Dazzing duo of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden marched into Australian Open 2024's men's doubles final on January 25, Thursday. The Indian-Australian pair of Bopanna and Ebden got the better of Zhang Zhizhen-Tomas Machac pair with a scoreline of 6-3,3-6,7(10)-6(7) at the Rod Laver Arena in the semifinal to reach the Australia Open men's doubles final.
Bopanna continued to script history as he will be playing his maiden men's doubles final at Australia Open. Overall it will be Bopanna's sixth appearance in final of any Grand Slam.
This historic win came a day after Rohan Bopanna was assured of the world No. 1 ranking after making into semifinals, making him the oldest man to take the crown for the first time in his career.
Bopanna and Ebden implemented a clear strategy of persistently attacking the net player, and their experience paid off when they broke Machac's serve in the match's fourth game. This break came after the Australian launched a series of aggressive forehands, eventually inducing an error from Zhang's backhand. Bopanna then confidently served out the first set, securing it 6-3 in a brisk 32 minutes.
In the second set, Machac and Zhang returned with heightened vigor, particularly with Machac adopting a more aggressive stance at the net, placing pressure on Bopanna and Ebden with his positioning. Their intensified efforts were successful as they made a comeback, breaking Ebden's serve, which showed signs of vulnerability for the first time in weeks in Australia.
Regaining their momentum in the deciding set, Bopanna and Ebden broke Zhang's serve in the fifth game, positioning themselves to serve for a spot in the final at 5-3. However, the Chinese player managed a critical break against Ebden's serve, following Bopanna's backhand error. Zhang then remarkably recovered from a 0-40 deficit on his serve at 4-5, facing three match points against the second seeds, before pushing the match into a super tiebreak.
The Indo-Australian team maintained their undefeated streak in tiebreakers at Melbourne this year, including a 10-point shootout in their first match. This trend continued on Thursday, with Bopanna and Ebden keeping their composure and adapting to Machac's swift movements at the net. Bopanna clinched the victory with a decisive ace.
This triumph on the Rod Laver Arena was particularly significant for Bopanna, who had experienced a mixed doubles final loss there last year alongside the iconic Sania Mirza in her final Grand Slam appearance. This win marks Rohan's third appearance in a men's doubles final at a major tournament. He previously reached the 2023 US Open final with Ebden, becoming the oldest man to compete in a Grand Slam final, although they were defeated by Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. His other notable final was with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, known as the Indo-Pak Express, where they lost to the Bryan brothers.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bopanna ascended to the world No. 1 ranking in men's doubles following a victory over the Argentine pair of Máximo González and Andrés Molteni (6-4, 7-6 (5)). This achievement marks a significant milestone in his Australian Open journey, as it is his best performance in the tournament. In his 17 consecutive appearances at Melbourne Park, starting in 2008, the 43-year-old had only advanced as far as the third round six times, the last being in 2018, followed by a series of five consecutive first-round exits.
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