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Ace Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna secured the men’s doubles title along with his partner from Australia, Matthew Ebden at the ATP Miami Masters in the United States on March 30, Saturday.
The duo of Bopanna and Ebden defeated Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and America’s Austin Krajicek with a scoreline of 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6 in under two hours to claim the crown.
With this title win, the Indo-Australian duo reclaimed the world no.1 rank in the men’s doubles rankings with 8080 points. With the defeat in the final, Austin Krajicek moved down to the third spot with 7140 points.
This marks the duo’s second title of the year, following their victory in the 2024 Australian Open earlier this year, where Bopanna clinched his first-ever Grand Slam title in the men’s doubles event.
Interestingly, Bopanna is the first Indian champion of the Miami Masters since Leander Paes secured the title with his Czech partner Radek Stepanek in 2012.
With this title win, the Coorg-born 44-year-old surpassed his own record to become the oldest man to win an ATP 1000 event. This match was not only Bopanna's 14th ATP Masters 1000 final but also his 63rd ATP Tour level final.
Reflecting on the victory, Bopanna stated (via TOI):
"It's amazing. As long as you are doing well in these big events, it's what we play for. I want to do well in the Masters 1000s and the Grand Slams. It's good to keep that record going and keep giving everyone else a run for their money.”
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden come back from behind to win the title
Both pairs started off the game having a few chances in the first set. The Indo-Australian pair converted one break point in the 11th game off Dodig’s serve to take a 6-5 lead. However, the opponent pushed the set into a tie-break.
Though Krajicek and Dodig started with a 3-0 lead, Rohan Bopanna and Ebden ensured to put up a fight. Nevertheless, the Krajicek-Dodig pair ensured to win the tiebreak by 7-3.
In the second, Rohan Bopanna and Ebden made a strong comeback and levelled the game at 6-3, pushing the match to a tie-break. At 6-6 in the tie-break, the Indo-Australian pair displayed their dominance to secure the tie-break 10-6 and lift the title.
