Australian Open: Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden storm into final with hard-fought win

Rohan Bopanna entered the final of the Australian Open to move within one victory of claiming his maiden men’s doubles title at a Grand Slam. Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated Zhang Zhizhen of China and Tomas Machac of Czech Republic 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-7) in just over two hours on Thursday.

When the Indian tennis ace had combined with Ebden to win their quarter-final earleir in the tournament, Bopanna had assured himself the world No 1 spot in men’s doubles, thus making him the oldest man to ever get to that spot for the first time at the age of 43. Bopanna thus becomes the fourth Indian to get to the top of the world rankings after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi (both in men’s doubles) and former women’s doubles world No 1 Sania Mirza.

This was the first time the 43-year-old had reached the men’s doubles semi-final. Bopanna has never won a men’s doubles title at a Grand Slam tournament despite reaching the final twice before: on both occasions it was at the US Open, in 2013 and then in 2023. He does have a Grand Slam title: thanks to his mixed doubles win in 2017 at the French Open.

Bopanna and Ebden had lost to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the US Open final last September.

According to The Associated Press, Bopanna and Ebden, who are now ranked second in men’s doubles, tournament officials have said that Ebden and Bopanna, at combined ages of 79 years, will become the oldest No. 1 pairing in tennis history at the end of the tournament.

The men’s doubles final will take place on Saturday, where Bopanna and Ebden will face off against Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.

In a competitive semi-final on Thursday, Bopanna and his partner had to emerge victorious after playing Super Tie Breaker. Both Zhang (World No 54) and Machac (World No 75) are players ranked among the top 100 in men’s singles.

Persistence pays off 💪@rohanbopanna reaches his first #AusOpen men's doubles final in his 17th attempt! pic.twitter.com/lSZtqgpNHE

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2024

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“On the circuit, we have played lot of Super Tie Breaks, that gets us sharp. They (Machac and Zhang) return extremely well, we had to make sure we serve well and on spots. This partnership (with Ebden) has been good,” Bopanna said after the match.

Meanwhile, his Australian partner said: “I could not be happier, winning before the home fans is special. These guys are super dangerous players. The doubles specialist against singles specialist is great (contest). It’s good for the fans. We have been working hard together for years. One more match to go.”

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