SANTIAGO, Chile — Dana Mathewson and Maylee Phelps held a 9-8 advantage in the 10-point tiebreaker — a gold medal on the line. The once 9-3 lead had dwindled, and clapping chants of “Brazil” filled the Center Court crowd. But a Mathewson forehand winner quickly changed the sounds from pro-Brazil chants to Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A” as the American duo secured the match and gold. 

After dropping the first set to Brazil’s Maria Alves and Meirycoll Duval, Mathewson and Phelps bounced back in the second to pull off a 3-6, 6-2 (10-8) win in the Wheelchair Tennis Women’s Doubles event at the 2023 Parapan American Games. In a match that was just over two hours in the hot Chilean sun, Mathewson added another title to her impressive resume while Phelps, who’s just 16-years-old, earned one of her first major international titles. 

“We were definitely struggling I think in that first set and that’s to give credit to the Brazilians,” Mathewson said. “One of our coaches this week was actually talking about when you get through matches that actually don’t feel the best, and they feel a little bit ugly, those are the ones to be really proud of. And I think that this is no exception to that.”

Right as the U.S won the final point, Mathewson and Phelps embraced in a long hug, a representation of the motivation the pair brought to each other. Both talked about the importance of consistently talking to and high-fiving one another, even when the match wasn’t going their way. 

In the first set, Brazil had jumped out to a 3-0 lead and Mathewson had been frustrated with one of her shots that hit to the left out of bounds. Brazil conceded a couple games after getting out to that advantage, but closed the set by winning three-straight games. A few games went into a deuce in both sets, but in the first, the Brazilians managed to come away with the game, though Mathewson and Phelps held the advantage at certain points. 

But entering the second, both knew they needed to reevaluate and adjust to Brazil, which Mathewson said she was expecting more errors out of them and a faster pace, which worked against them initially. 

“(We) had a little bit of a hard time in the first set, but we were able to get it back,” Phelps said. “It was adding more spin to my ball. I felt that I was just hitting the right hand and definitely keeping my chair moving, because that’s also kind of a struggle for me.”

Returning to their bench after the first set, Mathewson made it clear that they were still going to win despite the dropped set. It started with the second set, which the United States dominated. Brazil had won the first game, but after that, the Americans won the next two.

In the third game, Mathewson hit a strong forehand right in between Alves and Duval. At that point, it was the biggest game for the U.S — the first time they were leading in a set in the match. 

Similarly, it was the same style of shot that won the second set, forcing the tiebreaker, the momentum now completely on the side of the Americans. During the timeout, both were fired up and both knew they could win gold. The match was essentially back to 0-0. 

“As soon as the tiebreaker started, I think we looked at each other and were like ‘we could do this,’” Mathewson said. Maylee is usually very reserved, and she looked at me and she was like ‘Come on, let’s go’ and I was really fired up at that point.”

By this point, the crowd had grown as fans from other matches on neighboring courts trickled into the stands. Through the first 12 points, the tiebreaker was all in favor of the United States. The U.S had built a 9-3 lead and had six match points. 

It became a “red-light moment,” Mathewson joked, as Brazil had won five straight points and was nearly close to pulling off an improbable comeback. But Mathewson, who still has a singles gold medal match on Friday, ended it with her forehand. 

“I think playing in big events like this really prepares you for big events like Paris,” Mathewson said. “Maylee and I are a pretty fresh team so I think the more experiences we have like this together are great.”

For more photos from this event, click here