian OpenHard Henri Kontinen Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–5, 7–5
Loss2019Australian OpenHard Henri Kontinen Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
4–6, 6–7

Year-End Championships

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss2016Shanghai MastersHard Henri Kontinen John Isner
Jack Sock
4–6, 4–6
Win2016Paris MastersHard Henri Kontinen Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
6–4, 3–6,
Win2017Shanghai MastersHard Henri Kontinen Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
6–4, 6–2
Win2018Canadian OpenHard Henri Kontinen Raven Klaasen
Michael Venus
6–2, 6–7,

ATP career finals

Doubles: 33 (21 titles, 12 runner-up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–02013 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles|U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, United States250 SeriesClay Jamie Murray Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
1–6, 7–6,
Win2–02013 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Doubles|Swiss Open, Switzerland250 SeriesClay Jamie Murray Pablo Andújar
Guillermo García-López
6–3, 6–4
Win3–02013 PTT Thailand Open – Doubles|Thailand Open, Thailand250 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Tomasz Bednarek
Johan Brunström
6–3, 3–6,
Loss3–12013 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Doubles|Japan Open, Japan500 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Rohan Bopanna
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
6–7, 4–6
Win4–12014 BMW Open – Doubles|Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Germany250 SeriesClay Jamie Murray Colin Fleming
Ross Hutchins
6–4, 6–2
Loss4–22014 Aegon Championships – Doubles|Queen's Club Championships, United Kingdom250 SeriesGrass Jamie Murray Alexander Peya
Bruno Soares
6–4, 6–7,
Loss4–32014 Winston-Salem Open – Doubles|Winston-Salem Open, United States250 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
3–6, 4–6
Loss4–42014 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur – Doubles|Malaysian Open, Malaysia250 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Marcin Matkowski
Leander Paes
6–3, 6–7,
Win5–42015 Brisbane International – Men's Doubles|Brisbane International, Australia250 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Alexandr Dolgopolov
Kei Nishikori
6–3, 7–6
Loss5–52015 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Rotterdam Open, Netherlands500 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău
6–3, 3–6,
Loss5–62015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Doubles|Barcelona Open, Spain500 SeriesClay Jamie Murray Marin Draganja
Henri Kontinen
3–6, 7–6,
Loss5–72015 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles|Wimbledon, United KingdomGrand SlamGrass Jamie Murray Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău
6–7, 4–6, 4–6
Win6–72015 German Open – Doubles|German Open, Germany500 SeriesClay Jamie Murray Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
2–6, 6–3,
Loss6–82015 US Open – Men's Doubles|US Open, United StatesGrand SlamHard Jamie Murray Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
4–6, 4–6
Loss6–92015 Erste Bank Open – Doubles|Vienna Open, Austria500 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
6–4, 6–7,
Loss6–102015 Swiss Indoors – Doubles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland500 SeriesHard Jamie Murray Alexander Peya
Bruno Soares
5–7, 5–7
Win7–102016 Brisbane International – Men's Doubles|Brisbane International, Australia 250 SeriesHard Henri Kontinen James Duckworth
Chris Guccione
7–6, 6–1
Win8–102016 BMW Open – Doubles|Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Germany 250 SeriesClay Henri Kontinen Juan Sebastián Cabal
Robert Farah
6–3, 3–6,
Win9–102016 German Open – Doubles|German Open, Germany 500 SeriesClay Henri Kontinen Daniel Nestor
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
7–5, 6–3
Loss9–112016 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Doubles|Shanghai Masters, ChinaMasters 1000Hard Henri Kontinen Jack Sock
John Isner
4–6, 4–6
Win10–112016 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles|Paris Masters, FranceMasters 1000Hard Henri Kontinen Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
6–4, 3–6,
Win11–112016 ATP World Tour Finals – Doubles|ATP World Tour Finals, United KingdomTour FinalsHard Henri Kontinen Raven Klaasen
Rajeev Ram
2–6, 6–1,
Win12–112017 Australian Open – Men's Doubles|Australian Open, AustraliaGrand SlamHard Henri Kontinen Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–5, 7–5
Win13–112017 Citi Open – Men's Doubles|Washington Open, United States500 SeriesHard Henri Kontinen Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
7–6, 6–4
Win14–112017 China Open – Men's Doubles|China Open, China500 SeriesHard Henri Kontinen John Isner
Jack Sock
6–3, 3–6,
Win15–112017 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Doubles|Shanghai Masters, China Masters 1000Hard Henri Kontinen Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
6–4, 6–2
Win16–112017 ATP Finals – Doubles|ATP Finals, United Kingdom Tour FinalsHard Henri Kontinen Łukasz Kubot
Marcelo Melo
6–4, 6–2
Win17–112018 Brisbane International – Men's Doubles|Brisbane International, Australia 250 SeriesHard Henri Kontinen Leonardo Mayer
Horacio Zeballos
3–6, 6–3,
Win18–112018 Queen's Club Championships – Doubles|Queen's Club Championships, United Kingdom 500 SeriesGrass Henri Kontinen Jamie Murray
Bruno Soares
6–4, 6–3
Win19–112018 Rogers Cup – Men's Doubles|Canadian Open, CanadaMasters 1000Hard Henri Kontinen Raven Klaasen
Michael Venus
6–2, 6–7,
Loss19–122019 Australian Open – Men's Doubles|Australian Open, AustraliaGrand SlamHard Henri Kontinen Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Mahut
4–6, 6–7
Win20–122019 MercedesCup – Doubles|Stuttgart Open, Germany250 SeriesGrass Bruno Soares Rohan Bopanna
Denis Shapovalov
7–5, 6–3
Win21–122020 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles|Dubai Tennis Championships, United Arab Emirates500 SeriesHard Michael Venus Raven Klaasen
Oliver Marach
6–3, 6–2

