All-Australian combination Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans went down against sixth seeds Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in Saturday's AO men’s doubles decider.
Becoming the fifth British man to win multiple major doubles titles, former No.1 Skupski defied nerves to serve out the match.
Kubler was vying for his second Australian Open men's doubles crown after teaming up with Rinky Hijikata to win the 2023 final.
Admitting he forgot to mention fiancée Maddison Inglis – who at AO 2026 reached the fourth round of the women’s singles – when he won the title three years ago, Kubler gave his partner a shout-out when delivering his runner-up speech.
"Thank you so much for everything you do for me," Kubler said to Inglis, who was proudly watching on in the crowd.
"You had an unbelievable run here and so happy to see these great things happen to you. Let's keep this going."
It ends an unforgettable fortnight for newly-engaged pair, who between them have pocketed a life-changing $902,350.
If Kubler and Polmans had won the doubles final, that figure would have ballooned to a combined $1.27 million.
But Inglis retains bragging rights after earning a monster personal cheque of $505,925 for making it through qualifying to progress to a career-best fourth round in the singles, as well as contesting the women's and mixed doubles events.
Kubler and Polmans opened their campaign with a win over AO 2022 champions and countrymen Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.
In the third round they beat another all-Aussie wildcard combo in James McCabe and Li Tu – who’d stunned No.1 seeds and reigning Wimbledon champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool – to advance to the quarterfinals.
There, they upset 12th-seeded Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul before outlasting Luke Johnson and Jan Zielinski in three sets to reach the final.
It was yet another great Aussie doubles result at AO 2026, after Olivia Gadecki and John Peers defended their title in the mixed doubles event.
Kimberly Birrell and Talia Gibson advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles, a run notable for their stunning victory over Grand Slam champions and Olympic gold medallists Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani.