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Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden were seen celebrating after beating Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the men's doubles final of Australian Open 2024.
India’s Rohan Bopanna and his partner from Australia, Matthew Ebden, defeated Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets to clinch the Australian Open title. Bopanna also became the first Indian to win the men’s doubles crown since Leander Paes achieved the feat back in 2012.
The match that lasted an hour and 39 minutes saw 43-year-old Bopanna and Matthew Ebden beat their opponents 7-6(0), 7-5.
The first set saw both pairs successfully hold their serves without dropping a game. Bopanna and Ebden relied heavily on their first serves, while Bolelli and Vavassori countered the Indo-Australian pair with their solid defense. The closely contested set went to a tiebreaker, which Bopanna and Ebden won 7-0.
The second set mirrored the first, with both pairs not allowing the other to break. However, Bopanna and Ebden got the decisive break at 5-5 and then served out the match to win the championship.
Rohan Bopanna’s achievement not only had Indian tennis fans celebrating but also earned recognition from the official Instagram account of the Australian Open. They shared a video capturing Bopanna and Matthew Ebden’s post-match celebration.
“DREAMTEAM,” they captioned the post.
Bopanna created history after his victory at the Australian Open by becoming the oldest Grand Slam winner ever.
A look at Rohan Bopanna’s journey to the title
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden began their campaign at the Australian Open against home favorites James Duckworth and Marc Polmans, winning a tight three-setter 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(2).
In the second round, they took on another Australian pair. The unseeded John Millman and Edward Winter could not offer much resistance as the Indo-Australian pair won 6-2, 6-4.
The pre-quarterfinals saw Bopanna and Ebden take on Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic. The second seeds were made to work hard for their points, with both sets going into a tiebreaker. The final score of the match was 7-6(8), 7-6(4).
In the quarterfinals, they got the better of the Argentinian pair of Máximo González and Andrés Molteni 6-4, 7-6(5). The Indo-Australian duo then beat Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac in the semifinals. Bopanna and Ebden were pushed to three sets but came through 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7).