Challengers and Futures finals

Singles: 3 (1–2)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Venezuela F4, MaracaiboFuturesHard Eduardo Struvay4–6, 6–3, 6–7
Win1–1Venezuela F6, CaracasFuturesHard Roberto Maytín7–6, 4–6, 7–6
Loss1–2USA F10, Little RockFuturesHard Tennys Sandgren1–6, 6–7

Doubles: 20 (13–7)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Venezuela F4, MaracaiboFuturesHard Roberto Maytín Peter Aarts
Chris Letcher
6–2, 6–1
Loss1–1Venezuela F5, CoroFuturesHard Roberto Maytín Piero Luisi
Román Recarte
4–6, 3–6
Loss1–2Venezuela F6, CaracasFuturesHard Roberto Quiroz Piero Luisi
Roberto Maytín
4–6, 4–6
Win2–2USA F22, EdwardsvilleFuturesHard Nicolas Meister Devin Britton
Bradley Cox
6–2, 6–4
Win3–2Australia F10, Port PirieFuturesHard Robert McKenzie G.D. Jones
Jose Statham
6–7, 6–4,
Win4–2Australia F11, Happy ValleyFuturesHard Robert McKenzie Jack Schipanski
Li Tu
6–4, 6–2
Loss4–3Australia F12, TraralgonFuturesHard Dane Propoggia Luke Saville
Andrew Whittington
6–4, 4–6,
Win5–32012 McDonald's Burnie International – Men's Doubles|Burnie, AustraliaChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith Divij Sharan
Vishnu Vardhan
6–2, 6–4
Win6–32012 Caloundra International – Doubles|Caloundra, AustraliaChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith John Paul Fruttero
Raven Klaasen
7–6, 6–4
Win7–3USA F8, Costa MesaFuturesHard Nicolas Meister Carsten Ball
Andre Begemann
6–3, 6–7,
Win8–32012 Torneo Internacional AGT – Doubles|León, MexicoChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith César Ramírez
Bruno Rodríguez
6–3, 6–3
Loss8–42012 UniCredit Czech Open – Doubles|Prostějov, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Colin Ebelthite Hsieh Cheng-peng
Lee Hsin-han
5–7, 5–7
Loss8–52012 Nielsen Pro Tennis Championships – Doubles|Winnetka, United StatesChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith Devin Britton
Jeff Dadamo
6–1, 2–6,
Win9–52012 Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles|Lexington, United StatesChallengerHard Austin Krajicek Tennys Sandgren
Rhyne Williams
6–1, 7–6
Loss9–62012 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open – Men's Doubles|Vancouver, CanadaChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith Maxime Authom
Ruben Bemelmans
4–6, 2–6
Win10–62012 Comerica Bank Challenger – Doubles|Aptos, United StatesChallengerHard Rik de Voest Chris Guccione
Frank Moser
6–7, 6–1,
Loss10–72012 American Express – TED Open – Doubles|Istanbul, TurkeyChallengerHard Adrián Menéndez-Maceiras Karol Beck
Lukáš Dlouhý
6–3, 2–6,
Win11–72012 Campeonato Internacional de Tênis do Estado do Pará – Doubles|Belém, BrazilChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith Nicholas Monroe
Simon Stadler
6–3, 6–2
Win12–72012 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger – Doubles|Charlottesville, United StatesChallengerHard John-Patrick Smith Jarmere Jenkins
Jack Sock
7–5, 6–1
Win13–72013 Aegon Trophy – Men's Doubles|Nottingham, United KingdomChallengerGrass Jamie Murray Ken Skupski
Neal Skupski
6–2, 6–7,

Doubles performance timeline

Current till 2020 Auckland Open.

Mixed doubles performance timeline

Amateur tennis

Peers played varsity tennis for the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders before transferring school to play for Baylor University Bears.
While representing the Blue Raiders John earned all-conference honours from the Sun Belt in 2009 and 2010 in singles and doubles. Peers also received the Sun Belt Conference MVP in 2009.
During his time at Baylor University John was named All-Big 12 in both singles and doubles and received ITA All-American honours in doubles. Paired with Roberto Maytin they finished the season ranked No. 5 in the National doubles ITA rankings
Peers also earned ITA Texas Region Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award.